Evaluating the Athlete's Claim of an Unintentional Positive Urine Drug Test

摘要

The performance of drug testing and interpretation of drug testing results are necessary functions of a sports medicine physician. One of the challenges in interpreting drug testing results occurs when an athlete claims that positive results did not arise from the deliberate ingestion of an illegal or banned substance. The ability to discern the legitimacy of such claims is essential to a properly functioning drug testing program. The claim of an unintentional positive drug test can arise for one of several reasons. These claims often can be divided into one of the four following categories: