Dvla Medical Urine Tests

[BazzaS]

There are two separate but intersecting issues here.

a) why your urine appears dilute to DVLA

b) how to prove to DVLA you aren’t taking codeine.

 

a) You mention you are on blood pressure tablets. If these are ”water tablets” / ’diuretics’ : that might explain the dilute urine. Would you be happy to say which one(s) you are on?

If this is the issue, that then feeds into b).

 

b) if you are on diuretics, you could ask DVLA Driver’s Medical Group for which they would prefer of you:

i) providing a hair sample for drug testing, or

ii) Asking your GP to change you to a ‘non-diuretic’ blood pressure medicine if the GP can offer an option that you could accept for the benefit of allowing you to ‘pass’ the testing.

 

BF, my reading of the issue is NOT that the OP is testing positive for codeine, but that DVLA are saying the urine sample looks like it is too dilute, and looks to them like the OP has drunk lots of water or taken diuretics to dilute the sample, making it unsuitable to reliably test.

 

 

[BazzaS]

36 minutes ago, BankFodder said:

 

Presumably you are at your post-weaning stage?

 

OP said their last codeine ingestion was 2018, so, yes, presumably ... unless they have ingested eg (as you mentioned) Poppy seeds.

 

It reads to me as “sample being rejected by DVLA” rather than “sample tests false positive”, though.

 

If the OP could confirm (+/- the details of their blood pressure med(s)),.....

Edited March 29, 2020 by BazzaS

[BazzaS]

OP,

again (separating out the issues),

If your current meds aren’t a reason your urine is more dilute than it should be, you might want to mention DVLA’s test finding to your GP, (or at least ask them if they are already aware of you having dilute urine).

 

so unless,

a) you are on diuretics, and

b) DVLA agree hair testing,

It seems likely you’ll be speaking to your GP’s. Even if DVLA agree hair testing you might want to discuss it with your GP anyway, for peace of mind.

Edited March 29, 2020 by BazzaS

[BazzaS]

Amlodipine (on its own) shouldn't give ‘dilute urine’.

 

Amlodipine is also available as a tablet that contains 2 other meds, one of which is a diuretic (this would be under brand name ‘Sevikar’ though).

 

if it isn’t clear why DVLA think your urine is to dilute : muscle mass will affect the level of creatinine in your blood, and thus in your urine, so this MIGHT be the issue.

Suggest you seek advice from your GP. Your GP can consider why (& will be looking at it from a “your health, including driving” point of view, with a less narrow focus than DVLA’s “licensing only” point of view). Your GP might send a urine sample and might even send a paired urine and blood sample to look into this further.

 

Your Article 4 Human Right (if looking at the UK’s Human Rights Act) is an “absolute” right, and is the right not to be held in slavery or servitude, or made to do forced labour. I think it would be “a stretch” to claim your Article 4 rights were being infringed.

 

if you were thinking instead of your Article 6 right to a fair trial, you would have to exhaust your right to appeal first, which would be by complaint to the Chief Exec of DVLA, and then an appeal to a Magistrate’s Court. It’d be sensible to have the info from your GP to argue your point on medical grounds for the first , and sensible to use a solicitor used to the law regarding driving and DVLA appeals for the latter.

 

There is no Article 20 Human Right Under the UK’s Human Rights Act.

if you are instead trying to invoke Article 20 (personal mobility) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities: that’d be another complex battle!. I could ask a friend with experience in this field but I would expect the answer to be similar to above : would need to exhaust existing mechanisms for escalation / appeal, first.

 

 

[BazzaS]

Has your GP sent a paired blood and urine, (urine for ‘urine osmolarity’), test?

Checked your blood sugar?

https://labtestsonline.org.uk/tests/osmolality-osmolarity

 

That might give you a starting point.

 

Have DVLA given any indication of what tests they are using (urinary specific gravity? Urine  Osmolality?? Urinary Sodium and/or Creatinine???) to decide your urine is “too dilute”?

 

The approach I would take is:

a) Find out why DVLA think your urine is too dilute (starting this soon, as it may take a while to get a reply if they don’t want to say!), at the same time as

b) asking your GP for the blood and urine test, to ensure your results are normal for you / your muscle mass

c) If your blood and urine results are normal for you / your muscle mass, prepare to start the (appeal to DVLA / escalate to DVLA Chief Exec / Magistrates Court appeal) process.

 

The grounds for appeal would be that they are failing to make a reasonable adjustment for your disability (using alternative testing for those people with disabilities that lead them to have such reduced muscle mass) that lead you to be unable to meet their current testing regime.

 

I’d expect this to be a long, drawn out process (unless someone else has been through it, and you could refer them to that case, at which point they’ll likely back down when faced with precedent).

 

For that reason, once you have your medical evidence, I’d suggest enlisting the help of a disability rights / disability personal mobility rights organisation : to help you find a precedent, or increase your chance of winning and creating that precedent!