AboutDr. Ravindra Bhaskar Ghooi Expertise I can provide information on drugs and medicines, their actions, uses, interactions and adverse effects. To avoid confusion, generic names of
medicines may please be provided. I am a pharmacologist, having worked
on animal and human pharmacology, and presently I am the Dean of Bilcare Research Academy, where we teach courses on clinical research. We dont work on saturdays and sundays, hence questions reachng me on these days will be replied on Monday, please bear with me.
Question Dear Dr. Ghooi:
I was very upset to learn today that I had a urine test today gave a positive result for cocaine. This is ridiculous since I have not done any for over 25 years, but the effects could be devastating to my career. I told the Medical Review Officer everything unusual that I had eaten or taken the day of the test and could not think of anything unusual in the previous weeks. Since that conversation I have read that Amoxacilin can give a false positive. (I told the Dr about this) and that tonic water could also. (I didn't tell him about this, since drinking tonic water is not unusual for me. Could these things be the source of the false positive? The only other things unusual the day of the test was that I took a packet of vitamins from the convenience store (no idea what)and Airborne, after coming into close contact with a woman with bronchitis. All info welcome -- I want this to go away, not become a court case.
Respectfully,
Russell Rhea
Answer Hi Rhea,
No, amoxicllin does not produce a false positive for cocaine if the test for cocaine was done properly. There is so much difference in the chemistry and pharmacology of cocaine and amoxicillin that even the worst laboratory should not make such a mistake. There is a possibility that the test was done wrongly or the quality of the test kit was bad. I would suggest that first you file a complaint with MedWatch (it is on the FDA site), if worst comes to worst, your complaint will show that you have taken due diligence. Secondly ask the manufacturers name (one that made the kit) and file a complaint stating that you would file a court case to clear your name and that they should provide you with QA data of the test kits, along with evidence to show the incidence of false positives and false negatives.
I believe these actions will help you. Not being a US citizen or a resident of US my ability to help you is limited but these are some of the strategies which FDA suggested to me when I met them in April over the large number of false positives reported.
Best wishes
Ravi
