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Press Coverage of SSD To view a summary of local press coverage straight away, click here: http://www.businessderbyshire.co.uk/company/s/surescreen.htm But what's in the drugs? (From Observer Magazine) Sweetener, stone and even ground glass were found in the drugs bought around Britain, as tests by forensic scientist Jim Campbell reveal the variable purity and hidden dangers of street sales Sunday April 21, 2002 I received an assortment of street drugs purchased by The Observer journalist, and I weighed the contents then analysed them for their drug content and purity. These figures show that the amount you get for your money can vary considerably from one location to another, and a half-gram deal can contain as little as one-tenth of a gram. His haul in Edinburgh included a bag of heroin containing 0.04g - less than one-twentieth of a gram. The purity also varied very considerably with some 'heroin' being mainly pulverised stone and glass. There is no way of knowing what the purity is when the drugs are being bought. Casting the issue of legality to one side, drug users are being exploited in a way that no trading standards would allow if this were any other consumer commodity. What's more, using drugs of unknown quality is highly dangerous. It can easily lead to health problems or inadvertent overdosing. If you're used to 'scoring' 'low purity' heroin, and you inject 90 per cent, it could prove fatal. The National Drugs Helpline put drug users in touch with us at SureScreen for any technical help, so we have to be hands-on professionals giving help that is easy to understand. As a forensic scientist specialising in drug-related cases, I now feel that drug users should be encouraged to test their drugs. We are looking at making a little, automated device to test ecstasy tablets. We have shied away from this sensitive issue, but we now feel the home-testing market is ethically justified. Those other elements in full Heroin: Nutmeg, brick dust, stone, glass... anything from the dealer's yard, as long as it maintains a persuasive colour. Ecstasy: Traditionally, with white tablets: food dye, starch, talcum powder. But now different colours have started to appear on the market in part, I imagine, because it allows the dealers to throw in all sorts of stuff. The white colour was at least some sort of protection. Cocaine: Sugar, flour, talcum powder, starch, even calcium silicate (used on arm injuries). And, in terms of the "active" ingredient, increasingly you will now have cheaper amphetamines (speed) instead of cocaine. · Jim Campbell is a forensic scientist at SureScreen Labs, Derbyshire Drugs Uncovered: Observer special News and comment Exclusive Drugs Uncovered poll Introduction The knowledge Street market Staying clean Class A capitalists The future? Drugs policy debate Britain's hard drugs epidemic: Observer investigation New epidemic fear The drugs debate: Observer investigation More from Guardian Unlimited The changing drugs debate
Beer mats test for rape drugs Sunday June 2, 2002
Beer mats that tell drinkers if their lager or gin has been spiked with a 'date rape' drug are to be distributed in pubs over the next few weeks. The trial is part of an ambitious plan to use biotechnology to halt soaring numbers of drug rape cases in Britain. Last year, 2,000 women reported that they had been sexually assaulted after their drinks had been spiked, a rise of 60 per cent on the previous year. The mats will also show if a person has been given amphetamines, cocaine or ecstasy. If successful, the scheme will be introduced throughout Britain. 'Date rape has become an increasingly worrying problem,' said Jim Campbell, chief executive of Sure Screen Diagnostic, which has developed the bio-mat. 'This is an easy-to-use solution that could save a lot of suffering.' Although most drink-spiking occurs in pubs and clubs, it also goes on at parties, friends' houses or even at work. Victims (of whom 12 per cent are male) lose consciousness and wake with no clear memory of their rape. Flunitrazepam tablets, known as 'roofies', as well as ketamine and GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate) are most commonly used because they are difficult to detect in drinks. Some manufacturers now mix these drugs with dyes - though they remain hard to spot in dark drinks. However, the beer mats will give drinkers an unambiguous signal of danger. The scheme's mastermind, Detective Superintendent Andrew Bailey of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, stressed that the introduction of bio-mats would require careful publicity: 'People have to be made aware of the problem and know these beer mats are being put in pubs.'
Disposable dipper to detect "date rape" drug
is launched Dipitin costs £4.99 for three test strips. It will detect small amounts of any benzodiazepine - the class of sedatives to which Rohypnol belongs. However, it cannot detect GHB (gamma hydroxybutryic acid), which is also commonly used as a date rape drug. "But we are working on a test strip that will also detect GHB," says Jim Campbell of SureScreen Diagnostics. "We hope that an integrated test will be available by the end of the year." So-called date rape drugs are tasteless, odourless and colourless. In 2001, the number of women and men reporting being drugged and raped is rising by 50 per cent each month, says the UK's Drug Rape Trust. LGC in Middlesex, which is being funded by the UK government to research ways of producing a cheap test for any of 40 date rape drugs, warns that women using the strip should not be complacent. Alcohol and recreational drugs are much more commonly implicated in drug-assisted sexual assault than sedatives, the company says.
The test, marketed as Dipitin in the UK and US, takes between 45 seconds and one minute to complete. The end of the strip is dipped in the drink and changes from blue to red in the presence of a benzodiazepine. "We set the cut off limit so that the test will pick up the tiniest tablet available dissolved in one pint of liquid," says Campbell. The test kit is only available by mail order. However Campbell says the company is in talks to sell the kits through shops and bars.
The LGC wants date rape drug swizzlesticks to be cheap enough to be given away free with drinks in nightclubs and bars. "The ultimate swizzlestick will be able to cheaply test all kinds
of drugs," says a spokeswoman for the LGC. This would include a
test for alcohol, so a woman drinking what she thinks is fruit juice
can be sure her drink has not been spiked. A device dreamed up by a Derby entrepreneur to help put a stop to drug rape looks set to hit the world market by Christmas. Proofers, created by Ashley Sims (30), can be dipped into drinks to test if they have been spiked with drugs most commonly associated with drug rape such as gamma-hydroxybutate (GHB). Mr Sims says the idea for the invention came to him in a dream and he approached Surescreen Diagnostics Ltd, in Prime Parkway, Chester Green. The firm then designed Proofers, which went on sale this month. Since then it has attracted interest from chemists and distributors in Australia, Austria, New Zealand, Spain, China and the U.S. Mr Sims, of Brailsford, said: “The response we have had to the Proofers has been amazing. I had no idea there would be such a worldwide market – it shows drug rape is a very important issue to a great many people. “This is by far the most successful thing I have ever invented. The interest it has created is beyond anything I could’ve imagined.” Mr Sims, designer of the upside-down map in 1996, hopes Proofers could be selling at a rate of five million a month by next year. His company, Rescue Ltd, in Prime Parkway, has been in discussions with U.S. distributor Saga City, which hopes to supply about 25 million Proofers a year to the country’s largest supermarket chains. At the moment, Proofers can be bought from Surescreen and Rescue Ltd via the internet. Boots Chemists and Superdrug have said they are keen to either sell the devices or use them as prototypes for an own-brand product. Mr Sims says he hopes they will be on shop shelves by Christmas. Each pack of three Proofers costs £4.99 and Surescreen has pledged to give 10p from each sale to the Roofie Foundation – a charity which provides a 24-hour helpline for people who may have been raped. The packs are purse-sized and can also be used to test the first urine after a drug rape incident may have occurred. Chief executive of the Roofie Foundation Graham Rhodes said: “This invention is a huge leap forward in the fight against drug rape. One of the biggest problems in prosecuting people accused of spiking drinks is proving it. Hopefully Proofers will provide some assistance in doing that.” X-treme measures can be taken Another Derbyshire firm has joined in the fight against drug rape. MP Bio Science International, based in Bishops Lane, Buxton, has designed a bottled cola drink which can be screwed shut after a mixer is added. The drink, called X-treme Cola, is marked out as two 25ml measures, one of which is left empty for the mixer to be added. The managing director of MP Bio Science, Paul Hockenhull, said: “People are scared to death of having their drinks spiked and put themselves at risk every time they leave their glasses unattended. This bottle allows them to keep their whole drink under a screw cap and should give them peace of mind.” © Derby Evening Telegraph 2001 PROHYPNOL Recent seizures and anecdotal reporting indicate that distribution and abuse of flunitrazepam are increasing domestically, especially in southern and southwestern States. Of particular concern is the drug's low cost, usually below $5 per tablet, and its growing popularity among young people. Flunitrazepam is a benzodiazepine that is used in the short-term treatment of insomnia and as a sedative hypnotic and preanesthetic medication. It has physiological effects similar to diazepam (commonly known by its trade name, Valium®), although flunitrazepam is approximately 10 times more potent. Flunitrazepam neither is manufactured nor sold licitly in the United States. It is produced and sold legally by prescription in Europe and Latin America. The drug usually is smuggled into and transported within the United States through the mail or delivery services.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is continuing with its administrative process to reclassify Flunitrazepam from a Schedule IV to Schedule I drug. A request has been forwarded to the Secretary of Health and Human Services for a medical and scientific evaluation of Flunitrazepam and a scheduling recommendation. DEA will make the final decision regarding the scheduling of Flunitrazepam. Manufacture and Distribution
A British firm, SureScreen Diagnostics, has developed a new test that can detect the presence of the 'date-rape' drug Rohypnol in drinks. The test, Dipitin, contains three testing strips which the company says is more than 99 percent accurate. The test strip is effective on all types of drinks, including coffee, tea, soft drinks, and alcohol however, the test may not work on drinks with extremely high levels of alcohol. (10/2001) Flunitrazepam is sold under the trade name Rohypnol, from which the street name "Rophy" is derived. In South Florida, street names include "circles," "Mexican valium," "rib," "roach-2," "roofies," "roopies," "rope," "ropies," and "ruffies." Being under the influence of the drug is referred to as being "roached out." In Texas, flunitrazepam is called "R-2," or "roaches." Scheduling In 1983, flunitrazepam was placed into Schedule IV of the 1971 United Nation Convention on Psychotropic Substances. To comply with the convention, the United States placed flunitrazepam in Schedule IV of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 (CSA), despite little evidence of its abuse. In March 1995, flunitrazepam was moved to Schedule III by the World Health Organization, requiring more thorough record keeping on its licit distribution—the first benzodiazepine to require more rigid controls. However, due to recent increases in seizures and abuse of this drug, DEA currently is reviewing the possibility of placing flunitrazepam into Schedule I of the CSA. A Schedule I drug is considered to have a high potential for abuse, to have no currently accepted medical use in treatment, and to lack accepted levels of safety for use under medical supervision.
TELL TALE TEST FOR DATE RAPE DRUGS An inventor has developed a test to tell whether drinks are spiked with the date-rape drug Rohypnol. The kit is made up of sticks which women dip into their drinks. If the drug is present, they change colour within a few seconds. Manufacturers plan to sell the strips, called Proofies, for £5 for a packet of three, and hope to target student bars as well as high street chemists. Inventor Ashley Sims came up with the idea after reading about a serial rapist in America who used the drug on his victims. He said: "I would be quite happy for Proofies to not to be a great success, because it would mean there was no problem for it to combat. But unfortunately most young women have to be on their guard while out enjoying themselves." Manufacturer SureScreen, of Derby, believes the test will be a big seller. Spokesman Jim Campbell said: "Some big chemist chains are interested, but this is a product which we can see bars and clubs wanting to sell". Rohypnol, also known as Roofies, has no smell, taste or colour when dissolved in drinks and leaves victims sedated for up to eight hours with no memory of what happened.
Cancer test’s pioneers all set But Southern Derbyshire Health Authority has refused to endorse the scheme and is warning people to be careful before opting for the DR-70 test. The Derby Evening Telegraph revealed last year that Derby company Surescreen had been chosen as the European distributor of the American-made test. Now people can call for appointments for the first testing session at the Surescreen laboratory in Prime Parkway, Chester Green, on Tuesday. Other UK centres will open up later in the year. The company says the test is 95 per cent accurate and will cost £75 – and will include a package of care. However, people who test positive and need further medical help will then have to contact a GP or private doctor. Surescreen, which has called its test the CD13+ system, has already carried out trials. It is hoped this latest initiative in Derby will also help construct a database of results that will provide ammunition to persuade the NHS to adopt the test. Surescreen managing director Jim Campbell, who has himself been given the all-clear after taking the test, says that there has been a lot of interest from the NHS, including Derby City General Hospital. He said: “Biotechnology products like this are often too good to be true. A large number of trials have to be carried out to convince the establishment the product is accurate. “Having conducted our own in-house tests to complement those of the manufacturer, we have shown the test is viable.” However, Dr Stephen Whitehead, director of public health at Southern Derbyshire Health Authority, who had previously met staff at Surescreen, has expressed reservations. He does not believe enough research has been done to show that the test is accurate and said that the cervical cancer screening programme had been evaluated extensively but was still open to error. He added: “Any screening test must be thoroughly tested and shown not to do more harm than good. “I would advise people to be circumspect and talk to their GP if they are thinking about having the test.” Southern Derbyshire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust spokeswoman Clare Neill confirmed yesterday that staff at Derby City General Hospital were considering using the test as part of new trials for ovarian cancer screening. However, she added that discussions were in the “early stages”. Process will look for cancer cell emissions The test uses a blood sample and looks for a cancer marker in the serum. This marker is a degenerated fibrin protein, which is emitted by cancer cells. The test uses an antibody which has been engineered to detect a string of amino acids in the degenerated protein. Someone going for the test will be asked their background and whether there is a family history of cancer or if they have come into contact with cancer-causing agents. Then a blood sample will be taken by a trained nurse. The results will then be given over the telephone or by post, depending on the wishes of the patient. If there is a high level of the protein, which would indicate a tumour, the participant will then be seen by a trained cancer specialist who can make some preliminary examinations. Then the patient will need to see a doctor for further tests. Surescreen is also working with Nuffield, the private hospital chain, to provide the test and aftercare. People diagnosed with high levels of the degenerated fibrin protein will be refunded the cost of the test. Anyone wishing to make an appointment for the test should call 01204 844445 or 0500 864460. © Derby Evening Telegraph 2001
Regional press news - this story published 29.5.2001 Testing time for Durisch Yesterday was a singularly stressful day. I had been volunteered to undertake the new DR-70 cancer screening test available from this week at Surescreen Diagnostics. For a fee of £90, people can take a blood test that is analysed for a protein which is indicative of cancer. It is claimed to be 95 per cent accurate and the results are known within three days.
And I could have a cancer which is inoperable and basically untreatable. Am I better off knowing that? Would blissful ignorance not be preferable? On the other hand, discovering a cancer at a very early stage could save my life. I am not a young man and, for decades, I have poisoned my lungs with tobacco smoke and pickled my liver with alcohol. I could also usefully lose some weight. Basically, I fall short by some way of being a perfect physical specimen. And there is a history of cancer in my family. I arrived at the Surescreen offices with considerable trepidation. Then phlebotomist Dorothy Patterson (58) took 7.5 ml of my precious (to me) blood for testing. Christine Flanigan (53), the firm's cancer testing project manager, said: "We have had 30 patients here in Derby yesterday and today and the phone is ringing all the time. "Often they have their own doubts and suspicions. They don't come on a whim." But what happens if someone gets a positive result and their general practitioner is unsympathetic? "There is no easy answer to that," she said. "But because we are a private company, we can't refer them to a GP. We would do everything that we can to support them and we can help with treatment - but it would be private treatment." As somebody who scores near the top of any cancer risk league table, I awaited the result with great trepidation. Yesterday I made the call. I was told that my test gave a reading of 0.07 micrograms per ml Ð an extremely low level. The test is negative. I had anticipated that if fortune favoured me and the news was good, I would experience a flush of euphoria. That did not happen. Instead, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief.
Cancer pioneer hopes for firm Thousands of lives could be saved in Britain each year by the DR-70 test, hailed by the Cancer Research Campaign as the “holy grail”. The test detects cancer antibodies in blood, which are produced when a tumour starts growing – giving an early warning of the disease and buying time for treatment. It would be of particular benefit against cancers with no early symptoms which are untreatable by the time they are diagnosed. Surescreen Diagnostics, based in Chester Green, has acquired the rights to sell the test in the UK and hopes to launch it in the spring, pending Government approval. Jim Campbell, managing director of the Prime Parkway company, said: “The test could be used for many types of cancer, including those of the lungs, breast, stomach, ovaries and cervix. “It could be very useful for people with a family history of cancer, or for those at risk, such as smokers or people who have been in contact with asbestos or other cancer-causing chemicals.” The test requires just two millilitres of blood and results are available in 24 hours. Results will only show that the patient has cancer, not which type of cancer it is, so a positive result would need to be followed up by further specific tests. Californian firm AMDL has developed the test but Surescreen has been involved since the early stages of its development. It costs £50 to carry out and Mr Campbell envisages that it would only be available through GPs or private healthcare. He said: “I envisage a time, 10 or 20 years from now, when everyone will have a cancer screening test every few years, just as cervical cancer is screened for now.” The NHS currently only screens nationally for breast and cervical cancer. NHS studies on the test are about to begin but it is already on sale in Canada and Hong Kong and is being used on a restricted basis in the U.S., pending final approval. Clinical trials in China, Chile and Taiwan found the test was more than 90 per cent accurate for cancers of the stomach and lung and slightly less so for tumours of the breast and rectum. Mr Campbell said: “In trials the test does better than current methods of diagnosis.” Nick Mould, committee member of the Derby Cancer Support Group, said: “It’s great news. I’ve got bowel cancer which is difficult to detect early on, but if it is detected it’s very easy to cure. “Catching any sort of cancer early on with this test will save lives.” Click here for more news stories. © Derby Evening Telegraph 2000
This story published on January 8, 2001 Cancer test set for sale Surescreen Diagnostic in Prime Parkway, Chester Green, is the European distributor for the test called DR-70 which has been developed by American firm AMDL. AMDL claims the test, which costs £50, is 95 per cent accurate and can detect 13 cancers. © Derby Evening Telegraph 2001 Cancer 'holy grail' set to cut deaths Special report: the future of the NHS Anthony Browne, health editor Thousands of lives a year could be saved by a revolutionary new test that can detect most common forms of cancer before there are even any symptoms. The cheap test, based on a simple blood sample, can find cancers as soon as they start forming and has been described as the 'holy grail' of cancer diagnosis. Most cancers have no early symptoms and are only diagnosed after it is too late to treat them effectively. The new DR-70 test, offering early detection, makes successful treatment far more likely. It could save the lives of hundreds of sick people who die because doctors take so long to diagnose a cancer that it becomes untreatable by the time it is identified. The DR-70 test could immediately show which cases are cancer rather than something less serious. Dr Mary Berrington, of the Cancer Research Campaign, said: 'This test is potentially exciting. It would be enormously useful. It's the holy grail of cancer diagnostics.' The test, which costs around £50, can tell whether someone has any one of 13 different cancers, including those of the lungs, breast, stomach, ovaries and cervix. Regular screenings could dramatically cut the death rates of most forms. 'Once cancers show clinical symptoms, it's often too late. The earlier we get them, the better - the test could have a very big effect,' said Berrington. The invention, developed by Californian firm AMDL, has been approved for sale in Canada and restricted sales began in the US last May, pending approval from the Food and Drug Administration. It is also being used for widespread screening in Hong Kong. Independent clinical trials have been conducted in China, Chile and Taiwan. The results, published in the respected medical publication, the Journal of Immunoassay , showed that the test was more than 90 per cent accurate for cancers of the stomach and lung, and slightly less reliable for breast and rectum tumours. The Derby biotechnology firm Surescreen Diagnostics, which has the rights to sell the test in the UK, plans to seek Government approval to launch it in this country. 'It would make some major strides forward in screening. We would like to have the go-ahead to sell the product, first through private clinics,' said Jim Campbell, Surescreen's principal scientific officer. The test identifies the antibodies produced by the immune system when a tumour starts growing. 'As soon as the cancer is formed, and you produce the antibodies to fight it, you can detect it,' said Campbell. The test requires just 2cc of blood and takes as little as two hours to perform. The test is especially attractive because it is non-invasive and much less daunting than others, such as mammograms for breast cancer. It also tests for a wide range of cancers, and so could replace individual tests for each type. However, the test does have some drawbacks. It may miss some cancers. It also only shows that the patient has cancer, not which type it is. If the result is positive, then further tests must be done to identify where the cancer is and what form it has. There is also the danger that the test may produce false positive results, raising the false alarm that someone has cancer. Regular screening for much of the population would be expensive for the NHS, and raise the cost of cancer treatment because more patients would need it for longer. The NHS now only screens for breast and cervical cancer, although the Department of Health is considering introducing a national screening programme for prostate cancer. Gary Dreher, chief executive of AMDL, claimed that the test should be used for annual screening. 'Since early diagnosis has many advantages and cancers in their early stages don't show any symptoms, it's just common sense to spend $100-or-so every year or two after you are 30 or 35 to learn whether you have cancer,' he said. anthony.browne@observer.co.uk Interest in new cancer testing The blood test, called DR-70, has been made by American firm AMDL and will be distributed in Europe by a Derby biotechnology company, Surecreen Diagnostics, based in Prime Parkway, Chester Green. Costing £50, the test promises to detect up to 13 cancers before symptoms start to show. Sid Patel, laboratory manager at Surescreen, has now announced that three groups, the names of which have not been revealed, are evaluating DR-70 with a view to testing people. Surescreen originally said the test would be available for sale at the beginning of January, but this has been delayed until the laboratory companies are on board. Mr Patel said that only the private sector would be involved at this stage because the NHS wanted to do its own evaluation. He said that once the test is available, Surecreen will refer people to the nearest designated laboratory. © Derby Evening Telegraph 2001
UK: Marijuana DNA Test Fears Voiced
It said researchers had identified DNA sequences within the chloroplast, the part of the plant cell responsible for photosynthesis, that are specific to cannabis sativa, the plant name for marijuana, and that are not found in any other species. The discovery by researchers at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow makes it possible to take a swab from someone's hands and test it for the cannabis DNA sequences. "This test is as sensitive as you can ever get," Adrian Linacre, one of the inventors, told New Scientist. "Theoretically, it could pick up the presence of just one molecule of cannabis DNA." Because the test multiplies the amount of DNA, it works on minute samples, unlike existing techniques. But this acute sensitivity is causing concern. Chris Evans, of Surescreen Diagnostics, which markets drug-testing kits, said the test could trap the innocent. "If you have been driving a second-hand car and a previous owner has been using cannabis, you could get enough on your hands to test positive," he told the magazine. Bank notes could also carry trace amounts of the drug. Linacre said he had calibrated the test so that only relatively large quantities of DNA gave positive results. He is developing the test to detect the DNA profiles of different strains of cannabis, such as those grown in South Africa or Thailand. "We will be able to use genetic evidence to link different batches of cannabis and trace them back to their original source," he said.
AMDL Announces Surescreen Diagnostics, United Kingdom, Granted Distribution Rights For DR-70 Cancer Diagnostic Kit TUSTIN, CA., November 9, 2000 - AMDL, Inc. (OTC BB: AMDD), developer and marketer of tests for the early detection of cancer and other serious diseases, today said it has granted distribution rights for the United Kingdom for its DR-70™ cancer diagnostic test kit to Surescreen Diagnostics, Derby, England. "Surescreen is beginning the process to obtain clearance from the Government's Medical Devices Agency and is optimistic that this can be achieved by next spring," said Gary L. Dreher, AMDL President and Chief Executive Officer. The DR-70™, a non-invasive blood test, has shown in clinical trials to be able to detect the presence of one or more cancers 84 percent of the time. Clinical trials have been conducted in Canada, Taiwan, China and Turkey. DR-70™ has been made available to U.S. physicians and laboratories under a research exemption granted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Pathologist Jim Campbell, Surescreen's principal scientific officer, said that "this test is not expensive and could benefit patients who come from families where there have been high incidence of cancer or who simply want to be screened for their own piece of mind." Campbell said at present, many people often go to the doctor when they have symptoms, which means the disease has spread and is more difficult to treat. "The announcement of our choice of Surescreen led to recent significant publicity about our product in England," Mr. Dreher said. "Major stories appeared in The Times, The Daily Mail, The Observer, BBC News as well as other European countries."
Family rivalries of cancer test firms Two months ago, forensic scientist Jim Campbell (49), managing director of Surescreen Diagnostics in Chester Green, launched his DR-70 test for an inclusive charge of £90 per patient. But three weeks ago, his nephew and former employee, Christopher Evans (23), offered an identical test through his company DR-70 (UK) Ltd in Oakwood for £75 plus medical consultation fees. “I thought that I had exclusive rights to this test in this country,” said Mr Campbell. “Chris worked with me and I took him over to California to meet AMDL who developed the test. Then he left our firm and I wasn’t aware that he was doing this on his own. “It is perhaps unfortunate that we are both in Derby. This is all a shame but we do talk to each other. Chris is a young man who wants to make his own way in the world.” Mr Evans was adamant that he had negotiated with the Californian company and that he also had approval to provide the test in Britain. He said: “We are confident that we also have the rights to offer this test in the UK. “I do discuss technical matters with my uncle but we don’t talk about the business side of things. “I left Surescreen just over a year ago and after three months I decided to do this. “We are now offering the test through private doctors at more than 30 centres across the country. Some centres are already sending us between eight and 10 tests a week. “We charge £75 for the test itself but there are also the doctors’ fees for the initial and follow-up consultations which would probably together average about £50 to £60 in most parts of the country.” The test works by measuring certain breakdown products in the blood which are usually much higher in people with cancers because of substances secreted by tumours. It is controversial partly because of the lack of data on the test from highly-regarded medical centres in Western Europe or North America. A study in Wuhan in China in 1998 showed that 95 per cent of negative results were correct and 84 per cent of positive tests were accurate. Those figures also reveal that 16 per cent of people studied who did have cancer, gave a negative result in the tests. An Imperial Cancer Research Fund spokesman said: “Like any new test, DR-70 must be evaluated very carefully and proven to be effective.” Click here for more news stories © Derby Evening Telegraph 2001
Patrick Weir reports on a drug testing kit for worried parents So your 16-year-old daughter is looking out of sorts. Keeping later nights, she seems to be surviving on little sleep and is generally vague and irritable when you ask her how things are. You can't be sure, but hasn't your 15-year-old son lost a little weight recently? Not wolfing down the food with quite his customary gusto? Aren't you worried? Judging by the alarm bells ringing at Surescreen Diagnostics Ltd, your child could actually be a walking, mumbling repository for any number of drugs doing the rounds in the pubs and clubs where he spends so much time losing himself. Between 40% and 50% of young people in Britain today have tried one substance or another, so who knows? But don't panic; Surescreen has the answer: if you can get your recalcitrant teenager to give you a urine sample before he crawls into bed, the Derby firm's home drug-screening kit will do the rest. Currently obtainable by mail order and due to be marketed nationally in the next few weeks by a chain of major chemists, the At Home Drug Test is the first screening kit in the UK that has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. Costing £24.99, the one-use kit offers a 99% accurate test for amphetamines, cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy and heroin. Surescreen's principal scientific officer, Jim Campbell, insists that the test has a beneficial role to play for both parents and children. "Whether referred to us by their GP or an NHS trust treatment centre, an increasing number of anxious parents have contacted us over the last two years to buy the test. There is a very real demand." The kit comprises a urine cup, gloves, an instruction manual and five test strips. Once armed with your urine sample (this one will surely stump most parents) you dip the test strips into it; if you get a positive result you then send the strips and urine to Surescreen, who will run further tests to determine which drug has been used. The presence of prescription drugs won't trigger an inaccurately positive reading. "When the parent rings us for the results, the interpretations of a positive result, in terms of the drug's effects and its health risks, are discussed," says Campbell. Simple. However, many drugs experts are sceptical about the benefits of the kits. Home testing can establish whether a drug has or has not been recently taken, but it cannot determine previous or future use. And the effects on the parent-child relationship, they say, could be devastating. "I'll give you a gold clock if you can show me a relationship between a 15-year-old and a parent where such testing would help," says Gerv McGrath, director of Addaction, a drug counselling group in Derby. The kit, he says, is simply a cynical exploitation of parents which has no therapeutic value in the home. "It's not conducted in an informed way by the parent as it doesn't recognise that alcohol is the main entry point to drug abuse. The test can't show this. And how could a parent possibly use it in a trusting relationship? Working from the position that says, 'I don't trust you,' it has no benefit whatsoever. It certainly won't help a difficult relationship." What's more, he adds: "If the test is negative, it doesn't tell you much. Your child might not have been using drugs today or last week, but what about three months ago or next year?" McGrath advises worried parents to spend the £25 on taking the child out for a meal and talking things through. "Testing won't prevent drug abuse and is a complete waste of time and money. And how parents with three or four children are expected to shell out for it is anyone's guess." Dr Harry Markantonakis, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist at West Bromwich's Edward Street hospital, insists that trust has been broken once a child tries drugs. But while he would consider using the test on his own children, he is also aware of the risks he would be running. "If a parent were to suddenly ask a child to take the test, without any prior dialogue, that would be very wrong. Otherwise, how you do it is crucial, but in good relationships I'm not convinced that it would always necessarily cause conflict. "But a parent could overreact to symptoms that are typical in teenagers. Seeing your daughter flushed and bleary-eyed on occasions is nothing to worry about, and if you're asking me if that represents a case for this test, I'd say forget it." |
