PharmChek® for Criminal Justice

What Is the PharmChek® Sweat Patch?

The PharmChek® Sweat Patch is a successful and economical device for long-term and continuous drug testing. It is designed to be a minimally invasive drug testing system that offers court-supported, dependable detection of the most common drugs of abuse. The PharmChek® Sweat Patch is a comprehensive testing solution for adult and juvenile probation and parole, substance abuse courts, reentry/recovery programs, and workplaces.

Proven Advantages of the PharmChek® Sweat Patch

Continuous Collection for a Week or More

Conventional urinalysis provides only a few days of detection. The Sweat Patch offers up to 7 to 10 days of continuous sample collection (and up to 14 days when paired with the optional PharmChek® Overlay). With the PharmChek® Sweat Patch, you get a more comprehensive picture of drug use patterns to support recovery and accountability.

Wide-Range Detection Panels

Confidently detect the most common drugs of abuse, with additional panels available for common opioids. Each PharmChek® patch is screened by our partner SAMHSA-Certified lab, via immunoassay, with presumptive positives confirmed by LC/MS/MS.

Quick Application & Removal

Not only does the Sweat Patch require fewer appointments, leading to greater drug testing compliance, but application and removal take less than 10 minutes.

Noninvasive & Gender Indifferent

Testing with PharmChek® maintains privacy and does not require invasive sample collection methods. With PharmChek®, same-gender observation is also not required. Male officers can apply PharmChek® to female clients and vice versa. With the 24-7 continuous collection of both parent drugs and metabolites, Sweat Patch results are equally accurate, regardless of gender.

Tamper-Evident

The PharmChek® Sweat Patch is tamper-evident. A trained observer can quickly and easily determine whether a patch has been removed or compromised, providing more reliable test results. This level of visibility encourages more open discussions about recovery progress and lapses.

Perfect for Rewards and Sanctions

With its long window of detection, PharmChek® can provide recovering users with consistent accountability, helping them prove sobriety and be rewarded for it, serving as an external motivator to cease drug use.

Better Accuracy

Courts have relied on the FDA’s clearance of the PharmChek® Sweat Patch as proof of its reliability. In fact, dozens of peer-reviewed academic studies support the accuracy of the Sweat Patch, with hundreds of court rulings to back up its reputation for forensically dependable results.

With a SAMHSA Certified lab, quality control for specimen screening and confirmation testing is incredibly strict. Each Sweat Patch that screens positive is automatically advanced to confirmation testing via LC/MS/MS. The screening and confirmation results are then sent promptly to the supervising authority through a password-protected web portal or via FAX.

Courts have approved the extensive chain of custody procedures implemented for the PharmChek® Drugs of Abuse Sweat Patch. In U.S. v. Yang, No. 3:14-cr-00069, 2021 WL 4304705 (D. Alaska Sept. 1, 2021), the court considered PharmChem’s chain of custody training, information collected, methodology and protocol of specimen collection, specimen security, consent and certification forms, shipping, testing procedures, and results reporting to admit the test results as reliable. All individuals applying and removing the PharmChek® Drugs of Abuse Sweat Patch must be trained in the chain of custody procedures, which ensure the integrity of the sweat patch from the moment it is placed on a person’s body to the time it is tested at the laboratory. For a detailed description of the chain of custody procedures, click here.

What the Courts Say About the PharmChek® Sweat Patch

Hundreds of courts have ruled the results are reliable and admissible. In an opinion by retired Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court Sandra Day O’Connor, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recognized, “The patch … is used widely in the criminal justice system because of its perceived advantages over other forms of drug testing, e.g., its non-invasiveness, resistance to intentional adulteration, and ability to detect drug-use over relatively long periods.” MEYER, 483 F.3D AT 866.

PharmChek® Sweat Patch Upheld, US Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, 2007

PharmChek® has been upheld as a valid and reliable testing methodology in over 50 state and federal courts, including the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, by The Honorable Sandra Day O'Connor, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, (Ret.), sitting by designation, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 294(a).