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Monday, May 31, 2010

Drug Tests Often Trigger False Positives

I've heard this for years... but didn't think there was much truth in it. Evidently there is!

Drug Tests Often Trigger False Positives

Poppy Seeds, Cold Medications Can Trigger False Alarms

By Charlene Laino
WebMD Health News

May 28, 2010 (New Orleans) -- If your child insists his positive drug test results are a mistake, there's a chance he could be telling the truth.

Drug tests generally produce false-positive results in 5% to 10% of cases and false negatives in 10% to 15% of cases, new research shows.

Eating as little as a teaspoon of poppy seeds -- less than the amount on a poppy seed bagel -- can produce false-positive results on tests for opioid abuse, says Dwight Smith, MD, of the VA Medical Center in Black Hills, S.D.

The poppy seeds can lead to false-positive results for two or three days, he says, yet one recent study showed only about 50% of doctors were aware of the problem.

Knowing the tests' limitations is crucial given that about 150 million drug tests were conducted in the United States last year, he says.

"We drug test everyone, our students, our athletes," Smith says.

Also, many private and federal employers require regular testing, he says.

False-Positive Results in 5% to 10% of Cases

To get a better picture of the tests' flaws, Smith and colleagues at Boston Medical Center reviewed scientific articles on drug screening published between January 1980 and September 2009.

The results were presented at the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting.

Cold medications, the antidepressant Wellbutrin, and tricyclic antidepressants can trigger false-positive results on tests for amphetamines, according to the review, and the antidepressant Zoloft and the painkiller Daypro can show up as a benzodiazepine problem.

The quinolone antibiotic drugs can trigger false positives for opioids, and the HIV medication Sustiva can show up as marijuana use, Smith says.

On the other hand, just being in the room with someone who is smoking marijuana is not going to trigger false positive results, no matter what your child claims, he says.

"Unless [they] were in the van with Cheech and Chong, that's not what happened," Smith says.