The proof is not in Proveit's pudding

The drug test kit subject of complaint to the Commerce Commission has been pulled from the market, to the delight of Green MP Nandor Tanczos.

Following the Commerce Commission's investigation into Proveit, the marketers of Drug Check 5, it has been revealed the product has been withdrawn from the market, after Proveit cited a "lack of interest".

The Commission had asked Proveit to substantiate claims of 100 per cent accuracy for the testing kits and what steps they had in place to inform consumers about 'false positive' tests after Nandor, the Green spokesperson for Drug Law Reform, laid a complaint.

"I warned of the severe damage this product would have on families and the alienation this would cause to teenagers," said Nandor.

"Sanity has prevailed and New Zealand families have rejected this manipulative product from the marketplace, despite the avalanche of publicity when Drug Check 5 was released.

"The claims made by the marketers were entirely spurious. To say the product was 100 per cent accurate because their American distributors told them so was like getting health advice from a tobacco company.

"I feel fully vindicated by these results as Proveit could not come up with anything to refute the questions asked by the Commerce Commission.

"The product sucked, the makers knew it and it had to go."

In his submission to the Commission, Nandor provided evidence supplied by the Institute of Environmental Science and Research that indicated similar tests to Drug Check 5, which use immunoassay technology, are proven to produce false positives four to 34 per cent of the time.

"Even if one test out of 100 were false, that is still one family in 100 at risk of being torn apart from the consequences of a false reading.

"This completely irresponsible marketing generated a lot of publicity for Proveit but in the end, Proveit couldn't prove anything at all."

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