{"id":45138,"date":"2017-07-06T06:28:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-06T06:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=45138"},"modified":"2017-07-06T06:28:00","modified_gmt":"2017-07-06T06:28:00","slug":"nurse-blames-sweaty-sex-coke-user-failed-drug-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=45138","title":{"rendered":"Nurse blames sweaty sex with coke user for failed drug test"},"content":{"rendered":"

A \u201cpassionate\u201d Melbourne nurse claimed traces of cocaine found in her body weren\u2019t from taking drugs but from not washing after having sex with a user.<\/p>\n

Tara Seymour appeared before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal in March after failing a drug test last November. She had previously admitted taking drugs on a Thai holiday and cocaine at a party \u2014 but denied consuming drugs before the test.<\/p>\n

Seymour has been a nurse since 2011 at the John Fawkner Private Hospital in Coburg, where she has an excellent employment record, and was said to be passionate about nursing.<\/p>\n

She told VCAT in the hours before the test she had sex with a \u201cvery sweaty\u201d man without contraception, and that she didn\u2019t bathe or use the bathroom between the sex and providing the urine sample.<\/p>\n

The mother-of-one said she didn\u2019t know the man was a drug user and denied knowingly breaching the condition of her registration. When she gave her evidence she pointed to research where the possibility of such contamination was discussed.<\/p>\n

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She told the hearing she carried out household chores and went out for lunch before conducting her random urine test at about 2pm.<\/p>\n

However, a chemical pathologist, Julia Chang, who appeared at the hearing said Seymour\u2019s version of events was \u201chighly improbable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chang\u2019s opinion was it require 17 oz. of semen or sweat to get a similar result and said no semen was detected in the urine sample.<\/p>\n

Seymour\u2019s suspected drug abuse was first drawn to the attention of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Authority back in 2014 but no action was taken. A second anonymous source raised the alarm again in March last year and two months later a drug test found traces of methamphetamine, amphetamine and non-prescribed sedative zolpidem in Seymour\u2019s hair.<\/p>\n

The Board suspended her for a month and on return, placed her under supervision and imposed frequent drug tests, reported the Herald Sun.<\/p>\n

She was eventually placed on less stringent and costly tests \u2014 but after the November test proved positive for cocaine \u2014 she was cautioned and the stricter testing program reinstated.<\/p>\n

Seymour asked VCAT to review that decision.<\/p>\n

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In its findings, VCAT found Chang\u2019s evidence persuasive and cast doubt about Seymour\u2019s story.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore relevantly, various features of Ms. Seymour\u2019s case made her explanation of contamination less credible,\u201d deputy president Heather Lambrick found.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrior to giving evidence before us, Ms. Seymour had never told the board that she had sexual intercourse on the morning of 16 November, 2016. She only made reference to the evening of 15 November, 2016.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lambrick continued: \u201cMs. Seymour, in her evidence before us, was at pains to deny that she had in any way wiped or cleaned herself or urinated for some hours after sexual intercourse. We considered this unlikely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adv<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n