CLIENT NOTICE:
CHANGES TO URINE DRUGS OF ABUSE (DOA) IMMUNOASSAY SCREENING
March 2015
Danijela Konforte, PhD FCACB
Clinical Biochemist, ON LifeLabs
Effective March 23rd 2015, LifeLabs (formerly CML) will implement new technology for urine
drugs of abuse (DOA) immunoassay screens and plasma ethanol testing. As a reminder,
specimen collection at LifeLabs is not done using chain of custody processes and results must
be used for medical purposes only.
In parallel, LifeLabs will implement reporting changes to improve layout and include interpretive
messages related to potential causes of false positive and false negative results. Example
reports are provided for your perusal (please see Appendix).
What do changes to urine DOA screening technology mean to LifeLabs’ clients?
1. No change to the DOA screen menu whether it is ordered on its own (OHIP- L078), or in
context of Broad Spectrum Toxicology Screen (OHIP-L079):
 Urine DOA screen will continue to include Amphetamines, Benzodiazepines, THC,
Cocaine Metabolite (BEG), Opiates, Oxycodone, Methadone metabolite (EDDP), and
ethanol
 Urine Barbiturate screen will be tested only when specifically requested on the OHIP
requisition
2. No change in analytical specificity for any DOA screens.
3. No change to drug detection limits (cut-offs) except for Benzodiazepines, Cocaine
metabolite, and Barbiturates which are lowered to 200 ug/L, 150 ug/L and 200 ug/L,
respectively, for improved sensitivity (See Table 1).
4. Urine DOA screen result reporting is now qualitative:
 Results at or above the method’s detection limit will be reported as ‘Detected’
 Results below the method’s detection limit will be reported as ‘Not Detected’
Note: Qualitative reporting for medical urine DOA screens is the standard of practice in
Canada. Quantitative reporting is required only for legal and forensic urine testing.
LifeLabs is excited to implement these changes to urine DOA testing and reporting. If you have
any questions, please consult with a member of the LifeLabs Medical/Scientific Biochemistry
team at 1-877-404-0637. We welcome your feedback!
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Table 1. Drugs included in urine DOA screen on the Siemens ADVIA 2400 Testing
Platform
Urine Drug/Drug Class
Immunoassay method
Detection Limit
Amphetamine/Ecstasy
CEDIA (Thermo Scientific)
1000 ug/L
Benzodiazepines
EMIT (Siemens)
200 ug/L
Cannabinoids (THC)
EMIT (Siemens)
50 ug/L
Cocaine Metabolite
(Benzoylecgonine-BEG)
EMIT (Siemens)
150 ug/L
Opiates
EMIT (Siemens)
300 ug/L
EDDP (Methadone
metabolite)
CEDIA (Thermo Scientific)
100 ug/L
Oxycodone
EMIT (DRI-Thermo Scientific)
100 ug/L
Barbiturates
EMIT (Siemens)
200 ug/L
Ethanol
Enzymatic
2 mmol/L
CEDIA – Cloned Enzyme Donor Immunoassay Technology – Homogenous Competitive Immunoassay;
EMIT – Enzyme Multiplied Immunoassay Technology – Homogenous Competitive Immunoassay
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