Methadone Drug Test
Updated October 14, 2026
Methadone is a long-acting prescription opioid, used for pain and as a daily prescribed medication in opioid-use programs.
The Methadone panel is one of the 14 on every Testr urine drug test, read on site by a certified collector at your door anywhere in the Los Angeles area. On a Testr report it is printed as MTD (Methadone).
How long does methadone stay in your system?
That range is typical rather than a guarantee: how much was taken, how often, body weight and hydration all move it.
The screening cutoff above is the level at or above which the on-site cassette reads positive. Below it the panel reads negative even when a trace is present, which is why the cutoff matters as much as the number of days.
Can a prescription cause a positive on the Methadone panel?
A positive is expected for anyone prescribed methadone. Lab confirmation reports measured levels, and every laboratory report goes to a Medical Review Officer (MRO), a physician who reviews laboratory-confirmed results and accounts for valid prescriptions before the report is released.
What does a positive on the Methadone drug test panel mean?
The on-site read is a drug screen. It reports positive or negative against the screening cutoff, not a measured level. Laboratory confirmation is what produces a number: a CAP-accredited laboratory quantifies the specimen by LC-MS/MS and reports measured levels, in about 72 hours. Every laboratory report goes to a Medical Review Officer (MRO), a physician who reviews laboratory-confirmed results and accounts for valid prescriptions before the report is released. Confirmation can be added when you book, or from the app within 2 hours of collection, while the specimen is still viable.
Methadose, Dolophine and the MTD panel
Methadone is prescribed in two settings: as a pain medicine, and as the daily dose given through opioid-use programs. It is sold as Methadose and Dolophine as well as under its generic name, as tablets and as a liquid. All of it is methadone, and the MTD panel screens for it at 300 ng/mL. Because it is long-acting, methadone is usually detectable in urine for 3-7 days, sometimes longer with regular dosing. That runs longer than the opiates, oxycodone and fentanyl windows.
Why methadone does not read as an opiate
Methadone is a synthetic opioid with a structure unlike morphine, so the opiates (MOR) panel does not screen for it, and the cassette carries a separate MTD line instead. The MTD line is just as narrow in the other direction: buprenorphine, fentanyl and oxycodone each have a panel of their own, so a specimen from someone prescribed methadone can read positive on MTD and negative on all three. Methadone is one of the panels added to a 10-panel kit most often, and it is not part of a standard 5-panel.
Methadone and EDDP at the laboratory
Laboratory confirmation measures two compounds for this panel: methadone itself and EDDP, the breakdown product the body forms from it, at 100 ng/mL each. Because EDDP forms only as the body processes methadone, the report shows the parent drug and its metabolite side by side, each as a level. Some cups print EDDP as a line of its own; on a Testr report the screen is the MTD panel, and the two measured levels are what the laboratory review is based on.
Methadone on a 5-panel, a 10-panel and a Testr report
A standard 5-panel has no methadone line, and since the opiates strip does not pick methadone up, someone taking it every day can test negative on every line of a 5-panel cup. Methadone is among the panels a 10-panel kit adds most often, though not every kit carries it, and a cup that does prints it as MTD. On a Testr visit the MTD line is read every time, next to MOR, OXY, BUP and FEN, so one specimen is read for all five opioid lines on the cassette.
What MTD means on the report
What does MTD mean on a drug test?
MTD stands for methadone. On a Testr report, and on most test cups, this panel is printed as MTD. On a Testr screen the MTD panel reads positive at or above 300 ng/mL, and it is usually detectable in urine for 3-7 days, sometimes longer with regular dosing.
What is the MTD cutoff on a drug test?
300 ng/mL on a Testr screen: at or above that level the MTD panel reads positive, below it negative. Other cups can print MTD with a different cutoff. Laboratory confirmation applies its own cutoff to each compound it measures and reports the measured level rather than a positive or negative.
Every code on the cassette, with its cutoff and detection window, is on one page: drug test abbreviations, decoded.
More questions about methadone
Does methadone show up as an opiate on a drug test?
No. The opiates (MOR) strip is built around morphine and does not pick up methadone, so the 14-panel cassette gives methadone its own MTD line at 300 ng/mL.
Does the MTD panel catch other opioids?
No. The MTD panel is built to screen for methadone, and the cassette gives buprenorphine, fentanyl and oxycodone panels of their own; the opiates panel covers morphine, codeine and heroin.
What is EDDP on a drug test?
EDDP is the breakdown product the body makes from methadone. Some cups print it as its own line; a Testr report screens methadone as MTD, and laboratory confirmation measures both methadone and EDDP at 100 ng/mL each.
Is Methadose the same as methadone on a drug test?
Yes. Methadose and Dolophine are brand names for methadone, so they read on the MTD panel exactly as generic methadone does, and laboratory confirmation reports methadone and EDDP levels whichever brand was taken.
How the Testr drug test screens for it
This panel is part of every Testr drug test. A certified collector handles the urine collection at your home, checks specimen temperature, and reads a clinical 14-panel drug screen cassette on the spot. For measured levels rather than a positive/negative read, add laboratory confirmation: a CAP-accredited lab quantifies the result by LC-MS/MS, with measured levels on the report. Testr covers the Los Angeles area seven days a week, 7 AM to 7 PM, with the earliest window 3 hours after you book.