California is investigating whether defective drug tests contaminate parole hearing

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is reviewing hundreds of state parole hearings to see if any inmates who have been denied parole have been denied due to drug testing errors.

According to officials, it is believed that nearly 6,000 drug tests in California prisons have been believed to have produced false alarms between April and July last year, and attorneys on the parole board are now reviewing inmate files to determine whether they need to appear before the parole board again for reconsideration.

Attorneys representing inmates who have defective drug tests say that if any inmates are denied parole due to a test error, they may hold a new hearing before the parole board.

The review is already underway and will determine that “if there is no positive drug screening, there is sufficient evidence to support the incarcerated person’s refusal to parole,” CDCR spokesman Emily Humpal said in a statement.

If there is not enough evidence to support someone other than drug testing, a new hearing will be scheduled.

CDCR officials declined to provide details on how many parole hearings are being reviewed and whether any parole hearings have been rescheduled since the process began. The department said more information will be provided after the review is completed.

Parole Board officials said this week that the representative of nonprofit laws is a nonprofit advocacy group seeking parole.

Attorneys on the group confirmed the wrong test results after receiving records, indicating that the state’s prison system soared between April and July last year, which raised suspicion that something went wrong.

The California Parole Board also reviewed 75 administrative denials, and 56 petitions were denied to advance parole hearings for prisoners, the group said.

All documents under review involve inmates participating in the CDCR’s medical assistant treatment program, who were recently denied parole or petition to raise parole hearings to an earlier date between April 2024 and this month. Inmates in the program use drugs to treat drug abuse.

The state’s drug tests conducted in the state’s 31 prison systems were distributed as part of a number of inmate drug treatment programs and included in the archives as part of the medical records. While prison staff are not allowed to use drug tests as part of any disciplinary action, members of the parole board have access to these documents.

Some advocates have pushed medical documents not included in parole hearing decisions, considering that the information is private and may also provide incomplete or defective cases of inmate behavior without input from doctors. Most importantly, advocates of the uncommon law argue that drug testing for medical treatment, such as defective drugs used last year, does not include follow-up tests to confirm the results and can push inmates to seek medical treatment for addiction.

“When the board used uncertain drug tests on drug use treatment records at parole hearings, they ignored not only scientific and expert medical guidance — they drove people to avoid lifesaving treatments in a fatal overdose in our state prison,” said Su Kim, senior policy manager for Unfair Law.

Uncommon attorney Natasha Baker praised the state’s move to review the recent parole board ruling but said it was still concerned that the results could affect prisoners.

“We will need to closely monitor the review process and ensure that the board takes the necessary steps to mitigate the impact of these misrecords,” she said in a statement.

The California Correctional Health Care Service first noted the wrong test, which provided health care for inmates.

According to data obtained by unusual laws, positive opioid screening in prisons in the state hovers around 6% per month on average. But between April and July 2024, the results range from medical drug tests is about 20%. For most prisons, about 8 tests produced positive results, the team said.

Quest Diagnostics, a company that provides the wrong test, said the company’s results came after the company temporarily changed the reagents or chemicals that were commonly used in testing. The replacement is believed to have received approval from the Food and Drug Administration, resulting in a higher positivity rate.

CDCR officials said it is notifying prisoners affected by the letter, which will also be included in its electronic health records.

On October 18, medical staff also provided additional training to the parole board on screening for drug use, including testing for medical purposes only.

Despite ongoing scrutiny, some lawyers remain concerned that there may be other inmates affected by drug testing.

“The board’s review may not capture everyone affected by this, as it is not entirely clear how the board determines that a false positive decision is decisive for a parole decision,” Baker said in a statement. “This [Parole] The board has not addressed the situation of those affected by false positives but not yet heard. ”