Ask Me Help Desk - False negative oral drug test

I failed an oral drug test for cocaine without ever using the drug. The results can back positive for cocaine at 13 ng/mL and benzyolycogoine(spelling?) 8 ng/mL. Does anyone have an possible explanation for these test numbers. Is it possible the metabolite could be lower than the parent drug at these low levels?

My first question would be did the person doing the collection (collector) have you fill out a chain of custody form that has your (donor) signature and the collectors signature. If not it might be possible they mixed up the samples at the lab. The sub-metabolite benzoylecgonine is usually lower than the parent metabolite at least in a hair drug test. They really ran a low cutoff level on you. Most rapid screening tests (home type test) will only test down to 20ng/ml. Keep in mind an oral test for cocaine is meant to detect the drug 24-48 hours after ingestion.Hope this helps.

I did sign and a paper, don't know if it was a chain of custody? The cutoff level was 20ng/mL, and they explained that 13 in addition to the 8 was 21 total ng's, so 1 ng over the cutoff level
From the research I've done it seems to say that cocaine breaks down very quickly and that is the reason they test for the metabolite. So it made me wonder why the cocaine would be higher than the metabolite, especially at such low levels.
I really need to talk to a drug testing consultant or attorney for a professional interpretation. Does anyone know a person or company to contact who specializes in drug testing consultation?
I submitted a second confirmation test hoping they find a mistake, the original confirmation was already tested by gcms. The waiting is so stressful especially because nothing is in my control.
Thank you for your response

A chain of custody would be like a 5 part form with a specific number for that specimen that would follow the sample through the lab's system. They should have given you a copy of the chain of custody, did they give you any paperwork? Actually for the hair testing cocaine is the main metabolite and benzoylecgonine is a sub-metabolite. I don't think I've seen lab do the math by adding cocaine and the metabolite to get the total. That is one point a lawyer might want to look into. We would never do that on a hair drug test. Each one is called out individually and not added together. You might consider get a consultation from an MRO. A Medical Review Officer is a doctor who goes through about 6 additional years of school to interpret drug test results. You can look up an MRO in your area at aamro.com. Click the link that says "Find an MRO". If you decide to take this to court an MRO could provide some good expert testimony but it probably won't come cheap. By the way, you actually had a false positive and not a false negative. It makes a huge difference.

Thanks for the advice and the mro link. You're right it was a false positive, thanks for pointing that out too.
I'll reply when the secondary tests come back, I have my fingers crossed that I won't have to spend a whole lot of money and time figuring this out.

It came back positive, with the same findings. So dissapointed with the system, you do the right thing and still get punished..

Quote:

Originally Posted by bjg111

It came back positive, with the same findings. So dissapointed with the system, you do the right thing and still get punished..

Again, how do you know that was your sample and the lab didn't mix up the samples. When I do a hair drug test it comes with a chain of custody form and the number on it follows that sample through the lab until we get results. The report I send out actually would have the specimen ID (chain of custody) number so you know it is actually your sample. I would call the lab that did the test and request a copy of the report. Chances are they will say no, then you tell them that your lawyer will subpoena all the records regarding your case. They might relent and send you some paper work. It might work and it might not. It's worth a try. If you do get a lawyer also have him/her subpoena the paperwork of the lab that shows that the GC/MS machine the test was run on was recently calibrated. It's possible the margin of error was that 1ng that caused the false positive.