PETALING JAYA: The pilot who was arrested in Indonesia was found with a small bottle containing urine, believed to have been prepared as a substitute in case he was subjected to a urine test.
However, the practice of carrying or using another person’s urine is not uncommon, particularly among those attempting to circumvent pre-employment drug screenings and medical tests for visa applications.
Several individuals who spoke to The Star on condition of anonymity admitted to doing so.
One private sector employee, who only wanted to be known as A, said he had taken his friend’s urine for his pre-employment medical check-up.
“The company I was going to work for had strict policies on drugs. I filled a bottle with my friend’s urine as my friend was clean.
“Since you are alone in the toilet, there is no way the clinic staff would find out. That is how I cleared my medical check-up,” he said.
Another individual, who only wanted to be known as Jay, said she used her sibling’s urine to beat the test.
“You are allowed to take your bag into the toilet, hence the clinic staff will not suspect this,” she said.
At least three other individuals said they had substituted their urine samples during their pre-employment test.
Meanwhile, Shima, a foreign student, said she had also done that for her post-arrival medical screening.
Association of Medical Practitioners Malaysia president Dr Steven Chow and Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Associations Malaysia president Dr Shanmuganathan TV Ganeson said in a joint statement that urine tests for drugs are commonly used for pre-employment medical examinations, workplace screening, sports and situations where drug use is suspected.
“However, a drug test is only as reliable as the urine sample being tested. People conducting these tests must be aware that attempts can be made to substitute or tamper with urine samples,” they said.
“One of the simplest safeguards is supervised collection, where appropriate, by a same-sex collector while respecting the person’s privacy and dignity.”
“The temperature and other characteristics of the urine can also be checked to determine whether the sample is genuine and has not been tampered with,” they added.
The doctors said modern urine tests can screen for several types of drugs at the same time, including cannabis, amphetamines, cocaine, opioids, benzodiazepines and other commonly misused substances.
They said there have also been cases of chemicals being added to urine in an attempt to defeat a drug test.
While some substances may interfere with simple screening tests, they said, proper specimen checks and confirmatory laboratory testing make such manipulation much more difficult to conceal.
“We must prevent people from cheating drug tests, but we must also prevent innocent people from being wrongly labelled as drug users,” they said.
A screening test is not necessarily the final word. Some medicines and other factors may affect initial results.
“Where a positive result could cost someone a job, damage their reputation or lead to disciplinary or legal action, proper confirmatory testing should be carried out before serious action is taken.
“For large workplace screening programmes, tamper-evident collection containers and other safeguards are available, although cost will inevitably be a consideration,” they added.
They said employers who suspect drug misuse in the workplace should not attempt to manage the matter casually, adding that they should instead seek the assistance of the National Anti-Drugs Agency, consult their occupational health or panel doctors, and refer to the police, where criminal activity or possession of illegal drugs is suspected.
