SAMHSA Approves Significant Drug Testing Changes
Posted by Jason Dailey on Tue, Jan 31, 2012 @ 06:00 AM
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced last week that it has accepted the recommendations of its technical advisory committee, the Drug Testing Advisory Board (DTAB), and will proceed with revisions to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs. The changes will include: (1) expanding the drug testing panel to include additional Schedule II prescription medications (e.g. hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxycodone, and oxymorphone), prescription painkiller opioid drugs, and (2) including oral fluid as an alternative specimen for Federal workplace drug testing programs. The additions of testing for prescription medications and having oral fluid as a specimen for drugs of abuse testing are seen as measures to strengthen the existing federal drug abuse prevention and control programs. (For a copy o
f the announcement click here)
The revisions to the DHHS Guidelines will establish the laboratory methods, cut-off levels and reporting standards for testing for additional Schedule II controlled substances, including many of the prescription opioid painkiller medications that are more widely prescribed, misused, and abused than ever before. The ability to test for these drugs in the Federal drug testing programs which apply to safety-sensitive and security critical employees in the public and private employment sectors is expected to improve workplace safety and serve to deter and detect misuse and abuse of these substances. (For more information of prescription drug abuse and accidents see EDPM Blog Jan 25, 2012)
The addition of oral fluid as a specimen for drug testing is important on two counts. First, it helps address the continuing concerns about adulteration, substitution, and tampering with urine specimens in workplace testing. Oral fluid specimens are more difficult to compromise. Second, oral fluid collections are essentially an “observed collection” without additional invasion of privacy concerns, and provide an alternative for individuals who cannot produce adequate, acceptable urine specimens for drug testing purposes.
The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has voiced its support for SAMHSA’s actions, and will follow with rulemaking to amend its drug testing regulations that govern drug testing of over 9 million workers in transportation occupations. The DOT is required by law to follow HHS procedures for the drugs for which it tests and the specimens it tests.
This is GOOD NEWS for workplace drug testing! It will give employers more tools in achieving drug-free workplaces and improve the efficacy of drug testing programs. The frustration for everyone is that it will not happen overnight! The federal rulemaking process is a deliberate one and there will be many months ahead of proposed rules, comment periods, further evaluation and data collection, final regulations, and implementation schedules. BUT….it’s progress! The strength of the Federal drug testing regulations over the past two plus decades has been the thoroughness with which the procedures, processes, legal implications, and other factors have been vetted and examined by all the stakeholders—and these latest changes will be no exception.
