TMI: I take several heavy duty prescriptions and have been shoveling Sudafed to survive allergy season.

16 Comments

1. AnonymousMay 11,2022 at 12:50AM UTC

   Rude?

2. AnonymousMay 11,2022 at 1:12AM UTC

   I Googled it and Sudafed can create a false positive, as can many other prescriptions, so I feel like my concerns are valid.

3. AnonymousMay 11,2022 at 9:02AM UTC

   The tests are very specific and don't measure OTC medications, or most prescriptions. I've taken them in the past when on heavy duty allergy meds and it has not affected the results.

4. AnonymousMay 11,2022 at 5:57PM UTC

   Thank you!
   This helps!

5. Lori DrapeauMay 11,2022 at 2:43PM UTC

   Any drug test is confidential unless something on the company's red flag list shows up. If something on the red flag list shows up (its different per company and state) then the drug screening company will contact you and give you the opportunity to provide proof of a prescription (if possible and it is a prescribed drug) and once you provide that to them, the employer gets evidence of a clean screen.

   I know this because I had foot surgery and was on pain medication. I came back to work and they "randomly" tested me my first day back. My husband was still driving me to work and I was still taking my pain meds at night to help sleep. Of course opiates came back positive and the drug screening company called me and I had to provide a copy of my valid prescription to them. They then reported a passing drug test to my employer.

   The drug screening company should've taken a history, but the company does not have the right to know any medical history (including medications) due to HIPAA. I would not mention any of it to your recruiter. This is normal practice.

6. AnonymousMay 11,2022 at 5:56PM UTC

   Thank you! This helps!

7. AnonymousMay 11,2022 at 9:40PM UTC

   If they are FDA approved perscriptions, I am not sure what the concern is. An employer cannot deny you if legal prescription medications show up in your drug screening. If illegal drugs do, then you are out of pocket. Since everybody is physically different, I am not so sure if they can say well this person has too much perscription drugs in their system because they do not have direct access to your medical hx to know precisely what your doctor prescribed, nor is it any of their business.

8. AnonymousMay 12,2022 at 1:40AM UTC

   Some drugs are scheduled drugs that can be abused. If they are only looking for illegal drugs, those would not be included. (Example: ritalin or adderall)

9. AnonymousMay 12,2022 at 12:32PM UTC

   Yep. I've been on a few different prescription meds for ADHD over the years...the generic names usual are something along the lines of methylphenidate...yes, meth. I put two and two together when I sent a middle-aged, upper middle class housewife for a drug screen and this came back as my predecessor putting the drug screen process in place did not include a MRO.

10. Jodi GonzalezMay 12,2022 at 1:08PM UTC

    Methylphenidate is Ritalin. It isn’t the same as the street drug meth. That is methamphetimine.

    ritalin can cause a false positive but it’s easily discounted if you are still taking. If not, no worries! Good luck!

11. Melissa MilliganMay 12,2022 at 2:13PM UTC

    You are 100% correct but you wouldn’t believe this — I know somebody who is on methylphenidate and wasn’t allowed on a job because they thought it meant meth!!!

12. Alexandra DMay 12,2022 at 12:02PM UTC

    They’ll call you, and ask for your prescription if it shows on the test. Your employer will not know.

13. Rynn StrangeMay 12,2022 at 12:15PM UTC

    The lab will usually have methods to screen out prescription and OTC meds.
    Unless the lab calls you directly to ask or to have you test again, I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. A previous poster is correct - the recruiter/employer does not need to know about your prescriptions. That's a privacy issue.

14. AnonymousMay 12,2022 at 12:29PM UTC

    If something pops up in a pre-employment drug screen, it should go to the MRO for handling (provided the company took the step of putting that into place with the drug screening company). If something pops up, it goes to the MRO for review and they in turn will reach out to you to understand the circumstances prior to providing any sort of report to the potential employer.

15. Charisse SebastianMay 12,2022 at 1:35PM UTC

    No, I ran into the same issue a couple of years back. I went into the drug test armed with the scripts I was on, and no, they didn't care about that. Appapparently if something in the test comes up positive, they are supposed to contact you to see if you are on a legal prescription. And also apparently they can only test for specific drugs- Coke, Heroin, Fentenyl. etc. And I would be careful about eating anything with poppy seeds- a roll, bagel, etc . That can come up as positive for Opium/Heroin

16. Jo Anne WareMay 12,2022 at 1:39PM UTC

    I take medication as well and it certainly has its own challenges. My medication causes a false positive, so you might want to check to see if what you’re taking would do the same thing. Good luck with your new job!