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Other causes of failed PEth test for alcohol abuse?
My daughter undergoes periodic peth testing for alchohol abuse. She fails regularly, although swears she drinks NOTHING. We have reason to believe she is telling the truth. Assuming she is indeed not drinking, is there a physical condition or ailment that might produce positive peth tests? She is 29, has enlarged lymph nodes, some kind of mysterious condition that gives her severe hives, etc. We are wondering if some type of autoinflammation or autoimmune condition might explain elevated levels. Our daughter is FINALLY discussing this with her regular doctor but if it is some unusual condition a specialist will be needed. The reason the peth test is required is due to a nasty custody dispute with lots of allegations of misconduct. I just want to know if there is ANYTHING other than alchohol consumption that can lead to positive test results. Any thoughts or knowledge of cases? Thanks for reading.
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Has he had any transfusions/blood products? Any new meds. I noticed he has RA-Rheumatoid Arthritis? If that is the case, that is an auto-immune disease and can affect results. Some of his meds may also be a contributing factor. RA folks take longer for infections etc. to clear, so this should at least be asked about.
Wa the second test dried blood spot? They seem to be more problematic.
The covid and RA issues put you squarely in the middle of “nobody knows, it’s never been studied” land.
I still can’t get over DOCTORS believing in this test.
A long time ago I learned that oncologists really seemed to understand how messed up this test is. Maybe try and get one to weigh in?
Agreed! It is amazing that this test had so much problems, yet people’s lives mentally, physically, and financially depend on it! Makes me so angry.
Oh, side note, I lost my arbitration. 20 yr career gone. Hundreds of thousands defending myself and the arbitrator not only put the burden of proof on me, but made a medical diagnosis to help justify it...
“...given the lack of verifiable evidence that his tests were false positives, we must land on the side of what is scientifically supported, and conclude that Danford is in denial about his disease and relapse...”. Mark L Burdette, Delta vs Danford, 2021.
CONCLUDE I am a relapse in denial!! Keep in mind only two MDs testified, one my witness, one theirs (who ironically is actually my FAA doctor), and BOTH said I was in sustained remission.
So he came up with that medical conclusion with his vast experience as a HR exec... Mark L. Burdette. Willing to share transcripts, briefs and the decision so anyone can make up their own mind.
And I showed unrefuted proof a person can get a positive and negative on the same day. Apparently that isn’t scientific. And on and on and on.
The FAA, a dentist board, one organ transplant board, senior FAA HIMS AMEs, several rehab clinics, and the founder of biomarkers all acknowledge false positives, but many judges, delta airlines and Alpa still have their heads in the sand. This ignorance puts the public at risk by their own argument as their lack of interpretive skills is just as likely to NOT catch someone drinking. Garbage in, garbage out.
This is horrific!!! How do you prove a negative?? Unbelievable! That guy should be dismissed period. That was my frustration this whole time...one person makes all the decisions, yet in my husband’s case it was ok when you get the research done he could be dead and in your case, you lose your career and then what..you lose everything snd they come back ten years from now and say oh yea..oops. What ass*****. I am so angry for you.
He was given plasma for the Covid in the hospital. He is on high does of prednisone and other immunosuppressants so I mentioned that also and the transplant doctor just said most of their patients ra are it’s nothing new.
He is lung transplant so he doesn’t have a meld score his las is 48.1
This is so sad. Heck, COVID is so unknown and not researched that they can’t even say. Plasma and other drug products do effect some tests. We argued and argued that too. Some of these doctors egos are so out of this world that they cannot admit they don’t know it all. My husband is only alive now bc we asked for a second opinion: we were treated so badly after asking for it but he got his transplant on 2/17/2021 and is healing each day. I have started a letter to the state medical board about the incompetence of the doctor who did us wrong.
Asking for anyone in this group for assistance with my current custody battle. My ex is accusing me of alcohol abuse and trying to obtain primary custody of our daughter. He moved away from the state where our daughter was born five years ago and is using this as a means for a change in circumstances to have her move over 400 miles away from me. I am a healthcare provider and during the COVID pandemic I sent our daughter to stay with her father to keep her safe, however this turned into the worst decision I ever made. Since then he has made my life a living nightmare. I have spent over 30K in legal fees fighting for custody thus far. He recently convinced the family court to have me complete a PETH test. The first test came out high over 250. Not believing the result I repeated the test and came back in the 80's. But because of the initial high value I am dealing with trying to make the court see that these tests are not to be made the "Gold Standard" for diagnosis. I have provided documentation from my therapist who is also a trained substance abuse counselor, and I have passed urine and saliva testing. Despite trying to explain to my attorney that these tests can yield false positive results, she states that if I do not come back with a negative below 20 on my next PETH test I am likely to lose my daughter. I haven't consumed alcohol, but even my last test came back positive with a score of 80. Does anyone know of an expert witness, or can provide cases similar to mine where PETH test where deemed unreliable for diagnosing alcohol abuse? I am in desperate need of help and would be forever grateful!
Private message sent. What are the dates and location you took the tests? Dried blood spot? What lab processed?
You pose a slightly different question. PETH is most reliable for abstinence determination. Where only a false positive can trip it up. Using it to determine alcohol use is really problematic! It’s simply a chemical your body produces when it processes alcohol, how much anyone makes vs how much they drank, VERY LITTLE to NO standard correlation.
Generally speaking if you got ANY number (other than near the limit of detection) and haven’t consumed ANY alcohol in a month, is a false positive.
If you are a very light drinker and got a 250, well, you likely produce more Peth than the average joe, but egads, any body’s guess.
So far the best expert witness I’ve seen is Dr Greg Skipper. Google him and call that number. He’s currently working on correlating individual PLD activity with individual Peth production, right up your ally.
I do have documentation from the FAA acknowledging a false positive, but it did come on the heels of time appropriate follow on testing, which you may or may not have.
There are a couple of cases listed in this thread that are child custody related. There is a wealth of knowledge here, keep giving us details so we can help.