Drug Testing - The Definitive Guide
SPLIT SPECIMENS
If, during your drug test, you see the collector putting the specimen into two separate vials, this is known as a “split specimen”. One vial is tested right away. If it is determined to be positive, the results are forwarded to the MRO. When the MRO calls you to discuss the drug test, after he says that you are positive, you can deny it and ask to have the second vial sent to an independent laboratory to be tested. Keep in mind that the second vial is filled with the same urine as the first vial. Also, the second vial will not be subject to the immunoassay screening. It will instead be sent to the GC/MS and tested for the same drug that was found to be positive in the first vial. If the second lab fails to confirm the findings of the first lab, then your specimen will be determined to be negative.
Keep in mind that there is no provision for the employer to pay for this second test, but if the second lab fails to confirm, most employers will reimburse you for the second lab. Getting a first lab’s result overturned is extremely rare. In fact, I have never seen it happen. The split specimen process is in place to protect the donor against a mix-up in the lab or in the event that the laboratory equipment is faulty. I suppose it could happen, but I have never seen it.
If you do decide to challenge the findings in court, the things your lawyer should ask about the lab are:
Is the lab certified?
Do they participate in appropriate proficiency testing?
Have they ever failed a proficiency test?
What are the qualifications of the technical staff performing the test?
What technologies do they use to screen and confirm?
Total myth story
Laura Gibson, a medical doctor on the internet, tested positive and was not hired. She had a poppy seed bagel that morning, not knowing it was a false positive. She fought it to the point where they just decided to throw out the results and hire her anyway.
There is no way that this person would have been found positive after only one poppy seed bagel. Even if that did happen, the GC/MS would have determined it to be from poppy seeds. Also the quantity of opium in her system would have been consistent with food ingestion, rather than illegal drug use (heroin or prescription drug abuse). As a medical doctor, this person would or should have know this. This story is a scare tactic commonly used to sell a detox or urine additive product.
