FALSE POSITIVES IN URINE MONITORING OF SUBSTANCE-ABUSERS - THE IMPORTANCE OF CLINICAL CONTEXT

The authors provide two examples of formerly substance-abusing physici ans who had false-positive urine tests while being monitored for addic tive substances. Urine tests are not infallible and can return both fa lse-positive and false-negative results that must be addressed. The ro le of urine monitoring in assessing the recovery of patients from subs tance abuse is discussed with emphasis on the need to include multiple sources of clinical input in assessing the patient.