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That depends. If a person is taking phentermine without a prescription, then showing phentermine on a drug test would cause the donor to fail the drug test on the grounds that they are using a controlled substance without a legitimate prescription.

If a person is taking phentermine that has been properly prescribed by their physician, however, it should not cause a failure on the drug test. This is because a properly-conducted drug test should consist of two phases.

The first phase of a drug test is sometimes called a drug "screen". This test is relatively sensitive to the presence of a target drug, but not very specific; in other words, it will find most of the illicit substances by casting a very large net but will catch quite a few "false positive" tests as well.

If a person has a positive screening test, the sample should be sent to the second phase of testing, the confirmation step. A screen that was positive for amphetamines, for example, might be sent to the laboratory for what is usually a testing process using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. This test will discover that the positive result was actually due to phentermine. Assuming a prescription for phentermine is available to prove the legitimate use of the drug, the person shouldn't fail the test.

One final possibility exists, however. If the person being drug tested is in what is called a "safety-sensitive" job, the rules governing what they can and cannot take are often much more strict. In these cases, even a prescription for a drug of concern may not clear the employee for work.

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13y ago

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