We do a lot of testing for the courts system. Many of the tests have to do with custody battles. Others are for prior drug offenses, and the judge has the defendants test regularly. If they continue to test negative the judge will allow them to stay on probation, whereas a positive test might lead to jailtime. Judges have come to know and trust us and regularly issue orders for these defendants to test at our clinic.

Just a couple of weeks ago one of these defendants, with a prior drug use issue, was ordered by a judge to test with us. We performed an instant test and it was non-negative, so we sent it to the lab for confirmation. Instant devices are great “rule-out” devices as the negatives are as accurate as a lab; however, when we get a positive (we call them non-negatives) on an instant device we always send them to the lab for confirmation. We do this because you can get false positives with these instant devices, and the lab result is needed for the protection of the donor.

Instant drug tests are very similar to other point of care tests like pregnancy or covid tests, they have lines that appear and based on those readings are declared negative or non-negative. The defendant questioned the accuracy of our instant device because he said the one he took at home showed negative. He took a picture of the lines on our device, we packaged the specimen for the lab and he was dismissed.

The same defendant came back to our clinic just 2 days later to test again, bear in mind we had yet to get the lab results from the first test he took. Again, the instant showed non-negative. The defendant took a picture of the instant device and said he needed to go out to his car. The collector told him not to leave the collection area because he needed to watch the specimen being packaged for the lab and sealed in front of him as is chain of custody protocol. The donor left anyway. With the chain of custody broken the collector had no choice but to discard the specimen and call the test a refusal.

About 30 minutes later the defendant returned to our clinic with 3 over-the-counter drug tests he purchased at a drug store. He demanded that we re-test him using these devices. He was told we would not use those tests, that his test was over, and was reported as a refusal to the courts because he left the clinic before the test was completed. He became very upset and accused us of ruining his livelihood, the entire scene was wrought with drama and all in our waiting room in front of other donors. Once the defendant determined we would not retest him he left the clinic. Management quickly apologized to the donors who were witness to the drama; but that’s just a day in the life of a drug testing clinic.

Although the defendant had left the clinic, he loitered on the property for about 30 minutes before he left. Later we found the 3 empty boxes of the instant devices that he had purchased on the parking lot adjacent to ours. We assumed that he used them in our parking lot and all were non-negative. We feel certain had any of them been negative, he would have come back into the clinic for more drama.

The next day the first test he took came back from the lab and was positive. We reported it to the judge and informed the bench that the defendant was no longer welcome, and he would have to find somewhere else to test.

Many clinics refuse to test for the courts because these incidents occur regularly when dealing with court ordered tests. First Choice welcomes the opportunity to assist with these tests; perhaps were going our part to keep order in central Arkansas.