Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Psychemedics gets hair-based drug test OK’d by industry group

Psychemedics Corp., a firm that conducts substance abuse screening for employers, has received accreditation for forensic drug testing using hair samples by the Commission on Laboratory Accreditation of the College of American Pathologists (CAP).

The Acton-based company has been performing drug testing using urine samples since 1998 with full CAP accreditation. According to Psychemedics (AMEX: PMD), the company is the first to receive such a certification using hair. Psychemedics uses a patented hair test designed to can detect drug use over a period of months and is more difficult to trick through masking or substitution than standard urine or saliva-based tests, officials said.

As part of the certification, CAP inspectors examine two years worth of lab records and quality control of procedures. It also reviews the organization’s staff and equipment. Obtaining CAP accreditation is advantageous to laboratory testing companies because its criteria are “more stringent” than the federal system of inspection, the company stated.

Psychemedics’s testing laboratory is located in Culver City, Calif. The company reported a 2007 net income of $4.4 million on $24.5 million in revenue, and has 116 employees. CAP is a medical society with 16,000 physician members and pathology laboratory organizations worldwide.