Do I need to worry about being on phentermine if I get drug tested?
There are some professions, such as commercial airline pilot, where taking phentermine (along with many medications) is not allowed. In all other cases, having a letter from our program stating that a participant is receiving this medication as part of a physician-supervised weight loss program has been sufficient to avoid any problems, to the best of our knowledge. Because of its similar chemical structure, phentermine could produce a false-positive result for amphetamine-like drugs on a broad screen immunoassay, such as a urine-tox screen. However, a follow-up test, which is more specific, such as Gas Chromatography, should then clarify that the drug is phentermine and not an illicit substance. However, showing an employer our letter before any drug testing has occurred should prevent this from becoming an issue.
