Hello everyone
This sounds like an instant test or POC (point of contact) where if he had taken co-codamol (codeine) he would have produced a non-negative result for the opiates group. In best practice that same urine sample should have been split (a and b) between to 'drug-free' containers and sealed, then both are sent to an ISO17025 accredited laboratory for confirmation. It is highly unusual to give the donor the b sample as it reduces their ability to challenge the analysis and so reduces their rights.
The issues of declaring medication during the time of collection is an interesting one. Most collectors are not healthcare professionals so would you want to tell them? As the initial test was a POC it could have been any opiate that generated the non-negative and a dishonourable person may use this to their advantage to explain the result and not get their sample confirmed, possibly giving a different result.
The person who needs to know this is the medical review officer (MRO) whose role is to interpret the confirmed drug test result. In the US no-one tells the collector their medication but the donor has the responsibility to provide the evidence/info to the MRO. In the UK we spend time gathering this info making collections longer and putting collection officers in a tight spot when they are asked questions.
Hope this is of use
Helen
| Helen Vangikar | Toxicology Consultant | m. +44 (0)7856 979961 | e. [log in to unmask] | www.helenvangikar.com | skype. helen.vangikar |
-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Susan Hewlett
Sent: 15 November 2013 08:30
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [OCC-HEALTH] random drug and alcohol tests
Good Morning to all, i have a query, i have not been involved in randon drug and alcohol screening, always dealt with by line managers and outside companies, but have been contacted by an employee from a previous line of work and asked the following : this gent works in a warehouse as an order picker he was chosen by random selection to have a test, he had taken Co-codamol the previous evening for his "man flu" syptoms and the urine sample showed a trace of something ?? that they said should not have been there so he was sent off site. He says he wasn't asked before the test if he had recently taken any medication and wasn't given an opportunity to tell them about the Co-codamol after the test. Is this all according to best practice, should he have been asked to declare any medication before the test.
Many Thanks in advance for your ever helpful wisdom
********************************
Please remove this footer before replying.
OCC-HEALTH ARCHIVES:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/occ-health.html
CONFERENCES AND STUDY DAYS:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/filearea.cgi?LMGT1=OCC-HEALTH
|