Any false positives for PeTH test out there?

Nurses Recovery

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A friend got a false positive for PeTH and the Nursing board is threatening to take her license. I am certain she hasn't been drinking, but I'm not posting this to discuss that so please don't go down that path. Rather, I'm collecting info to see if there's any precedent for this. A few red flags in this Peth test. The tech administering it had never done it and had no clue what they were doing. My friend had to walk them through it. The tech left the room with the unlabeled sample to ask guidance from a supervisor. My friend was the one who told them they needed to cap the test, otherwise it wouldn't have been done and would have been deemed invalid. My friend should have reported this test immediately as improperly administered, but she didn't, being sure it'd be negative (it's also just not her nature). She's so discouraged and angry with the process after years of testing clean that I'm trying to help her out with some of the nitty gritty, like investigating this test. She's in California. She has going for her many testimonials from colleagues and people in AA, etc. But the Board seems pretty ruthless in these cases. Any input? Experience?

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Specializes in OR.

Tech leaving the room with the sample equals big chain of custody issue. Sample is supposed to be sealed in site of donor. Also this rest is not supposed to be used in isolation of any other evidence. Even the manufacturer states that. It's efficacy is not that reliable. Any lawyer would shred this in front of the board.

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It seems to me that the problems in this scenario are chain of custody and reliability of the test itself. I would definitely advise you friend to get a lawyer in California who handles this sort of test. The chain of custody was messed up from the beginning of this case and the person who performed this test was inexperienced. Who is to say that further errors in the chain of custody or simple contamination of the sample didn't occur? PETH seems like a fairly accurate test and is designed to detect when a person either drinks for an extended period of time or consumes a large quality within the testing limits (I believe 4 weeks but that s from memory). However, all tests create false positives and this may the case here. It is what I would concentrate on sampling error, contamination, breaks in the chain of custody and error margin of this test.

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Thanks for the input. Follow up: Board is reconsidering her case now after we filed a petition for reconsideration. There is not one other piece of evidence against her, and a lot for her--including testimony from coworkers, years of clean urine tests. She should have gotten a lawyer from the get-go. Live and learn!

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
She should have gotten a lawyer from the get-go. Live and learn!

People think I go overboard recommending seeking an attorney. What happened to your friend is one of the reasons why I do.

Hope everything works out for her.

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Sorry to hear, that David. Since I posted, several people have contacted me saying the exact same story as you and my friend: they tested positive on a Peth test and had not drunk alcohol for a long time. The Peth test is not as reliable a marker as the BRN's testing company FirstSource and the BRN want all to believe. I think you all are the test cases, and soon enough they'll announce this test has flaws--after all these great nurses have lost their licenses. I'd be in contact with each other--strength in numbers.

Sadly, the BRN ended up revoking my friend's license. She did get a lawyer to write her Petition for Reconsideration, and she still lost. There were so many things in the process that were appalling, IMO. My field is journalism and I am taking this story to several investigative journalist colleagues. An investigative piece in the LA times is one of the reasons the current nursing board in California is so extreme in its treatment of nurses in recovery, and that extremity needs to be exposed for what it is.

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Annebelle, That is wonderful news that some in the media that some in the news media are starting to pay attention to these programs. If I can help in anyway please let me know. I cannot add much specifically about PeTH but many of us can lend a narrative to the abuses we have been subjected to and witnessed in the name of "recovery". Of course I doubt many nurses currently part of these programs would actually be helped by this but it may insure that future generations of nurses aren't exposed to this nonsense

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