DOT Drug Testing Rules Proposed to Change

DOT drug testing rules are proposed to change based on a document released by the Secretary of Transportation. The proposal is to “amend its drug-testing program regulation to add four opioids (hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxymorphone, and oxycodone) to its drug testing panel.” Also in the running to be added to the panel is methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) while methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDEA) is proposed to be removed.

“The notice of proposed rulemaking, announced Jan. 19, is intended to harmonize with the revised mandatory guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for federal drug-testing programs for urine testing.”  Changing the DOT drug testing rules would also “add clarification to certain drug-testing program provisions where necessary, removes outdated information in the regulations that is no longer needed, and proposes to remove the requirement for employers and Consortium/Third Party Administrators to submit blind specimens.”

Drug abuse trends and reviews of information on current drug abuse are monitored by HHS. This data is collected from “sources such as federal regulators, researchers, the drug-testing industry and public and private sector employers.” Adding these four new drugs to the panel is based on “a review of scientific information and on input from the Drug Testing Advisory Board on the methods necessary to detect the analytes of drugs and on drug abuse trends.” Other findings included data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which showed that “259 million prescriptions were written for prescription opioids;” prescription numbers like these are “more than enough to give every American adult their own bottle of pills,” the DOT reported.

To learn more about the proposed changes to the DOT drug testing rules, click here.

Increasing the drug testing panel might mean more problems with failed drug tests for employees. To promptly get your employees through the DOT or Non-DOT return-to-duty process consider partnering with SAP Referral Services. For more information on our SAP referral services, click here.