Tuesday, October 21, 1997
Positivelynegative
DRUGS Although popular with employers,
drug tests may not be all that reliable,
contends one UCLA graduate
By Kathy Young
Daily Bruin Contributor
Starting your day with a healthy, poppy-seed bagel for breakfast
or using over-the-counter medicine like Tylenol can cost you your
job.
People are being denied employment because of falsely testing
positive on a drug test, says UCLA graduate and author Dr. Kent
Holtorf. With 80 percent of major corporations using drug testing
as a prerequisite to employment, such methods as urine testing are
currently on the increase, he argues in his controversial book
"UR-INE TROUBLE."
Testing positive as a non-drug user can result from a normal
manner of living. "UR-INE TROUBLE" highlights the various
substances that can cause positive drug testing. This includes
certain foods, over-the-counter medicines and prescription
drugs.
According to Holtorf, such common foods as poppy-seed bagels or
muffins can cause you to test positive for marijuana for up to
three days. Products like nasal spray can have you test positive
for amphetamines. Sleeping pills, Tylenol with codeine, and Vicodin
are among some that can cause a person to test positive for
Opioids. Certain vitamins are also known to be a problem.
However, others in the field disagree. Testing inaccurately due
to poppy seeds is not likely, said Director of the UCLA Olympic Lab
Don Catlin, who tests UCLA athletes. "Every program should have a
medical review officer that is knowledgeable on poppy seeds,"
Catlin said.
Another startling argument made by Holtorf is that marijuana
tends to stay in your system longer when inhaled passively.
Therefore, an attendance at a concert or party may cause a non-drug
user to test positively.
Other scientists remain skeptical. To take marijuana passively,
one would have to be in a closed car for hours, Catlin said.
There is also the matter of false negatives. "There are ways to
cause a false negative through drinking certain types of tea and
other methods," shares Mark Alcantar, a bioanalyst at a medical
clinical lab in Santa Monica who has been in the field for 20
years. "Nothing is 100 percent, but quality testing is more
probable in a lab that specializes in drug testing."
"UR-INE TROUBLE" alleges that over 50 percent of positive drug
tests in some laboratories are errors.
"I knew that laboratory results weren’t always accurate," said
Holtorf, "but as I started to do research, I found it was much more
inept then I could ever imagine."
But according to Alcantar, any lab that is not doing good work
is putting itself on the line for a lawsuit. "A lab cannot afford
to put out false results," said Alcantar. "When candidates test
positive, most laboratories I know have a second method."
This second method is known as a GCMF test. Scientific studies
have shown that this test is 99.9 percent accurate.
UCLA’s Olympic Lab also confirms its tests. "If someone tests
positive, there is a screening test and a confirmation test,"
commented Catlin.
Many laboratories are also required to run quality-control
tests. In California, laboratories run proficiency testing. Three
times a year, the state runs blind samples and grades them to
ensure proper testing procedures are being practiced.
Catlin says, "I know our lab is 100 percent accurate. Also, labs
under the National Institute of Clinical Laboratories are held in
very high standards. Their results are primarily accurate as
well."
In hopes of revealing the discrimination that surrounds drug
testing, "UR-INE TROUBLE" deals with the many controversies that
were once hidden from the public.
A more common problem is when employers do not reveal that a job
candidate has failed a drug test. Any explanation of why a person
failed or what tested positive is hidden from the applicant,
usually because employers just don’t want to deal with the
applicant.
Alcantar does agree that the employer should give the person an
opportunity to explain his or her test results. "The laboratories
are responsible for the specimen itself. Once that is determined,
the results are sent to the employers, and the rest is left up to
them."
Employers have been known to deny that an applicant failed a
drug test when in reality he actually did, said Holtorf. "Employers
don’t want to face any protesting applicants, saying it was a false
positive or potential legal action by their employees," he
said.
Employers have also used these tests to obtain other
information. Employees can test unknowing applicants for pregnancy
and prescription medication. This is a method to eliminate
candidates who may need sick leave or are being treated for things
like depression, diabetes, heart disease or high blood
pressure.
The book also alleges that drug testing actually increases drug
use. "UR-INE TROUBLE" argues that by screening out drug users and
denying them employment, there is no other alternative than for
them to turn to the streets for survival.
In hopes of spreading the word, Kent Holtorf has made
appearances on "The Dr. Dean Edell Show" and "ABC News Medical
Report."
"My hope is to educate people," Holtorf said. "These tests are
devastating people’s lives. The book is a way to have people take a
look and see what’s happening."
For many, the book has done just that. Miriam Katz, a fifth-year
psychology student shares, "This book can be very beneficial to
students like myself. If I am ever asked to take a drug test, I
will know what precautions to take to avoid an inaccurate
result."
However, not everyone holds the same opinion as Katz. Having
been drug tested before, fourth-year student Adina Panitchuphon
said, "I feel that drug testing is justified because I know I am
clean. Maybe someone who is actually on drugs would be against
it."
Despite differing opinions, "UR-INE TROUBLE" is causing some
controversy in the medical world.
As for the public, opinions are formulating on the theory as
well.
"I feel that drug testing is useful. It is good for the
company," said third-year business/economics student Heather
Rebuelta.
"But we must remember that there are two sides to every story,"
said Rebuelta. "A positive drug test does not mean that a
prospective employee is a drug user. Nor is a negative test always
accurate as well. It’s all just a matter of who you trust."