Is There A Documentation Which Validates That Adderall Does Not Show Up As Meth On Hair?

Posted on Thu, 27 Feb 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 27 Feb 2014 Answered on

Tue, 25 Mar 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : I am in a custody case with my son. His mother has been required to take UAs to be able to have visitation. Back in April she failes a AU test which was positive for amphetamine. So a week later she has a prescription for Adderall.The judge orders her to take a hair test it comes back positive for amphetamine and methamphetamine. She is a kknown user and I know for a fact she uses meth but nevertheless is there any documentation out there to validate that Adderall does not show up as meth on a hair test and would this be accurate to say

Answered by Dr. Shoaib Khan (6 hours later)

Brief Answer: Data doubtful, but method present Detailed Answer: Hello sir and welcome. Thank you for writing to us. Almost all the tests unfortunately test positive and false-positive for methamphetamine even with the use of prescription drugs like adderall. So if your wife is trying to cheat her way out she has chosen a really smart way to do so. The 5-panel test which is conducted almost always returns a false-positive result to methamphetamine with the use of adderall which is what your wife is taking to her advantage. What I have noticed from my experience is that a molecular biologist can tell the difference, so check if you can avail a molecular biologists services for proving your point. But there is a way out, ask the laboratory which test they conducted, they will most probably report conducting a gs/ms test. What you need to do next is to ask them to check the ratio of d-methamphetamine and I-methamphetamine, and if the ratio of d-methamphetamine is less than 20%, that means it was a false-positive test. But, if the level of d-methamphetamine is more than 20% it is a true positive for methamphetamine which proves that the individual was on methamphetamine and any doctor can back this up. I know this from my practice and am not really aware of any printed data to prove the same, but I shall try my best to find this for you as well. Unfortunately, these studies have all been suppressed and kept in the dark for the financial advantage of huge pharmaceutical companies. I hope you find my response both helpful and informative. Please feel free to write back to me for any further clarifications, I would be more than happy to help you. Best wishes.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar