Failed drug test.

[fabiusgile]

Idk if this is the right forum for this but l hope it is. I recently took a employment drug screen and it came back positive for benzodiazpene. I don't do any drugs and the only ones I can think of that i've taken are some flu medicines nyquil, sudafed, claritin, tyleonal pm. Idk what to do i've tried researching it and have had no luck. I called my PCP to see if they could make sense of it still waiting to hear back. I feel awful this was the only job that called me back (I'm a new grad). I know it is a false positive. What can i do. The nurse who took it had said this is the first time she has had a + and doesn't know what the next steps are.. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance

[Multicollinearity, BSN, RN]

I had a false positive once, and I was "exonerated" by gas chromatography. It's the definitive test for drug screens. I suspect employers are resistant towards sending off for this kind of test because it's expensive. I had been on an antibiotic that can show a false positive for cocaine (according to what the lab people told me).

[BigBee48]

what is your story bigbee48?

I have chronic pain, neck fusion & lumbar fusion, was turned into the BON for taking meds, they had a hearing could not find any problem or anything I did wrong, but then decided I would need to be monitored b/c I am on

pain meds. Went downhill from there, a few months into the 5yr contract I had a "failed drug test", several meds

showed up, that to this day I have never taken. It was when the program was just started here, with a group

out of Michigan, I feel like they needed someone to make an example of. I was told that I was non-compliant

with the program, after getting permission from my therapist to do my drug test the next day instead of that day. I drove for my job, and had to go to another state that day, she then denied she ever gave me permission. And was in the room with me on several ocassions, and then tried to say I never showed up. Thank my other Therapist who was also there, stood up for me. Anyway long story short, I ended up hiring an attorney, spending in the neighobrhood of $7,000.00 to an attorney who wanted me to plead guilty to the non-compliance, and sign

up for 5 more yrs, and I refused, so I was suspended for 3yrs. It has been 6yrs, but the way I was treated, I've been afraid to go back in front of them. Plus I just found out I have eight (8) herniated discs, 2 vertabrae w/no

disc material in between them, and a compression fracture, so I've been told I will be on some type of pain medicine probably the rest of my life. I'm sure they want me to sign up for another 5 yrs, When in fact I never did anything wrong to begin with, my old boss even went with me to testify on my behalf, it seemed to make them harder on me. I could go on, but won't. I'm sure I've left some things out, I hope this makes sense. And by the way I went back to work in Law Enforcement where I worked prior to being a nurse, pass all the random drug tests, and have a very good working relationship with my bosses here, and a very good work record.

[BigBee48]

And I forgot, when I had the "failed drug test", I called the lab that did the test, and spoke to the manager, who suggested I fight it, which was about $2,000.00 more, he said the people that have disputed their results have won, only a very small group of people had, but that mistakes were made, and he would challenge it. When I said this to my therapist from the program, she said they would not allow me to do this. I might have been wrong on the time, this all happened in 2001. I really don't know if I should even try. I am in pain all the time, and have a terminally ill mother in law, and very sick Mom, a sister with MS, and 2 wonderful children and husband. I miss being a nurse every single day, but don't know what to do.

[Multicollinearity, BSN, RN]

Wow, $2000 is a lot. My false positive was for a pre-employment screen. I don't know how much gas chromatography (the gold standard) costs, but I sure know HR kicked a bit of a fuss when I insisted my sample be tested more thoroughly. Then HR changed their tune - they were totally different - after my clean result came back.

[fabiusgile]

multicollin what did u test positive for and how did you get them to do that xtra test?

[BigBee48]

Well hopefully, they have begun to see that there are false+. I know in law enforcement, my husband, who has been in the profession for 20+ yrs, is now

seeing things a little differently. Like some of the defendants who have said I am innocent, in associatioin with drug tests, may be telling the truth. He attended the initial and one other hearing, and said compared to real courtrooms, the BON proceedings were a goat rodeo. They made decissions that just blew his mind, but what can you do, they are the final.

[southernbeegirl, BSN, RN]

you won't get this job. if you test positive and have no prescription for whatever it is, then they will rescind the job offer. i had that happen to me when i was in active addiction. in fact, you will be lucky if they don't turn you in to the BON for being impaired. most of the employers in my area turn in every positive screen to the BON.

i completed a three year contract with our Peer. I also did weekly drug screens for my job at the same time. my husband is also a drug/alcohol counselor.

if a drug causes a screen to test positive on the initial dip, it wont come back on the screen sent out to the lab. my albuterol always caused my initial screen to test positive for barbituates. every time, when it was sent off, it came back negative. while i agree there might be the rare occasion that a screen will test positive when it isnt, i'm inclined to believe that if a screen comes back positive when it was a split sample and sent out, then there were drugs in your system.

what i would suggest to you is this...have a hair test done as soon as possible and pay for it yourself. that way when you are called by the BON, you can show that you had no drugs in your system and that the test was a false positive. but dont try to BS the MRO or the BON, they've heard it all before.

[Multicollinearity, BSN, RN]

multicollin what did u test positive for and how did you get them to do that xtra test?

Years ago, for a pre-employment physical, I was told I tested positive for cocaine. I had a *FIT* and told HR it simply wasn't possible. They acted "funny" about it, and said the test was the test. I asked if only one preliminary (screening) test had been done and I was told yes. I kept insisting that there was no way I could have cocaine or any drug in my system. HR said OK, and sent my sample for more extensive testing. Few days later they said it came back fine, and that antibiotics I had been taking showed up as a false positive for cocaine. I started the new job right after that.

The experience of having quit my old job and then having the new job offer hanging over some urine test that was initially wrong was soooo stressful. This was in the early 90s. I think employers are better now about understanding false positives can occur on the cheap urine screens, so they may need to occasionally send for more extensive testing.

[foraneman]

Unless a GC/MS confirmation has been done, there is no positive result. If a GC/MS was done the result should not be 'positive for benzodiazepines', but rather 'positive for diazepam', or 'positive for lorazepam', whatever specific benzo it is. Ask to see a copy of the results. In addition, a Medical Review Officer (MRO) should call you to discuss the results with you and find out if there is a medical reason for the result (i.e. you have a prescription for the substance) PRIOR to a positive result being claimed.

The suggestion for a hair test is excellent. A hair follicle test can measure drug use for up to the last 90 days. You need to aggressively pursue this if you are innocent since, as wass mentioned, you could be reported to the BON.

[fabiusgile]

Update

So they ran the Gs... thingy. They said there wasn't enough to quantify a + (IDK if thats good or not). I got a phone call and was told that I need to go up there today and give another sample.

[madwife2002, BSN, RN]

I heard recently that even hair drug screens were being proved inacurate and they are no longer being done by some companies. I dont know why, has anybody else heard of this ??

[foraneman]

When you say 'there wasn't enough to quantify a +' do you mean there was not enough of the urine sample left to do the test, or do you mean they DID the GC/MS and the result was below the cutoff for a positive. If the later is the case then they should be apologizing and that should be the end of it. EVERY 'positive' drug screen MUST be confirmed with GC/MS. If negative on GC/MS then it was never positive. They should NEVER have even approached you or started this whole nonsense without doing the GC/MS. No GC/MS = NO positive result. Very likely this is spelled out in your state's 'drug free workplace' statute which, since they are certainly a drug free workplace participant, they must follow. It is the law. I second sample is outrageous...they don't know what they are doing.