The Last Nail in Jeremy Mayfield’s Racing Coffin?
A urine sample that resulted in a failed drug test for suspended Sprint Cup driver Jeremy Mayfield was sent by NASCAR to an independent laboratory for analysis, according to court documents.
Last Thursday’s latest court hearing of the Mayfield case brought news that all but confirmed the drug in question was methamphetamine.
To paraphrase Mayfield at the time, and in response to release of court documents, “I have never taken methamphetamine, no NEVER!”
Which led me to question why deny so strongly the name of the drug that was, and has been redacted from every court released document. Mayfield in effect vehemently denied the ESPN story sourced by two unnamed people. It was a strange action by a guy that has been prone to such actions from the inception of this saga.
As the lede of this story indicates last weeks data dump from the court also reveled Mayfield’s original drug sample was in fact sent to a separate an independent lab for testing at the time.
Also note this factoid put the lie to Mayfield’s signed affidavit that was part of last weeks hearing: “I have never taken methamphetamines in my life, and when accused of taking them I immediately volunteered to give another urine sample,” Mayfield said in the affidavit.
Mayfield contends he was denied the opportunity for a second sample, we now know that not to be true, either that or Mayfield and his gang of lawyers weren’t aware the sample was tested by a second lab.
The importance of this latest revelation is NASCAR submitted to the court the results of this independent test and the name of the individual or laboratory who administered it.
There’s not one chance in Hell NASCAR would have documented either fact unless this confirming and independent test didn’t support the original tests of sample “A” and sample “B” given last May at Richmond.
As my title suggests I believe this is the final nail in Jeremy’s racing coffin. It also confirms my original thought that Mayfield’s bank of lawyers are not so much contesting what was found, although they’d Luv to can’t with any credibility, but are contesting the drug program as a whole and how it’s being run.
I understand why, that’s just what high priced retainer fees get you, if lawyers can’t attack directly they take potshots around the periphery of a case hoping to win the overall battle.
At this point, and evidenced by every statement issued by Mayfield’s lawyers, they contend NASCAR’s drug program fails to follow the governments federal workplace guidelines. Those guidelines are issued by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) revises some of the scientific and technical guidelines for Federal drug testing programs and revises certain standards for certification of laboratories engaged in urine drug testing for Federal agencies.
Notice the highlighted “Federal agencies” above.
No where in researching the federal program did I find any requirements for a private testing program to be part of, or more importantly follow the federal guidelines, it’s an option with respect to privately run programs but not mandatory.
As we all know NASCAR went their own way in devising their system.
However, it is interesting to note the SAMHSA does publish a list of testing facilities they certify as part of the federal program, NASCAR’s preferred agency Aegis Laboratories is near the top of the alphabetical listing.
For whatever that’s worth.
On the specific issue of methamphetamine positive results the federal program requires a “methamphetamine positive test to contain at least 200 ng/mL of amphetamine before reporting the result as positive.”
SAMHSA conducted tests related to this 200 ng/mL limit with the following results:
On a special set of performance testing samples the Department found that the requirement adequately controlled all of the possible technical problems based on observations of results reported by the laboratories on that set of performance testing samples.The results indicated that a significant number of laboratories experienced chromatographic resolution problems when methamphetamine was present with ephedrine and 2% of the performance testing results evidenced a methamphetamine response when challenged with high concentrations of over-the-counter medications (e.g., ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or phenylpropanolamine).
These results indicated that the 200 ng/mL rule was effective in preventing any false positive results.
That said, unless I missed it these guidelines don’t cover private testing programs.
To be fair if NASCAR’s program in any way negates the “200 ng/mL rule” it would give Mayfield and his lawyers a window of opportunity regardless of how the program is run however small or large that window may be.
But keep in mind Aegis Labs is federally certified to conduct all types of drug testing and there’s little reason to believe they ignored the “200 ng/mL rule” that resulted in a false positive in Mayfield’s case.
There has ben some reports in the media of potential conflicts of interest with regards to Dr. Black as he’s listed as the owner of Aegis Labs and Medical Review Officer (MRO) in Mayfield’s case. Fed guidelines address this issue also:
The MRO is a licensed physician with a knowledge of substance abuse disorders who verifies whether the tests are positive or negative.In the case of a positive result reported by the laboratory, the Mandatory Guidelines require that the MRO contact the employee and personally interview the employee, i.e., in-person or by telephone, to determine whether alternate medical explanations would explain a positive result. See section 2.6(c).
During the course of such interview and possibly through having the specimen retested, the MRO may identify false positive test results.
Bingo! Whether Fed guidelines are followed by NASCAR or not, this is exactly what has occurred in Mayfield’s case.
It’s been widely reported Jeremy was contacted directly by Dr. Black with the initial results, that a second and confirming test (the “B” sample) was conducted with similar results, plus as noted above a third test by an independent lab also found the same results.
Given what is in the public record, and via the research I’ve conducted I’ll stick by my assessment that Mayfield’s goose is cooked and the presence of a third and independent test is the final nail in his racing coffin.
The court proceedings may prove me wrong but with what I know now I don’t think so.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=622e7390-4a6b-4e7e-8b5c-7dcf8aec5724)
How could he have been so stupid, did he think that, in this day & age, he would not get caught.
Apparently so. Even more stupid are his shysers who think they can wiggle their way out of this.
One the other hand, that’s what shysters earn their huge retainers for doing, trying to prove the impossible.
Jeremy is taking a n RX for Adderal.Adderall is nothing more than a mixture of d/l-amphetamine. It will show up as amphetamine on a drug test. It may show up as methamphetamine if thats all they are testing for in the drug test.
I think judgement must be with held until the court battle is over. Adderal is a powerful amphetamine use for Attention Deficit Disorder, which many adults have.
Clance, all that may be true….but has he ever explained why it was in his system?
Yes it can be taken for ADD, but it can also be taken for recreational use.
If you were a NASCAR driver that had been prescribed this drug (you don’t just write your own prescription) would not you be informing the governing body first?
Sorry, on this one I think a very simple explanation applies; he got caught doing illegal drugs.
Clance’, glad to see you out and about but I gotta say you’re barking up the wrong tree latching onto Mayfield’s “drug cocktail” defense.
I went down that road very early in this story, starting with his nonsense about taking a hair follicle test.
And note the results of this alleged hair follicle test has never been entered into the court records, gee I wonder why? Hot air maybe? No, it was flatout BS with the intent of masking the real issue. It’s called “look at the shiny object defense.”
Once I dispensed with that happy horseshiiit, I moved onto just what Claritin plus Adderall produces when discovered in a test.
As I fully expected from my experience in monitoring such programs this combo of drugs will not produce a false positive for methamphetamine.
I’d grant it’s possible if done by some fly-by-night lab, but Aegis is definitely not in that category. Aegis is not only internationally known but is accredited by the very Fed program Mayfield’s shysters claim NASCAR’s program should adhere to.
You’ve convinced me Marc; I’m off the Mayfield “I didn’t do it” band wagon.
It reads like there is little to no chance of a court reversal on this issue. If he should win on a procedural SNAFU he’ll still be on the outside looking in. Mother Daytona will see to that.
Well thanks for the endorsement George, does it come with a vote for World’s Greatest BS Artist also?
P.S. What the hell you doing up at 3 plus am?
nice stuff! when do we get the assembly line going for our south american baseball steroid players? football? and basketball players going? oops and european hockey players too? TRUST! I guess americans fill the parks and stadiums we tax payers build? to watch minor leaguers play for bookies? yes build ball parks stadiums and the handicap get thrown out into streets because state of michigan can’t afford their gatherning place? but can afford 150 million dollar ball park for a billionair? also family into casino business too? michigan home of that great football great barry bye suckers sanders! TRUST! liars cheaters animal vicks type of sports hero’s? we watch their foul games and we spend billions to watch too? yeah trust experts drug testers? hell anything anybody? system of control and media journalist with scripts out comes? sports broadcasters who see no evil speak no evil about truth of what most of us who played sports see junk talent. hollywood sports players MVP should be academy awards players and best co stars awards (charities)? jeremy mayfield! this guy is the fall guy of illegal drugs in his system big news story? yeah last nail in jeremy mayfields racing coffin story. INDEPENDENT NATION. michigan little big horn. AMEN.
Frank, I’ve had a number of loony comments left here in the last 5 plus years but you, you have just about topped the list of loony.
Normally I dump your type of nonsense into the basura bin but no not this time.
This time your idiocy stays as an example of nuttiness.
Congratulations!
P.S. You do know what capitalization and punctuation is used for don’t you! NITWIT!
Marc, I think Frank might have been responding to another subject at another site & has accidently posted here………that is about the only explanation I can offer.
Hey, I thought I (or maybe George) was at the top of the list of loony.
Hey Marc: C’mon - why hasn’t anyone mentioned the really obvious explanation: Ray Evernham set Mayfield up for squealing on him. It’s a fix!
Seriously, NASCAR covered all the bases if they have an independent confirmation from a second lab. I would agree that Mr. Mayfield’s driving career is over, unless he goes for the Sanford-style tearful admission and begging of forgiveness.
I’m with the other posters - what the f*ck was the man thinking? He doesn’t have any of the outward signs of meth addiction - did he think he’d try it “just once”? This is coming from someone who grew up in the drug culture: Meth is not a drug you try because the potential consequences are just too great.
I am, however, going to disagree with you about hair testing. If he took meth, then you would see it in the hair test as well. A clean hair test might raise questions, but in conjunction with two dirty urine tests, it wouldn’t clear him. The literature is divided about the utility of the hair test - I don’t think the verdict is in on that one.
Nice wrap up, Marc!
Nice cover for a loony-bin resident Peter but, I ain’t buying it.
And BTW, I make the list of loony, George fails to make the cut.
But Blokeman, or even Metrosexualman, well that’s a whole ‘nother kettle 0f fish.
And List!
Diandra, high praise coming from you, THANKS a bunch.
As for the hair test, from what I’ve seen, admittedly limited in both scope and in my ability to understand what I found in researching the subject, the hair test is limited to the types of drugs they can detect and to a specific time frame.
Because any drug taken would have had to be ingested within “X” number of days before the test (to allow for the hair to grow out) I defaulted to that type of test not being of any value in this case.
Not to mention Mayfield or his shysters have never mentioned he took the hair test as he claimed.
[...] The Last Nail in Jeremy Mayfield’s Racing Coffin? [...]