Source folder: Q&As
Source workbook: Questions and answers.xlsx
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Questions and answers imported from the source spreadsheet.
Question: if the client was on Amoxicilline/ Flucloxacillin
could this affect the results and cause a false positive?
Answer:
No, those 2 drugs listed are antibiotics. There is technical information that some antibiotics can cross react with the
initial screening tests, but one the sample is sent to confirmation, the GC/MS/MS or LC/MS/MS s specific for the
metabolite of the drug. That is, when cocaine is ingested into the body, your body reacts with the drug and breaks it
down into a metabolite, before it is excreted out of the body. This is why we confirm for the metabolites,
like Benzoylecgonine
Question: Could cocaine possibly enter the system though the handling of money?
Answer:
The general rule followed is if the Benzoylecgoine / Cocaine ratio is less than 0.05, the it considered to be positive
due to external contamination (eg., absorption thru skin, etc) .
Question: Does the hair drug test have the ability to detect drug intake even if it was once within the 3 months period?
Answer:
Yes it can, but M\most likely, the level would be below the cutoff level to be called positive. Someone who took a drug once in 3 months, would not generally be considered someone who abuses a drug. Hair testing is looked at as a “lifestyle” test. Someone who is abusing drugs can stay off for a few days, but they are not going to be able to stay off for 3 months.
Question: where do you account for prescriptions taken that might show in hair such asb seroquel?
Answer:
We only test for the drugs listed on the panel requested, so a drug like Seroquel would not be tested for in the panel. If the person is taking other prescription medication, like a benzodiazepine for example. This would be reported as a positive if above the cutoff level. It is not the lab’s responsibility to consult with the patient/donor as to why a drug is positive or if the individual is abusing a drug. The lab is only reporting what we find. The interpretation of the result should be done by a medical professional. In the US, UK, etc, the interpretation of the lab results is usually done by a Medical Review Officer, who contacts the patient/donor and gets medical history, medication, etc.
Question: PANEL TESTING INFO
Answer:
The current expanded panels include: H10P/H13P/H17P/H18P. Our new method utilizes some of the most advanced laboratory equipment and supplies available today.The current method used to screen these tests is a qualitative enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA). While this method is extremely reliable, we have encountered supply chain and logistics difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, starting October 18, 2021, Omega will be using a new liquid chromatography (LC) tandem mass spectrometry (MS) process (more commonly referred to as an LC/MS/MS method). LC/MS/MS is becoming the gold standard for detecting very low concentrations particularly in the hair matrix. This will be a quantitative method so there will be some slight screening cutoff changes with the new method. These changes will create identical screening and confirmation cutoff levels for some analytes which will streamline results reporting and interpretation.
Question: Regular marijuana usage with Negative result
Answer:
Studies performed on subjects who use marijuana have demonstrated that there are varying degrees of uncertainty as to how much marijuana an individual must use to result in a positive hair test. This is primarily due to the weak incorporation rate of the acidic metabolite used to identify marijuana usage, 9-carboxy-THC, into the hair matrix. For example, the attached study by Huestis et al. demonstrates that the concentration of the 9-carboxy-THC metabolite detected in the hair of daily users ranges from none detected to 7.3 pg/mg. Therefore, there is a general consensus that most infrequent users and a significant number of daily users of marijuana will escape detection and a quantitative value obtained for the THC metabolite in hair cannot be directly correlated to the amount of drug used with any degree of certainty.
Question: I have a client whom is taking methadone for Heroin addiction and they are asking if the test can tell the difference between Methadone and Heroin? They believe they are using Heroin and using the Methadone to disguise the Heroin abuse.
Answer:
Yes, we can distinguish between the two drug classes, however Methodone is only tested for in our 13, 17 and 18 panels
Question: contact with cocaine but not consumption will make a positive results?
Answer:
The general rule followed is if the Benzoylecgoine / Cocaine ratio is less than 0.05, the it considered to be positive due to external contamination (eg., absorption thru skin, etc) . The ratio for the test you are referring to is > 0.16.
Question: Can the lab ship samples back to the client once testing is concluded?
Answer:
We can return the sample but you would need to provide a prepaid return shipping label.
Question: hair follicle for drug test legal back to 12 month
Answer:
Please note that we can only test with a timeframe if it's for Legal cases. Kindly also note that every 3 months is a segment with 1 test fee, thus, for 12 months that would be 4 segments with 4 test fees for each panel.
Question: Different testing methods of head hair and body hair
Answer:
They each represent a different timeframe and this difference in timeframe could account for the differing results on the specimens.Numerous characteristics affect the concentration of drug and/or drug metabolite(s) retained in individual hair strands-and thus even in different hair samples collected from the same donor, including; hair location and type, drug dose, length of exposure, individual hair growth rate, drug chemical characteristics, hair strand dormancy, and chemical treatment.Since the average growth rate of human head hair is approximately ½ inch (1.3 cm) per month a head hair analysis covers an approximate 90 day time frame. This time frame is an approximation only since an individual’s actual hair growth rate may vary from the average. Body hair is generally acknowledged as representing a more distant time frame than head hair, however the approximate time period cannot be identified due to the high variability of growth rate.
Question: We’re trying to determine what “AP” stands for in this context and whether this panel is region-specific.
Answer:
The “AP” is an abbreviation for Omega, which stands for Asia Pacific. This is because APac region started requesting ketamine years ago and at the time it not requested by anyone else… since then, it is now highly requested