Building Trustworthy Drug Testing for Addiction Treatment with Zed Dhalla

What happens when a drug test gets it wrong? For people in recovery, one inaccurate result can mean dismissal from a program, a return to jail, or a complete breakdown of trust.

Mark Scrivner and Jeff Skillen sit down with Zed Dhalla, Co-founder and COO of Topaz Diagnostics, who built his company after losing his brother-in-law Tyler to an overdose. Zed explains why point-of-care testing has moved far beyond the "three-dollar cup," how Topaz became the only company detecting orthomethylfentanyl in its fentanyl test, and why the soft cost of fractured trust may be the biggest risk facilities overlook.

Behavioral health leaders will walk away with a sharper understanding of what their testing is missing and what accuracy is really worth.

Key Moments
00:00 – Intro
02:39 – Why Topaz is not a lab, and why that matters
04:32 – Zed shares the story of his brother-in-law, Tyler
06:48 – Yes, there is an FDA-approved, CLIA-waived fentanyl test
08:19 – 150 fentanyl analogs and the orthomethylfentanyl blind spot
13:16 – A false positive that sent a person on parole back to jail
24:35 – Zed's cancer diagnosis and the push toward preventative testing
33:31 – The soft cost of broken trust in recovery facilities

Learn More & Connect

Show Notes + Resources: https://snapshotinteractive.com/mastermined 
Connect with Zed Dhalla: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zeddhalla/  | https://topazdiagnostics.com/ 
Connect with Mark Scrivner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markscrivner | https://snapshot.agency/health 
Connect with Jeff Skillen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-skillen-199507/  https://www.skillsetenterprises.com 

Our Sponsor - Snapshot: https://snapshot.agency/health

Snapshot Health | Behavioral Health Marketing Built for Growth and Impact 

Snapshot Health is a strategic growth and marketing partner for behavioral health organizations nationwide. We help treatment centers, mental health providers, and recovery programs grow responsibly by aligning brand, digital strategy, and patient acquisition with clinical integrity and long-term outcomes. Our team specializes in performance-driven marketing for behavioral health, including SEO, paid media, branding, marketing strategy, website development, and admissions enablement. We focus on attracting the right patients, improving conversion, and building scalable systems that support sustainable growth. Snapshot Health brings deep expertise in compliance, ethics, and trust-based marketing. We partner closely with executive teams to drive predictable admissions growth while protecting reputation, mission, and quality of care.

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