Broken chain of custody

Nurses General Nursing

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After working several years at a LARGE hospital with nothing but impeccable job evaluations, I was called for a drug test. I truly have never used any illegal substances. I was told I failed the test! Of course I was in total shock, but quickly went to a stand alone drug testing center. I did this because there's NO WAY anything but dehydration should have showed up. This test was negative. I was fired without being offered PEER (which wouldn't help me. I took nothing and don't have a drug problem). I have continued to pay for my own drug tests as continued proof. All are negative of course. They turned this into the BON.

Now a few months later, SHOCK!!! the company admits to breaking chain of custody in many ways including taking my specimen (and others) home.. not to the lab. No papers were signed. No seals initialed. No gloves worn. Didn't take me to the testing place (If someone is impaired, they can't drive themselves last I checked). I do have an awesome attorney. My question is now that they have admitted breaking protocol, shouldn't BON just be thrown out? Yes my attorney will advise me, but has anyone had anything similar happen to them?

I couldn't remember mine from the past. Also didn't know it could be changed with an email request. It's comments like yours (totally off the subject) that made me not respond or post a question for years.

Thank you to all the nurses with helpful and thoughtful posts and taking the time to respond.

I think you read a tone that wasn't there. Try re-reading the comment with a nice tone in mind and you will see it probably wasn't meant to be read with a rude tone. It was a simple question with helpful advice. The poster showed concern for your possible concern over a real name being used.

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I apologize! Not only is this ordeal stressful but was having a bad day too. I don't normally jump into attack mode and I am really sorry!

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Just want to update anyone who might be going thru something similar. In the months since I posted my story, this is what’s happened. The BON did get notified. They contacted my attorney. Meanwhile I have been paying for my own drug testing a a couple different facilities. All have been negative. The BON requested a hair sample. It was negative. Months went by. Then the BON requested an appt with a psychologist. (At my expense of course). I met with this person. I was told that I passed all these tests and the psyche person says I have no factors that point to addiction and thinks I might have been set up. Believes I should take legal action against the hospital. Waiting for this report to make it to BON. To anyone who knows they are innocent, fight it. This whole ordeal is just unbelievable. When it’s all said and done, I will post an update.

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Unbelievable is an understatement. This is horrifying!

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11 hours ago, 5sports said:

The BON requested a hair sample. It was negative. Months went by. Then the BON requested an appt with a psychologist. (At my expense of course). I met with this person. I was told that I passed all these tests and the psyche person says I have no factors that point to addiction and thinks I might have been set up.

Wow! When you are finally vindicated and really to have your attorney pursue the financial damages that have been inflicted on you I sincerely hope you include your BON!

With proof that the samples were mishandled they should have immediately been removed as evidence against you. Your multiple timely negative tests from independent labs should have been the end of this travesty. I think wr can all agree that impaired nurses need help and patient safety must be protected but that in no way justifies this kind of career and life destroying witch hunt!

Please keep us updated. All the best!

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11 hours ago, 5sports said:

Then the BON requested an appt with a psychologist. (At my expense of course). I met with this person. I was told that I passed all these tests and the psyche person says I have no factors that point to addiction and thinks I might have been set up. Believes I should take legal action against the hospital.

I hope your lawyer agrees (based on his/her expertise) that there is a case to be made for restitution.

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Specializes in Psychiatry, Community, Nurse Manager, hospice.
On 10/17/2018 at 7:43 AM, 3ringnursing said:

I am so sorry for the stress you are going through. That is why strict chain of custody protocol was initiated - to avoid factots causing potentially false test results whether positive or negative. What's the point if a specimen is mishandled, unintentionally or not? It's already scary enough without that unnecessary stress.

This makes me think of a story my PCP (an FNP) told me several years ago:

It is usual customary practice for providers to request random UDS's from time to time from pt's they are Rx'ing a controlled substance for (both to make sure pt's with a controlled substance contract are actually using the Rx meds they are Rx'd, and to ensure they have no other controlled substances in their urine which shouldn't be there). One day the provider requested that a pt of hers with a controlled substance contract provide a urine sample for testing in the office before she could collect her Rx. The pt agreed, however came up positive for oxycodone (not a Rx the pt was receiving). The pt swore up and down she did not violate the contract by taking oxycodone. This pt had never given the provider any reason to suspect abuse, never requested the Rx early, and the Rx drug data base showed no other Rx'ing providers but the PCP.

The provider decided to give the pt the benefit of the doubt, so she ran a control check on herself because she knew she had no controlled substances in her own urine: it too was positive for oxycodone.

This really freaked out the provider knowing this false positive information in the wrong hands could potentially be very damaging.

The FNP threw out all the in office test strips and started sending her pt's to a nationally recognized lab chain for testing for the added security of chain of custody protocol from that moment on. She realized by not using the usual and customary chain of custody protocol procedure was not ensuring the pt was was protected - she finally understood how damaging a false positive test result could be, and why those protocols are designed to try to eliminate contamination of the sample.

The pt was vindicated (even though the false positive certainly created enormous stress, not something a chronic pain pt - or anyone else for that matter - needs).

And your unsealed urine sample went to an employee's home?

I wish you a quick resolution to vindicate you as well as the pt in the story because that isn't fair. I'm glad you hired an attorney because he or she will use this information to protect you. That was also very smart to get a UDS testing from a neutral third party.

A UDS is a screen. To get a definitive answer the lab has to do gas chromatography.

False positives happen with UDS. There are many, many drugs that are known to cause false positives on the UDS. For example, zoloft can cause a false positive for benzos. This happened to my patient.

That's why UDS is not admissible as evidence.

No one should look at a uds as proof of anything. It adds to the clinical picture, but it isn't proof.

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Update- I've heard nothing since my last post until now.. Via my attorney, the BON has decided that if I can pass random drug tests from an external site (not board affiliated) for a year, this case is closed and will never show up on my record( and I don't have to meet with BON). So of course I'm going to do this. I could tell you a few things my husband has to say about this offer , but I'd rather peacefully clear my license, and then I might listen to him.

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

What does "I'm going to do this" mean? I personally absolutely would pursue a case against the hospital were it me. This whole thing is shocking, horrifying and, frankly, terrifying. Your action on this could save others grief at their hands and potentially make sure you never have to worry about money again.

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I agree it is the worst thing that could happen to anyone with a nursing license. The statement "I'm going to do this" means I am going to comply with the random drug tests for a year, When that is over I will decide what to do next.

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Update-6/18 random drug tests complete. All negative of course. Unbelievable what I can’t ingest for a year. No Tylenol. No ibuprofen. No alcohol. No antihistamines. ...The list is VERY long. If I were to require surgery for some reason, I have to get permission from my case manager to take ANYTHING for pain .
It’s all going on my list of things I’ve had to endure based on the hospital’s massive errors on a random drug test. My attorney advises me to complete this as the icing on the cake so to speak and then follow up with legal action. (My previous negative hair follicle test should be the icing on the cake)...but I’ll be patient and take the attorneys advice and complete this last round of tests.

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26 minutes ago, 5sports said:

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...My attorney advises me to complete this as the icing on the cake so to speak and then follow up with legal action. ...

Icing on the cake? This has been going on for 14 months, after the hospital admits a broken chain of custody? And this is all your attorney can offer?

Maybe he or she isn't such an "awesome attorney" after all.

Best wishes as you work through this.

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