DOSE:

50 mg

oral

Pharms - Sertraline

(daily)

BODY WEIGHT:

145 lb

I recently took a voluntary drug screen. This was done on sight with a test kit. I urinated into a specimen cup that had a test strip of some sort that reacts to different categories of drugs. Mine showed positive for Meth-Amphetamines. He asked if I could wait around and try another one because I emphatically told him that there was no way. I was not even familiar with what Meth was.

Approximately an hour and 15 minutes later he gave me another test. A four panel test this time. The first was a ten panel. This test also came back positive. I was beside myself because, as I said, I have never even as much as seen Meth, much less taken any. He told me that there was no way that the Zoloft could have caused the positive reaction. He never offered to send the test to a lab. In fact he had me pour both specimens into the toilet, flush them and rinse the specimen cups with water. He led me to believe that these tests were conclusive and he said that his hands were tied. The only recourse was for him to extend my treatment and pay him an additional sum of money.

By the way, this is as a result of a DUI that I received and I am going to drug and alcohol outpatient treatment. I kept telling him that it had to be the Zoloft. I offered to call my Dr in the am and have blood drawn and tested. He said that would not do any good because Meth was water soluble and would be out of my system in 24 hrs. Which I have now after research found that is not true. Meth can stay in the system for up to 5 days. I was devastated over this and told him that I was not going to jail for something that I did not do. This would be a huge violation of my probation. He told me not to worry, that he believed me and we would get to the bottom of it.

When I got home, I remembered that my husband worked with a man whose wife was a pharmacist. I called her and she said there was nothing in Zoloft. I called my physician the next morning. He didn't know of anything either and wouldn't even see me because he was too busy and he was leaving on vacation the next day. My husband called me at work to see how I was holding up and I became hysterical. He called his physician and they got me in the following day.

I also called the facility where I had the test done and requested the name and phone number of the company that manufactures the tests that he used. It took me 2 days to get that info, but when I was able to call them, I spoke to the salesman and explained my situation. He said he seemed to remember hearing something about Zoloft and asked me to hold on while he called one of their scientists. He returned several minutes later to tell me that the scientist had confirmed that there was something in Zoloft that could cause the test to go positive and that it might not happen on every occasion.

He could not remember the technical name that the scientist had used. I asked if he could do me one last favor, and call the Dr who had given me the test and relay to him what he had just told me. Well I don't know what happened but when I went for my next individual session with the Dr, he said that the guy did call but said it was very unlikely and 1 in a million chance. I could not even believe my ears. So I called back the next day and spoke to the salesman. He said this should be between me and the Dr and that he told him exactly what he had told me. So someone here is lying. I have talked to three different people at this company and they have all told me that their tests are for screening and detection, not confirming and that when a test comes up positive, it should then be sent to a lab for confirmation.

I then called Pfizer, the manufacturer of Zoloft. At first the pharmacist that answered told me he could think of nothing that would cause this. I asked if they could have one more qualified, toxicologist, scientist look into it because I had already been told that there was something. They later went on to fax to my physician a toxicologists report where 3 people in the same hospital within the same week that were taking less than 150 mg of Zoloft tested positive for Benz something. I don't have the report with me at this time. It said that these people would have had no way of getting this drug.

The third person tested positive twice. It is very upsetting to me that this could happen and physicians and pharmacists are not aware of it. Because I mentioned law suit, the Dr freaked out and called my probation officer and reported the positive test to her. I really did not care about that because I was going to have to make her aware of this in the first place because they will be performing random drug tests throughout my year of probation, and therefore I could not afford for them to have a test come up positive without them knowing about the Zoloft.

However, the Dr has went to the extent of falsifying his report to her in an attempt to cover his failure to offer me the option of sending the specimen to a lab to have it confirmed. As I said, I was not aware that was even an option until I talked with the manufacturer of the test kit. Up until this DUI, I have never been drug tested, and therefore knew absolutely nothing about it. I took him at his word. That is why I have been pursuing this so heavily. I know that I am innocent and I will be dammed if I have this on my records.

I am right at the edge of a total nervous break down. I haven't slept in 5 days. I have lost work because I am either crying hysterically or I just can't even focus on my job. My blood pressure is sky high, and I have never had any issues with my blood pressure. My husband found me unconscious in the floor of our dining room yesterday. This has mentally and physically taken a toll on me. I would think there should be some legal ramifications to all of this, but do not know if that is an avenue that can be pursued. The law seems to have loopholes that protect those who are at fault.

Exp Year: 2004	ExpID: 35570
Gender: Female
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Jul 4, 2006	Views: 18,424
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Drug Testing (59) : General (1), Unknown Context (20)