Ameritox Urine Drug Test has destroyed my doctor/patient relationship... literally.

FWIW, I WOULD NOT contact the doctor at home...Yes, you definitely need to reach her, but not at home.

You can send the letter, certified with return receipt, to her office and mark it personal and confidential. You could even have her "served" with it by a process server.

Contacting her at home seems desperate and the doc will see it that way. It may freak her out, too.

Just my two cents...There are a lot of ways to reach her in the office, and as a medical professional, I would recommend you contact her there. It's a boundaries thing.

originally posted by: DerekJR321
This is why I find this situation strange. I am in a "rehab" program. I had a big problem with pain pills about 6 years ago. It's a long story but basically started out as a legit thing, then ran away. I know that this is not what YOUR issue is. I'm just using it as reference. I've been completely off pain pills now for 4 years.

So long and short of it, I was on Suboxone for a few years. Now I am on Bunavail. Both are S3 drugs used to treat opiate addiction. In "my" mind that sounds more serious than Adderall (I believe that is what you are on?).

Here is why I bring this up. I have to be urine screened every 2 months. In the beginning, sometimes I WOULD come up dirty. Other patients do too. For things like pain pills, heroin, etc etc etc. Those are major hard core illegal drugs.

And yet... the doctor doesn't drop us. They re-dose, and re-schedule a 2 week follow up to re-check urine. These are HARD CORE drugs in some people who were HARD CORE addicts. And yet the doctor doesn't just up and drop us. If you come up showing you don't have any suboxone or bunavail in your system.. they do question you. But NEVER drop you. They also NEVER question the "level" of the drug in your system. As long as it shows.. in ANY quantity, its clear. Every human being metabolizes things differently. What may stay in your system for 3 days may clear mine in 24 hours.

My point being... your doctor sounds extremely shady and I wouldn't be one bit surprised if he/she/they were under some form of DEA investigation. Or had been at some point. After some research on your situation, I'm afraid that the doctor DOES have the right to drop you as a patient. But not "cold". Especially if you are on a controlled substance and have been so under their care. They HAVE to make arrangements to take care of you until you've found a suitable replacement.

I think your biggest thing is with the ethics of the doctors. They sound like real scum bags. So I would still fight them. Especially fight this Ameritox situation. If you can't afford a lawyer, I'm sure there are groups that would LOVE to take up your case.

I have blown my DT a couple of times. But, they didn't kick me out.

I can't believe they tested her for the amount. They use a dip test.

It is very expensive to test for amount. More than $1300.00.

OP. It's the Doctor not you. The Government put the fear in these Doctors.

GP can't even give monthly controls. I think only Pain Management can do that.

a reply to: Asktheanimals

This is medical totalitarianism - they can control your medical care, your employment, your life.
Welcome to the New, Improved, More Powerful than a speeding locomotive,
Government.
We're all screwed if we continue to put up with this corporate medicine.

It's true...the bad thing is, there's nothing really protecting people from this kind of crap anymore. Insurance companies are the worst because they can refuse to pay the docs based on whatever guidelines they set forth, and that forces the physicians to take drastic measures like dumping patients to avoid being penalized for continuing care of someone who may be considered a high risk for non-compliance. Especially if it's a pain management or mental health patient. And the tests they're doing aren't conclusive enough to tell what drug they're actually detecting, so if someone has more than one physician (and most people with chronic health issues do), and another doc prescribes something (in this example, amphetamines), they can just dump the patient based on a positive result without taking other medical history into consideration.

That is not supposed to happen because say the OP got prescribed Adderall by one doc, the other doc should have requested his/her chart so that he's aware of any other medications his patient is taking, and if there is a medical necessity for it that is unrelated to his care plan, he has documentation to prove that this person is legitimately supposed to be taking that medicine too. But in this case, he's skipping that part and simply dumping his patient on the assumption that the amphetamine was obtained without a doctor's order, when in fact there is no way to prove that. Of course the OP can show evidence that the meds were prescribed but he/she will then have to pay court costs/attorney fees to sue him for what he did, and there's always the chance that the judge will rule in favor of the doc. It's absolutely ridiculous.

They are doing this with pre-employment as well lately, including nicotine testing...and it's ok for them to refuse to hire or pay health benefits to people who are positive for certain substances. It's discrimination, pure and simple. They do, however, make you sign a waiver...I am very surprised that the OP was not asked to sign a consent form when submitting to the urine test. That's how they get away with it legally...they get the patient's permission, and that is admissible in court as a legal document. That could be what nails them to the wall right there, if a consent form was not signed by the OP prior to their requesting the urine sample, so I hope he/she hires a lawyer and sues the piss out of them. What they are doing is unethical.

This is how the medical industry enforces it's policy of dealing with suspected 2nd hand pharmaceutical dealers? Talk about a heavy handed approach! Part of it seems that they also don't want you weening yourself off of their drugs and this is a measure to help monitor that as well.

I'm sure your aware they have no interest in actually curing anyone. No profit to be had in a cure. The real money is in treating a disease. The only suggestion I have that may help is to change your lifestyle and eating habits. I firmly believe most diseases we encounter are from a deficiency of some sort. Be it nutritional, vitamin, environmental, etc.

Dr. Wallach would be a good start.
Dr. Wallach

I personally have seen people kick every pharmaceutical the doctors had him/her on with a new diet, lifestyle, and proper education. Some people I have helped were taking almost 20 pills a day!

I'm not saying the medical industry is a farce. Millions of people are saved annually from medical industry advancements. But the pharmaceuticals industry is the 4th biggest killer in this country and our doctors are the ones perpetuating this.

They are more knowledgeable in regards to drugs than they are about your body.
Don't believe me?

Next time you see your doctor tell him/her you think your "endocannabinoid deficiencnt(CECD)" and see what he/she says. You will either get the deer in the headlights or get kicked out.
What is CECD?

i wish i had better advice for you. Unfortunately, im not the kind of guy that trifles with unnecessary nonsense, and would likely resolve the issue with a solid cussing out, a demanding for all my medical records, and a parting of ways with that particular office.

If they pursue it any further, then you have defamation that you can reach into that doctors deep pockets over.

a reply to: new_here

You've been denied medical services because you're not taking enough amphetamines? That's incredible. If that's not insanity I don't know what is.

originally posted by: TheAnarchist
a reply to: new_here

You've been denied medical services because you're not taking enough amphetamines? That's incredible. If that's not insanity I don't know what is.

Yes, dear. And then they suggest I need drug rehabilitation (per the dismissal letter.) No seriously, you can't make this stuff up.

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
i wish i had better advice for you. Unfortunately, im not the kind of guy that trifles with unnecessary nonsense, and would likely resolve the issue with a solid cussing out, a demanding for all my medical records, and a parting of ways with that particular office.

If they pursue it any further, then you have defamation that you can reach into that doctors deep pockets over.

You're hired!

a reply to: new_here

Tell the doctor if he won't see you, you will go to the media.

originally posted by: lindalinda
a reply to: new_here

Tell the doctor if he won't see you, you will go to the media.

Called today to ask if I could have one final appt to check on my BP in case the Lisinopril dosage needed to be adjusted, and to have the doctor go over the urine test results with me.

The appt person was very curt, saying "You got a letter, you are no longer a patient here, and your blood pressure problem is a chronic issue and doesn't constitute a medical emergency."

Called Ameritox and surprisingly, they put me thru to a toxicologist, who was shocked at the letter I got, and said she would call the doctor and explain factors that could contribute to the readout. Turns out they only did a IA Screen on the Adderall.

About the media... um... I sent the info in the opening post to the editor of an article about urine testing, because it said "send us your story" so I did. He's all over it. Sent me a response from a physician who's up on urine false-negatives, and told me he wants to write an article about my situation. I'll keep you posted! Oh, and I sent him the response from the Medical Board, and he replied "Yes, they are passing the buck. Let me work on this."

I just don't think I'd have had the courage to pursue this without the people in this thread. Thank you all.

a reply to: new_here

Wow, so happy to hear

a reply to: new_here

I do know that some of the pain clinics my pharmacy is contracted with require drug testing and pill counts to make sure the patients arent selling the meds on the street. But they sign a contract knowing that they will be tested to be taken in as a patient. As far as the lab results go, it depends on what test they use. If they are using some sort of an ELISA, the amount detected has to be above the level of the background by a certain amount or it is just classified as a negative result.

All that said, if you told them that you were concerned about your BP and didnt take it, and then they STILL kicked you out, that is total BS on their part. It does raise BP and you had every right to be concerned.

Things like this make good use of Facebook & Twitter.
find out if Ameritox has a page on any of them.
and put your story on there site.
see if others have made a site to put things like this on.
some times bad publicity makes them react.
seems the have some lawsuits lawsuit!
"Ameritox Faces FCA Suit Over Physician Kickbacks"

a reply to: tigertatzen

Actually there are quantatative drug tests out there. The pee in a cup variety are not those kind though. The kind that actually determine levels are things like a GC test, and I woudnt think they would be used in this type of thing due to the cost involved.

originally posted by: annoyedpharmacist
a reply to: new_here

I do know that some of the pain clinics my pharmacy is contracted with require drug testing and pill counts to make sure the patients arent selling the meds on the street. But they sign a contract knowing that they will be tested to be taken in as a patient. As far as the lab results go, it depends on what test they use. If they are using some sort of an ELISA, the amount detected has to be above the level of the background by a certain amount or it is just classified as a negative result.

All that said, if you told them that you were concerned about your BP and didnt take it, and then they STILL kicked you out, that is total BS on their part. It does raise BP and you had every right to be concerned.

The did an IA Screen. That's what the report says.
Thank you for acknowledging the validity of my actions (choosing to take it conservatively.)
Are you really a pharmacist?

a reply to: annoyedpharmacist

Actually there are quantatative drug tests out there. The pee in a cup variety are not those kind though. The kind that actually determine levels are things like a GC test, and I woudnt think they would be used in this type of thing due to the cost involved.

Yeah, that's exactly what I've been saying, repeatedly...a simple urine test is not going to give them a quantitative result. Even the point-of-care legal urine drug screens will only give a pos/neg result, not a measurement. And the kind of waived instrument testing available for private physicians is extremely basic, because they lack laboratory accreditation required by law for more comprehensive testing. They wouldn't be able to tell the difference between prescribed amphetamines and methamphetamine off the street in a simple urine sample. They'll only see generalized amphetamine markers. So that's why I'm saying something is really off about this whole scenario. It doesn't add up.

Why would Ameritox be performing drug screens for a family practice physician, when they specifically market themselves as an ancillary lab for people taking heavy doses of pain medication for a chronic condition? The cost would be exorbitant and the liability would be a huge risk for a family/general practice, who typically shy away from prescribing controlled substances for extended lengths of time and will refer a patient to a specialist in the field instead. They would not have been testing for amphetamine unless they suspected that the OP was taking it...that is the only reason Ameritox even screens for those drugs; at the behest of the physician to detect whether or not there are markers present. They don't test to make sure a pain management patient is taking amphetamine. They test to make sure they're not[/i.]