False positive/postive confirmed??

rn1965, ADN · Mar 1, 2019

8 hours ago, Wizard 1 said:
When I was in monitoring, I had a false positive for alcohol. I had not used and had not picked up a drink. It was in the last month of my contract. To make a long story short, they dragged it out, thinking that I'd "confess". I didn't, and kept on them. They did an ETG, which allegedly came out positive. I called the program director, demanded to see the lab report, and demanded to know what was going to happen with my case since I was at the end of my contract. Within a very short time, the director emailed me back, telling me the ETG was NEGATIVE and that I would be discharged that day, having successfully completed the program! I got copies of the labs, that urine alcohol and that ETG. I got copies of everything. It turned out the case manager did not know how to read test results. It was obvious. That's why I said what I said in my previous comment about holding the course, not giving up, not confessing to something you didn't do, keeping records of conversations/emails/everything, and not being surprised when someone tries to jack you around. Be pushy, keep being pushy, ask questions and demand straight answers.

Oh man, I would have been so angry. Good for you, that you stuck with it! So happy it turned out in your favor.

That must have been such a roller coaster, that close to the end!

catsmeow1972, BSN, RN · Mar 2, 2019

I’ve never had anything come up with a result other than negative, knock on wood. However, when sick or required to take meds, I’ve followed procedure to a tee and I’ve still gotten guff. I had surgery a while back that required use of pain meds. I requested a break from the testing because 1: I’m not paying for a test that’s going to show positive for a med they KNOW I’m on and a break from the anxiety of checking in would have been nice. What I got was “still check in every day and if you get selected, call and we’ll excuse it.” Fine, whatever.

In this hades, I’ve gone from thinking that these people were here to help to being scared of doing something wrong, even if I knew I was doing right to standing up for myself (ie: you don’t scare me anymore, you annoy me and I have my lawyer on speed dial.) I have found that if you pushback when you know you are right, the attempts to mess with you decrease.

dirtyhippiegirl, BSN, RN · Mar 2, 2019

In a different state so I have no clue about the specifics of how you should address this but I had a false positive for PCP while taking lamictal in a drug screen through my IOP. I was in the program for ETOHism. I was treated like *** by the nurse who supervised my case. The split specimen that they sent to HC/GS came back negative but the lady didn't like the formating of the test results on the paper and wouldn't accept them. Started saying that I and others (like the psychiatrist in my IOP) had said/done things that we hadn't said or done, made some claims that were easily proven as outright false. In my attempt to keep a paper trail, and also because she would often devolve into yelling at me, I moved all communication to email.

It was an awful period at the time but I muddled through it. I look back now (about 4.5 years later) and view that as really the first time where I was able to handle an incredibly difficult situation with a modicum of sanity/not drinking and it kind of became the bellwether for my behavior during later *** situations. So that's a plus.

chadprepton, ADN · Mar 4, 2019

Don't give up. Know that this is not going to last forever (even if it feels that way). Keep us updated!

Wizard 1 · Mar 20, 2019

On 3/1/2019 at 8:42 AM, rn1965 said:
Oh man, I would have been so angry. Good for you, that you stuck with it! So happy it turned out in your favor.
That must have been such a roller coaster, that close to the end!

I was angry, but decided I wasn't going to give in, no matter what. The tactics they used disgusted me. I knew this had been done to nurses before, and I wasn't going to be a victim. No matter how angry or emotional I felt, I made it my mission to not give them an iota of advantage.

catsmeow1972, BSN, RN · Mar 21, 2019

As I am coming down to the end (154 days, but who’s counting?‍♀️) in spite of having done everything right and having developed the intestinal fortitude to stand up to the abuse, I still worry about this kind of ?being pulled. All I want is to end this nightmare without noise. Having stood up to them before, I would hope that they know better than to mess with me.

I am of the opinion that these things are portions of A: not having a clue (like how to read lab reports, scary given that many of these monitors/case managers are nurses) B: not caring one iota of the damage they are inflicting on a person’s life and possibly recovery and C:in some twisted way, seriously believing they are helping us or D- any or all of the above.

Wizard 1 · Mar 31, 2019

On 3/20/2019 at 9:04 PM, catsmeow1972 said:
As I am coming down to the end (154 days, but who’s counting?‍♀️) in spite of having done everything right and having developed the intestinal fortitude to stand up to the abuse, I still worry about this kind of ?being pulled. All I want is to end this nightmare without noise. Having stood up to them before, I would hope that they know better than to mess with me.
I am of the opinion that these things are portions of A: not having a clue (like how to read lab reports, scary given that many of these monitors/case managers are nurses) B: not caring one iota of the damage they are inflicting on a person’s life and possibly recovery and C:in some twisted way, seriously believing they are helping us or D- any or all of the above.

You'll get there. Just keep your eyes open and don't give an inch if they pull anything funny. I know you know how to deal with them. Keep that lawyer's contact information.