BusinessTN

When NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield tested positive for methamphetamines in May, he countered with a claim that a false positive was created by a mixture of prescription ADD drugs and allergy medication. The incident, which set off a legal back-and-forth between Mayfield and NASCAR, is currently making its way through the courts. And at the center of it all is Nashville-based Aegis Sciences Corp., one of the nation's top drug-testing labs and the NASCAR-appointed administrator of the random test.

"We do not believe there is any merit to the arguments that are being presented that the testing was not accurate and the program and policy are somehow deficient," says Aegis founder and president David L. Black. "We are confident that as this case moves forward the courts will understand that both the science and the policy are very sound."

In an age where performance-enhancing drugs go hand in hand with professional athletes and widespread media coverage, it seems unlikely that Aegis' booming testing business will suffer anytime soon. The company, which can test for 3,000 performance-enhancing drugs, designs and administers testing programs for professional, collegiate and high school athletic programs across the country. In addition to NASCAR, big-name clients include the Major League Baseball Players Association.

Though athlete testing may be the firm's highest profile service, representing a significant growth area for the company, it's joined by Aegis' single largest segment -- the pain management division, which allows doctors to monitor patients who are prescribed drugs for chronic pain.

"The biggest drug abuse problem we have in our society is the abuse of prescription medications," Black says. "The concern is patients may divert the drugs to the street, so doctors test the patients to ensure they are taking the medication. If the drugs are diverted to the street, the doctor will be subject to investigation and possibly prosecution, so there is a very legitimate need."

But it's taken more than athlete testing and pain management to put Aegis on its current track to achieve a minimum of 40% growth and more than $33 million in revenues by year's end. In addition to its mainstays, the company has applied the science of drug testing to the workplace and postmortem death analysis.

Though Black says business in the company's workplace drug testing segment is down due to a sluggish economy, he points to a "slight increase in pre-employment drug testing, which suggests at least some businesses are beginning to consider hiring."

In addition, Black says a troubled economy provides the opportune time for companies to consider investing in on-the-job testing, as the long-term savings of identifying a drug using employee outweigh the $50 to $60 price tag of a test per individual.

"Controlled studies indicate the cost of a drug using individual for an employer is somewhere between $8,000 and $13,000 per year per drug user, and that's without a worker's compensation claim," Black says. "That's associated with poor performance on the job, excess access to health care benefits, absenteeism, theft and high turnover."

Thus, even a down economy doesn't stand to impede Aegis' recession-resistant business. After all, while people are prone to celebrating in good times, in bad times, they'll still be looking for something to ease their pain.