MomofEAF Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 Hi everyone, I am supposed to be starting the PA school at the end of May and I am in the process of doing all required test/ physicals etc. I just received the information that my drug test result came back POSITIVE for codeine!!! I have no idea why, I never ever took any drugs or prescription medications that could affect the result. What would you do? I am terrified that I'll loose my seat. Did any of you hear about similar situation? Will they let me take another test? I am just shocked! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpackelly Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 Many OTC and RX drugs will give false positives for codeine. Medical review officer will need to sign off on this so that is who should be consulted. The sample can be sent off for second level testing. Do not let this go for one day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpackelly Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 Both poppy seeds and fluoroquinolones can give positive immunoassays for codeine, gas chromatography would need to confirm this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rondaben Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 I'm starting school but I've been a med tech for the last 25 years. The initial screen is typically done as a dipstick test that has accuracy of about 75%. rpakelly is correct...They will reflex that to a gcms for confirmation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomofEAF Posted May 1, 2017 Author Share Posted May 1, 2017 Many OTC and RX drugs will give false positives for codeine. Medical review officer will need to sign off on this so that is who should be consulted. The sample can be sent off for second level testing. Do not let this go for one day. I called them back (the medical review officer) and asked about the poppy seeds but they said that I was above the threshold for second level testing. From what they said the threshold was set by the school. I still haven't heard anything from school... I am thinking maybe I should do the test where they take hair sample and send the results to them. What do you guys think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UGoLong Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 I'd go do a second test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomofEAF Posted May 2, 2017 Author Share Posted May 2, 2017 I'd go do a second test. Thank you for your reply. Would you recommend the hair follicle test or the second urine screen? I will try calling the school again tomorrow and I hope they'll give me a chance to prove that the test result was false. Is it possible that they will just say "no" to the second test and I will loose my spot in a class? I can't believe I have to explain myself when I didn't do anything! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UGoLong Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 Repeat the same test you failed. If you want, you can do the hair test too, but at least prove that the first test was in error. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loliz Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 Have they contacted you about this? If not, please let them. They probably have a protocol. Reading your posts, it feels like there is some panic going on... take a breath. This is not the first time someone has failed a drug test. Breathe and wait for them to tell you what to do next. Repeat phone calls are not going to convince them of your innocence or your ability to roll with unexpected situations that arise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GetMeOuttaThisMess Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 You may not have an option. The ball is in the program's court at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomofEAF Posted May 2, 2017 Author Share Posted May 2, 2017 Have they contacted you about this? If not, please let them. They probably have a protocol. Reading your posts, it feels like there is some panic going on... take a breath. This is not the first time someone has failed a drug test. Breathe and wait for them to tell you what to do next. Repeat phone calls are not going to convince them of your innocence or your ability to roll with unexpected situations that arise. No they have not contacted me yet. The results were reported today. And yes, I did panic when I found out. The school starts in less than a month, my mom is flying from Europe to take care of my kids while I'm in school, I am sacrificing a lot to follow my dreams. I will not let some testing error destroy that. Thank you for your advice, I really appreciate it. And thank you everyone for trying to offer some guidance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loliz Posted May 5, 2017 Share Posted May 5, 2017 So what happened? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomofEAF Posted May 8, 2017 Author Share Posted May 8, 2017 The next day I got a phone call from the program director. She said they will order another test for me. She was very polite and explained what would happen if the test was positive again. I already had it done and the result is negative:) Luckily, everything ended well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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