Positive pre-employment drug screen! What will happen?

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Hello, I am a licensed RN for Ohio and California. Have been working travel in California for 6 months. I applied for a new agency to start per diem work in California and just found out I tested positive foramphetamines on my pre-employment drug screen. At first I was confused and told the MRO I have no idea why that would show up and the only meds I take are allergy and sinus meds. Then it dawned on me my teenager takes Adderall and she also takes some of the same allergy meds as me as well. Long story short I am now worried that our meds could have gotten mixed up or a day I asked her to hand me one of our Zyrtec it might have been one of her meds, I don’t know. I keep all of our household meds in the same cabinet and being a single parent of four sometimes I’m handing everyone’s Meds out for the morning or she is. I was told by a friend that this might get me reported to the BON and I may lose my license over this. Can anyone give me advice on what may or may not happen? The MRO states that her job was just to report to the company and it’s at their discretion of what happens next. The recruiter for new agency says she has not heard anything yet and doesn’t know what happens in this situation that she thinks it might be I just reapply in 6 months.

12 hours ago, no.intervention.required said:

Sorry, but you would notice a difference if you took aderall, even accidentally. That's why I don't think you are being truthful. Either way, consult a lawyer, big trouble is headed your way. Sorry.

Has it occurred to you that the reason the OP didn't notice a difference is because the OP did not take Adderall and that Adderall has only come into the discussion due to the OP trying to understand how this unexpected thing happened? Your statement sounds like you only know one thing so tend to go with that.

1 hour ago, Newgradnurse17 said:

Still think it’s a lame excuse. They suddenly remember after a drug test that they took the wrong medicine. Really???

Your statement also sounds like you only know one thing so tend to go with that.

Good lourd. Reading comprehension. The OP did not say 'I remember now that I took some Adderall accidentally.' The OP is (unfortunately) really reaching for an explanation/trying to guess what may have happened because s/he seems unaware that there are pretty basic/"innocent" possible reasons for these results.

Gah. ?

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just to add what some have already said/alluded to - there are some medicines that will show up as amphetamines or methamphetamines on a drug screen. These are:

Sudafed (the one with pseudoephedrine)

Wellbutrin

Labetalol (yes, really)

Fluoxetine (Prozac) and trazodone

metformin (yes, this too!)

_____________________

It really depends on what metabolite they are testing for. Some companies have been sued by potential employees who were tested with tests that were too sensitive and then not followed up with a more specific definitive test.

There was a case about 15 years ago when a woman in Florida was up for a job with the state. She was a fan of poppy seed bagels... she then tested "positive" for a metabolite that is in opioids, but ALSO in poppy seeds that are NOT from the "opium poppy". The issue was that the test administered was very cheap (a few dollars) and a different test that would have definitively ruled in true opioid use was about $50 at the time. The Florida State Government did not follow up with the definitive test and rescinded the job offer based on the results of the first test. She knew she hadn't used drugs and paid for a several follow up tests herself which didn't show any trace of opioids. She sued. She won!

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46 minutes ago, yaaas_RN said:

just to add what some have already said/alluded to - there are some medicines that will show up as amphetamines or methamphetamines on a drug screen. These are:

Sudafed (the one with pseudoephedrine)

Wellbutrin

Labetalol (yes, really)

Fluoxetine (Prozac) and trazodone

metformin (yes, this too!)

_____________________

It really depends on what metabolite they are testing for. Some companies have been sued by potential employees who were tested with tests that were too sensitive and then not followed up with a more specific definitive test.

There was a case about 15 years ago when a woman in Florida was up for a job with the state. She was a fan of poppy seed bagels... she then tested "positive" for a metabolite that is in opioids, but ALSO in poppy seeds that are NOT from the "opium poppy". The issue was that the test administered was very cheap (a few dollars) and a different test that would have definitively ruled in true opioid use was about $50 at the time. The Florida State Government did not follow up with the definitive test and rescinded the job offer based on the results of the first test. She knew she hadn't used drugs and paid for a several follow up tests herself which didn't show any trace of opioids. She sued. She won!

Thanks for posting this. Very enlightening and a reminder to many. Metformin? Who would have thought?!

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Specializes in SCRN.
16 hours ago, myoglobin said:

I always start with the proposition that people are sincere and telling the truth until definitively proven otherwise. This is all the more true when they come of their own free will to a site to seek opinions and are largely anonymous.

You are a better person than I am then because if they took aderall that's not their own, they would just come out and say it, being anonymous and all.

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Specializes in SCRN.
5 hours ago, JKL33 said:

Your statement sounds like you only know one thing so tend to go with that..

No, I actually know a couple more things, like to tie my shoelaces , lol. Thank you.

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5 hours ago, yaaas_RN said:

just to add what some have already said/alluded to - there are some medicines that will show up as amphetamines or methamphetamines on a drug screen. These are:

Sudafed (the one with pseudoephedrine)

Wellbutrin

Labetalol (yes, really)

Fluoxetine (Prozac) and trazodone

metformin (yes, this too!)

Oh my! I take a large dose of Metformin. Never knew this. Good to know!

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Specializes in Dialysis.

I asked my MD this morning when I went for my physical. She said that she didn't believe that a 1 time dose of any medicine taken days back would register that, so possibly any med that could register, like metformin shown in that previous posted list. I took NyQuil cold and flu (with pseudoephrine) 2 nights prior to my last drug test d/t having a bad cold. No issues, and I got the job. I'm giving OP the benefit of my doubt.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.

False positives on a drug screen are sadly not that uncommon. There are many OTC's, foods and supplements that can cause this. Further testing of the affected sample should either confirm or rule out the initial positive as being reliable. A big question here is since this was a pre-employment drug screen does the initial positive result even trigger the more in depth testing since that is another expense that a potential employer might not even bother with.

If the specimen is tested further after the initial positive and it is confirmed as a valid result you really should spend the money to talk to a lawyer familiar with nurse licensing issues right away before the situation escalates any further. Unless you know with 100% certainty that a pre-employment positive won't be reported to the BON you won't want to take chances with this. No BON is your friend and you want to get on top of this before they get involved.

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Specializes in ICU.
On 7/15/2019 at 9:17 AM, New2block said:

I dont take it often and now been off it for 4 months since I'm job hunting due to possible drug tests....I don't know how anyone can like the stuff,but those with actual adhd know how beneficial it is.

I would just skip the job and apply elsewhere.

Just wanted to mention that if you have a legitimate prescription then you have nothing to worry about. You don't have to stop taking it. I was on Vyvanse when I did my last UDS for a job. All you have to do is bring in the prescription bottle and doctors info and they treat it as a negative result essentially.

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Posts have been removed that derailed the thread.

Please refrain from personal attacks.

Do not make it a personal one-on-one discussion as this derails the thread.

Thank you.

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If you don't have a prescription for what they found, it's a failed test. It doesn't matter why. Some employers report to the BON, it doesn't appear to be consistent even by state. If you got notified you failed, they already confirmed it positive. If they report to the BON, they may or may not take action, it depends on the state and other factors.

I wouldn't reapply for this position, it's poking the bear as far as I'm concerned. I would surely talk to a lawyer. It may be that steps you take now will affect your future. You don't say what state you're in; following is a link about Florida.

Also check out the allnurses board Nurses/Recovery

https://www.joneshealthlaw.com/failed-pre-employment-drug-test-for-nursing-position/

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Specializes in Reproductive & Public Health.
On 7/16/2019 at 11:38 AM, myoglobin said:

know that I probably take 25-30 OTC supplement pills per day so God only knows what I would pop positive for on a drug screen.

I know this is unrelated to the topic at hand but ummmmmmmmm. 25+ OTC supplements?! Why in the world.

I love how alt med casts us as Big Pharma shills, pushing pills for profit and "treating the symptom, not the person". Ahem. Big Supplement is just as money-hungry and corrupt.

Most supplements are laughably worthless, thank goodness. But many contain pharmacologically active compounds, and are essentially unregulated dirty drugs.

Big Supplement is just as bad as Big Pharma, with the added benefit of being free from FDA oversight.

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