UNIVERSITY · DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, January 22, 1997
11A
FDA approves over-the-counter drug test
Parents get new option to check their children
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON An over-the-counter test that lets parents check their children for drug use won Food and Drug Administration approval yesterday.
Dr. Brown's Home Drug Testing System, the first in the controversial field to win approval, can detect
cocaine, heroin, marijuana, PCP, amphetamines and other drugs in a mail-in urine sample.
The approval comes four months after the Clinton administration battled congressional charges that, in the face of escalating teen-age drug use, the FDA was blocking parents' efforts to test their children.
"The approval of this test gives parents another option to consider to help ensure that their children remain drug-free," said Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala.
But use of the test is not restricted to parents, leaving it open for anyone to use.
Test creator J. Theodore Brown Jr., a Silver Spring, Md., psychologist, expects it to be widely used by relatives of people fresh out of drug treatment who are ripe for relapse without the deterrent of daily testing.
"It's therapeutic, nonpunitive and comparatively inexpensive," Brown said. "This system would be something to empower the individual citizen."
Last September, critics attacked the FDA for cracking down on an Atlanta woman who sold 1,000 home drug-test kits without the agency's knowledge. The FDA said it had no way to know if her test was
accurate, but congressional critics argued the agency merely was keeping from parents the same tests employers can use — and charged that the agency has no clear policy to say when home tests for any disease are ready for laymen.
The FDA relented, letting home drug tests be sold temporarily while it re-evaluates how strictly such kits should be regulated.
Before the fray erupted, Brown in January 1996 asked the FDA to approve his home drug test.
Yesterday, the FDA wrote to Brown saying that his kit was the first to win government approval, giving him a marketing advantage
against unapproved competitors sold during the agency's temporary amnesty.
"Although parents can breathe a sigh of relief today, the FDA has neglected to lay out a strategy for approving any other home testing kits," said critic Rep. Richard Burr, who called on the FDA yesterday to settle the issue for the growing home-testing industry.
Brown said his kits would reach drugstores within six weeks and would cost less than $30. Consumers will mail a urine sample in a protective, tamper-proof package to a government-certified laboratory.
tests, doing a confirmatory retest to minimize false results. One to three days later, consumers — using a code number to preserve anonymity call an 800 number for the results.
The lab uses FDA-approved drug
Every drug test can miss abuse, when, for example, the urine is sampled too late.
It also can falsely signal abuse if the person ate certain foods that mimic the metabolites that the drug tests measure.
Brown's Personal Health and Hygiene Inc. will explain those limitations before giving callers their test results and will offer referrals for drug abuse counseling or medical care.
Teen pleads guilty to the murder of his family, gets 90 years
Police mystified about why teen committed crime
The Associated Press
EASTON, Md. — Giving no explanation other than that he snapped, a teen-ager pleaded guilty yesterday to stabbing and bludgeoning his
mother, stepfather and brother, and was sentence to 90 years in prison.
Michael Fisher, 17, received 36 years for each of his second-degree murder pleas in last February's slayings of Susan Fisher, 41, Christopher Fisher, 27, and David Fisher, 14.
During the hearing, prosecutors read a transcript of Fisher's confession, in which the teen-ager said he "snapped."
"It was like I tried to stop, but I couldn't," he said. "It was like I was pushed aside."
Fisher then took a shower, changed his clothes, hid the weapons and called the police, prosecutor Scott Patterson said.
Though he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, Fisher was found criminally responsible for his actions.
Wearing a jacket, tie and black high-top tennis shoes, Fisher remained expressionless during the sentencing.
As he was led out of court in handcuffs and shackles, he waved and flashed a smile at relatives and friends.
"His life is over," said defense attorney Donna Shearer.
The hearing left the mystery that
has perplexed residents throughout this community on Maryland's Eastern Shore unsolved: Why did he do it?
Police looked for a history of violence, a poor academic record, even links with Satanism.
"Each time they followed these leads," Patterson said, "they always came up empty."
"It was like I tried to stop,but I couldn't."
Michael Fisher convicted 17-year-old
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