We had a donor who attempted to give our collector a specimen she wouldn’t accept, then a few minutes later he again gave the collector a specimen she would not accept. As mentioned before collectors have the right to refuse any specimen, the consent all donors who test with us sign states:

The collector has the right to reject your specimen for any reason, but will always reject it for the following reasons:

• Out of temperature range
• Suspected adulteration
• Insufficient Quantity
• Defecating in our toilet.
• Flushing the toilet.

The third attempt was a good specimen, and we sent it to the lab, unfortunately the sample leaked in transit. This happens occasionally and the cause is either:

1. The collector failed to fully close the lid on the specimen
2. FedEx mishandled the package and somewhere along the way the specimen was crushed.

When the lab receives a specimen that has leaked, they reject it, and it’s considered a “Fatal Flaw” which is a term used in our industry to describe an error that can not be corrected. This is uncommon, but it does happen a few times a year.

The employer was informed of the fatal flaw, they in turn asked the donor to retest. The donor, who was already upset with us, called and demanded that the next collection be videotaped and stated we could do a full body search as well.

Apparently, he called another local competitor (this competitor had only been open for about 6 months and has since shut down) and stated they told him they had never heard of a specimen leaking in transit; therefore, the insinuation was that we were lying. We mentioned he could go somewhere else if his employer allowed it, but there must be a reason we’ve been doing their testing for 15 years — apparently, we’re doing something right!