I am on Hydrocodone/Tylenol 10-325 through my pain management doctor for chronic pain and two weeks ago took the annual urine test two weeks ago and was notified today that i failed due to Codeine.
I have not knowing taken anything with Codeine in it. Was asked if i had possibly taken some old cough syrup with Codeine in it which i have not.
Anyone know what might cause this to happen. None of my meds have changed and have no idea what would have caused this.
The week which i gave the urine sample was spring break and i was feeding my daughters dogs and her older beagle is on his death bed and i was crushing three kinds of meds and mixing in his wet food the pain pill was Gabapentin and two others not identified yet. The pa said the Gabapentin does not contain Codeine and if it did hand contact wouldn't register the levels reported.
I resubmitted another urine sample today and i have been going to this same pain management doc for many years and several years ago when putting my urine sample in the cabbie hole other patients samples were in the same area and the thought crossed my mind that if someone followed me in testing two weeks ago and knew they were dirty could have taken my sample and poured it in theirs then filled mine with the dirty sample. So when i submitted todays sample i exited the restroom and went around the corner and asked them to take custody of my sample and gave the previous concerns and of course the nurses got horsey with me and said they sometimes get busy and don't Always get them out before another sample gets placed which breaks every chain of command rule for testing.
Of course i sound like every dirtbag druggie thats failed a urine drug test but i have not taken anything that would cause this high level of Codeine.

Anyone have any ideas of what may cause this.

You might give your local board of health a call and see what they say. I would assume they have some jurisdiction over your lab.

That sounds like some really shoddy chain of custody standards there.

I'm routinely getting drug tested randomly for work, and the drug tester is always very particular in how the sample is handled. Furthermore, I never let the sample out of my sight until it is sealed and labeled properly along with my initials on the bottle.

They need to tidy up that shit PDQ.

I don’t think local board of health has any insight into a private lab.
You might have to do some digging thru medical papers on drug tests, but, hydrocodone may be broken down into a pos for codeine. There’s usually 2-3 subsets beside hydrocodone that’s listed on a drug test for hydrocodone.
I know some who was going thru mandated rehab due to a work situation. She was a nurse and researched drug tests. She was on oxycodone for back and neck pain. She was called into the Rehab’s medical directors office to explain why morphine showed up on the oxycodone drug test. She explained that’s one of the metabolites it’s broken down into on the test. She brought up the info and showed him. He didn’t know this. She proved her point. The sad part is she would have really been screwed by failing a drug test. We wondered how many people were sent back into the court system, to face a stiff penalty, because they didn’t do their research and the people who ran the program weren’t educated properly.
Do your research, it could be that codeine is a metabolite of hydrocodone.

Did you disclose to the lab that you take a prescription with Hydrocodone? Generally with all failed testing, a doctor will ask you what medication you are taking. If this Hydrocodone is a valid prescription, why not just disclose it and see if it resulted in the positive results? Any Opioid will reflect as a positive result. Even *past* testing would flag positive results for poppy seeds...
Lineman

I was also going to ask if you’ve eaten any poppy seeds like those on an Everything bagel.

It is customary to do split half testing. One sample is stored, the other sent for testing. If the first shows positive the other sample is sent to a different lab for confirmation.

Hydrocodone is not metabolized to codeine. Someone screwed up. A valid prescription for your Vicodin is not going to help explain the positive codeine.

Codeine and Hydrocodone are chemically similar but not exactly the same. Codeine is a natural opiate from the poppy plant while Hydrocodone is a semi-synthetic. Sounds like a cross positive, so the Rx for the hydrocodone should be accepted as valid explanation. If not, sounds like you need statement from your Dr. and maybe a Lawyer too.

If/when you retest, go to a different lab.

Good luck.

https://www.healthpartners.com...nts/cntrb_031044.pdf

See page 3. It looks like a metabolite of hydrocodone in dihydrocodeine. Maybe the person interpreted this metabolite as codeine.
On page 4, see other factors.

I’m not a Doctor, Nurse, Lab Tech, nor have I played one on TV. However, over the years I’ve had to do plenty of reading on drug tests, and pain mgmt. When you test positive for another drug and you haven’t taken it, you’re considered guilty. Even if you’re not. I don’t know what happened with your drug test, but it’ll be up to you to prove you didn’t take codeine.

. Maybe the person interpreted this metabolite as codeine[/quote]
^^^^^^^
If so it is the Three Stooges lab. I have seen mistakes but that would be over the top.

Synthetic urine and follow the instructions.

If there are any negative consequences, sue. They'll have to identify their chain of custody in court.

The pain management dr that is requiring the pee test is the dr who is writing the hydrocodone prescriptions.
I have been on pain management with this same dr for many many years.
As a condition of them treating me I am subjected to annual or bi-annual testing to prove that i am taking the prescribed meds and also not taking anything that isn't being prescribed.
Never failed one before as I take only what is prescribed to me.
I have a wore out rt knee that needs replacing but due to things always coming up it just has never been the right time for replacement. Cortisone/steroid injections and opiates have nursed me by. The knee is about to the point that nothing is working so its time to do it.

They let samples sit out where other people could contact them? That sounds all kinds of messed up.

First, determine what analytical method the old lab utilized to make the codeine determination. If possible, go to a new lab to avoid poor personnel/custody procedures and inquire as to the same.

These should be your first steps in addressing the issue.

Had you eaten any poppyseed rolls lately? That will register on your test as positive for opioids.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

quote:

Maybe the person interpreted this metabolite as codeine

^^^^^^^
If so it is the Three Stooges lab. I have seen mistakes but that would be over the top.

The lab only prints out what the machine reports. The results are forwarded to the MRO (Medical Review Officer). The MRO is the final person to review, interpret and contact the drug testee to discuss any anomalies. If there are screw-ups in the interpretation, it's on the MRO, not the machine.

Correct. Thanks for the clarification.