# Pre-OP Urine test? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 21, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-op-urine-test/632194 "2012-08-21T18:52:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ExcitedIdiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ea5d25/32.png) [@ExcitedIdiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExcitedIdiot)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-op-urine-test/632194/1 "2012-08-21T18:52:19Z")
A friend just called, freaking out, asking me about how to beat a drug test. She’s having surgery on a tendon in her hand, and the nurse called and told her to be ready to give a urine sample when she gets there. It will be outpatient surgery, with general anesthesia. This worries her because she occasionally uses marijuana. For reasons I’d rather not get into, it is very important to her to keep this a secret. I think it’s a really bad idea to fake the test, but I need to be able to reassure her that it’s not a drug screen, or that the results wont come back to bite her later. Anyway onto the questions: 1. What is the urine test for? 2. Can she request the results not go into her medical record? 3. How accurate is a hospital drug screen? Could she later deny the accuracy of said test? ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-op-urine-test/632194/2 "2012-08-21T19:14:52Z")
I’ve never heard of being drug-tested before surgery, and I have scheduled and pre-opped many surgeries. Plus, IIRC, you have to give specific consent to being drug-tested. It’s probably just testing for glucose, etc. I would tell your friend to not worry about it. Even if they did find marijuana in her system, confidentiality laws prohibit them from telling anyone, unless it’s a pre-employment test or law- or DFS-related, and then she would definitely know it was coming. Now that I think about it, I have filled out lab requisitions for doctors to test for street drugs without the patient’s consent. So they probably don’t need consent. I still wouldn’t worry about it. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-op-urine-test/632194/3 "2012-08-21T19:30:19Z")
Oh, nice, I see this thread has already been asked and answered. :smack: I guess you got\* too\* excited. ---
**Author:** ![ExcitedIdiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ea5d25/32.png) [@ExcitedIdiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExcitedIdiot)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-op-urine-test/632194/4 "2012-08-21T19:31:32Z")
Sorry. I thought the first post failed, it never subscribed me. Thanks for the advice anyway:) ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-op-urine-test/632194/5 "2012-08-22T13:57:05Z")
See other thread: > **[Pre-OP Urine test?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=662788)** > > A friend just called, freaking out, asking me about how to beat a drug test. She’s having surgery on a tendon in her hand, and the nurse called and told her to be ready to give a urine sample when she gets there. It will be outpatient surgery, with...