Hair Alcohol Test Kit to Help in Third of Care Cases

Alcohol or drug tests are requested in about a third of child cases and quite often involve both parents or more than one guardian.

News provided by

Trimega Laboratories

Mar 11, 2010, 01:35 ET

LONDON, March 11 /PRNewswire/ -- The recent surge in Local Authority child care applications has prompted a substance abuse testing lab to produce a kit explaining to lawyers how hair alcohol testing works.

Care application orders increased by 46% between April and December last year*, with the number of children going through the procedure reaching almost 800 in some months. This increase directly correlates with the number of Hair Alcohol Test requests that Trimega Laboratories has received, rising from 250 a month to an average of 482 in the same timeframe.

Trimega's 'Hair Alcohol Testing Information Kit' is aimed specifically at family law practitioners who can take advantage of the continuous professional development (CPD) course included in the kit. This course takes the form of a podcast by the 4 Brick Court barrister -- Jacqui Gilliat -- who specialises in children's law and edits the Bloody Relations blog.

Other features of the flip out USB stick include testimonials from law firms, case studies, sample reports and technical information about the different types of tests to identify alcohol abuse. For example, it describes the 'Complete Package' of alcohol testing: a combination of EtG (ethyl glucuronide) and FAEE (fatty acid ethyl esters) tests that provide a 'gold-standard' to determine an individual's alcohol dependency. The Complete Package, which is priced at 799 pounds Sterling, ensures there is never any uncertainty over the drug tests results in court and includes sample collection by a trained nurse as well as a supporting expert witness statement.

Avi Lasarow, managing director of Trimega Laboratories, commented: "The appetite for information about hair alcohol testing and the role it has to play in care applications has never been stronger, particularly as you might expect from solicitors and barristers involved in family law. We're pleased to be able to satisfy that hunger with our kits and they're going like hot cakes."

To request free copies of the USB kits, contact Trimega Laboratories on 0845 3880124 / www.trimegalabs.co.uk. NB 5% of profits from instructions received from the USB order forms go to the 'Who Cares Trust', which supports children in care.

* Source: www.cafcass.gov.uk/news/2010/quarter_three_care_statistics.aspx

SOURCE Trimega Laboratories