Tag: DOT

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ACCREDITED DRUG TESTING

Importance Notice!

Effective January 1, 2018, The Department of Transportation is amending its drug-testing program regulation to add hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxymorphone, and oxycodone to its drug-testing panel; add methylenedioxyamphetamine as an initial test analyte; and remove methylenedioxyethylamphetamine as a confirmatory test analyte. The revision of the drug-testing panel harmonizes DOT regulations with the revised HHS Mandatory Guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for Federal drug-testing programs for urine testing. This final rule clarifies certain existing drug-testing program provisions and definitions, makes technical amendments and removes the requirement for employers and Consortium/Third Party Administrators to submit blind specimens.

 

On November 10th 2017, The United States Department Of Transportation (DOT)  announced they will be amending the mandatory 5-panel drug screen to include expanded opiates, and expanding on CFR 49 Part 40.

Effective January 1st, 2018, the mandatory urine drug screening for all safety sensitive positions guided under CFR 49 Part 40 will include hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxymorphone, and oxycodone.

This new revision of HS Mandatory Guidelines with which the NPRM
proposed to harmonize Part 40, comes in two parts.

Part 1

Previous to this newly added regulation, the mandatory drug screening was a 5-panel urine which consisted of testing for the 5 most common street drugs.

A  5-Panel Urine Analysis consists of :

Amphetamines (Meth)
Cocaine
Marijuana
Opiates
Phencyclidine (PCP)

As of January 1st, 2018, under the new revisions of CFR 49 Part 40, a DOT drug screening will test for four semi-synthetic opioids (i.e., hydrocodone, oxycodone, hydromorphone, oxymorphone).  Some common names for these semi-synthetic opioids include OxyContin®, Percodan®, Percocet®, Vicodin®, Lortab®, Norco®, Dilaudid®, Exalgo®.

A 5-panel expanded opiates urine analysis consists of:

Amphetamines (Meth)
Cocaine
Marijuana
Opiates
Hydrocodone
Hydromorphone
Oxymorphone
Oxycodone
Phencyclidine (PCP)

What has caused this new DOT Part 40 Amendment?

Since President Donald Trumps declaration of the Opioid Crisis, America has become much more aware of the rapidly progressing problem of drug addiction.trump opioid crisisOn October 26th, 2017, President Trump directed the Department of Health and Human Services to declare the opioid crisis a public health emergency, striving to take action on this salient soar effecting the lives of American citizens today.

Opioid Addiction Statistics

A governmental account of drug overdose statistics shows that from the year 2015 to 2016 the death toll due to drug overdose rose 22 percent.

opioid statistics

This upwards trend of overdose has been on a steady incline since the year 2000 and was likely to continue until President Trump declared the opioid crisis.

opioid overdose

Knowing the disease of addiction himself through the actions of his brother, President Trump can understand the difficulties those who suffer from addiction face, making it known and urging Americans to remember the phrase “prevention not punishment”.

opioid overdose

Since the Opioid Crisis Americans have been made queenly aware of the consequences and statistics of drug abuse. How the opioid crisis has affected the American economy, the American workplace, and just America as a whole. Many now know that you don’t have to be an addict yourself to feel the effects of addiction.

Policy makers have quickly taken notice of these growing trends and decided to take swift action.

The DOT is one of the most prominent government sectors. The dot itself employs about 55,000 Americans, not including the employees in each DOT regulated agency.

Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration (FMCSA) FMCSA
“As the lead federal government agency responsible for regulating and providing safety oversight of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs), FMCSA’s mission is to reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses.”

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) phmsa
“The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) operates in a dynamic and challenging environment. The scope and complexity of our safety mission will continue to grow, requiring that we fundamentally rethink how we will use data, information, and technology to achieve our safety goals.”

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
FAA
“Our continuing mission is to provide the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world.”

Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)  
“The Federal Railroad Administration’s mission is to enable the safe, reliable, and efficient movement of people and goods for a strong America, now and in the future.”

Federal Transit Administration (FTA)
FTA“The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) provides financial and technical assistance to local public transit systems, including buses, subways, light rail, commuter rail, trolleys, and ferries. FTA also oversees safety measures and helps develop next-generation technology research.” “Improving Public Transportation for America’s Communities”.

UNITED STATES COAST GUARD (USCG)
  USCGThe Coast Guard does not fall under the Department of Defense. Until recently, the Coast Guard was under the Department of Transportation.

Saftey Sensitive Positions

A safety-sensitive position refers to a job in which the employee is responsible for his or her own or other people’s safety. It also refers to jobs that would be particularly dangerous if performed under the influence of drugs or alcohol. For this reason, Safety-sensitive positions are often the focus of drug and alcohol testing.

Generally, DOT regulations cover safety-sensitive transportation employers and employees. Each DOT agency (e.g. FRA, FMCSA, FTA, FAA, and PHMSA) and the USCG have specific drug and alcohol testing regulations that outline who is subject to their testing regulations.

DOT Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance

The Director of the DOT Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance, Patrice Kelley, has been creating government substance abuse policies for many years. Under her jurisdiction, the new amendment to CFR 49 will help serve to uphold the ODAPC mission statement. ODAPC

“Ensure that the drug and alcohol testing policies and goals of the Secretary of Transportation are developed and carried out in a consistent, efficient, and effective manner within the transportation industries for the ultimate safety and protection of the traveling public. This is accomplished through program review, compliance evaluation, and the issuance of consistent guidance material for DOT Operating Administrations (OAs) and for their regulated industries.”

Part 2

HHS Mandatory Guidelines remove
methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDEA) as a confirmatory test analyte from the existing drug-testing panel and add methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) as an initial test analyte.

What does this mean?

An analyte is by definition a substance whose chemical constituents are being identified and measured. For example, morphine is the target analyte for codeine/morphine testing.  The DOT will now focus on the MDA analyte for its testing analysis, rather than the previous MDEA. This could lead to a test confirming positive due to the difference in the initial test analyte.

Initial test analyte Initial test cutoff concentration Confirmatory test analyte Confirmatory test cutoff concentration
Marijuana metabolites 50 ng/mL THCA 1 15 ng/mL.
Cocaine metabolites 150 ng/mL Benzoylecgonine 100 ng/mL.
Opiate metabolites
Codeine/Morphine 2 2000 ng/mL Codeine 2000 ng/mL.
Morphine 2000 ng/mL.
6-Acetylmorphine 10 ng/mL 6-Acetylmorphine 10 ng/mL.
Phencyclidine 25 ng/mL Phencyclidine 25 ng/mL.
Amphetamines 3
AMP/MAMP 4 500 ng/mL Amphetamine 250 ng/mL.
Methamphetamine 5 250 ng/mL.
MDMA 6 500 ng/mL MDMA 250 ng/mL.
MDA 7 250 ng/mL.
MDEA 8 250 ng/mL

Other recognizable CFR 49 Part 40 revisions 

Creating a name change from the word opiates to opioids now expands the drug testing panel to 6 commonly abused illicit and licit drugs  (Heroin); Codeine; Morphine, Hydrocodone; Hydromorphone; Oxymorphone; and Oxycodone.

  1. The DOT added a new section reiterating that, in the DOT testing program, only urine specimens can be collected and analyzed.
  2. The DOT added language further emphasizing the existing DOT prohibition on the use of DNA testing on DOT drug-testing specimens.
  3. The final rule made minor modifications to certain section headings.
  4. The final rule moved the list of Substance Abuse Professional certification organizations from the rule text to ODAPC’s website.
  5. The final rule moved the MIS instructions from Appendix H to ODAPC’s website.
  6. Outdated compliance dates were removed and links were updated.
  7. Appendices B, C, D, and H were updated.

The revision of the drug testing panel harmonizes DOT regulations with the revised HHS Mandatory Guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for Federal drug-testing programs for urine testing.

For any questions regarding DOT Drug Testing, or DOT compliance please visit us at www.Accrediteddrugtesting.com or call (800)221-4291.

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On November 13th, 2017 The United States Department Of Transportation, DOT, published its final rule regarding DOT drug and alcohol policy.

The DOT compliant drug screening will expand its current 5-panel urine test, to include expanded testing on Opiates, including Hydromorphone, Oxymorphone, and Oxycodone.

Effective January 1st, 2018 a DOT urine drug analysis will test for

  • Amphetamines
  • Cocaine
  • Marijuana
  • MDA
  • PCP
  • Opiates
    • Hydromorphone
    • Oxymorphone
    • Oxycodone

The opiates category of a 5-panel drug screen tests for the illicit drug heroin, and the licit drugs codeine and morphine.

Please be advised, due to the addition of the number of drugs being tested, a small price increase on  DOT drug tests will take effect.

Our labs, Medical Review Officers, and CEO will review this new panel and provide additional information as it becomes available.

Accredited Drug Testing will add an amendment in its policy regarding these changes, effective January 1st, 2018.

Things to remember

1. Blind specimen testing is no longer required.
Blind specimen testing is a specimen submitted to a laboratory for quality control testing purposes, with a fictitious identifier, so that the laboratory cannot distinguish it from an employee specimen.

2.CCF forms
You should not order new CCF forms– the current CCF forms are valid until June 30th, 2018. If you have not yet done so, now would be a good time to look into eCCF forms ( Electronic CCF). Doing this will save you time and save you the hassle of shipping and storing paperwork.

For any other questions regarding DOT Compliance – please email info@accrediteddrugtesting.net, or reach us directly at (800)221-4291.

accredited drug testing

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What is DATIA?
DATIA

DATIA: Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association.

The Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association (DATIA) was founded in 1995 and has grown to represent over 1500 member companies, and expanded its scope. DATIA now represents the entire spectrum of drug and alcohol service providers including collection sites, laboratories, consortiums/TPAs, MROs, and testing equipment manufacturers.

The Accredited Collection Facility Program, administered by the Drug & Alcohol Testing Industry Association (DATIA), created by leaders in the drug and alcohol testing industry interested in raising the level of accuracy in urine specimen collections.

This enables collection facilities to assure their clients that they are committed to offering superior collection services.

For some entities, like those regulated under DOT Part 40, its employees must be drug tested by a company with DATIA Certifications.

Drug & Alcohol Testing Industry Association (DATIA) Mission and Purpose

  • Promote the highest possible standards of professionalism, quality control in the drug and alcohol testing industry, and develop and oversee education, certification, and accreditation programs for the drug and alcohol testing industry
  • Serve as the voice for the industry on regulatory and legislative matters of drug and alcohol testing, collection issues as well as drug-free workplace regulatory issues
  • Serve as a body for discussion and resolution of common problems and issues affecting the drug and alcohol testing industry;
  • Inform its members of issues affecting their businesses through newsletters, legislative alerts, and meetings;
  • Collect and disseminate information on drug and alcohol service and product providers through a national directory distributed to business and the general public; and,
  • Actively cooperate with other entities, organizations, and service providers involved with or affected by drug and alcohol testing on common interests and values

The Accredited Collection Facility Program involves upholding the highest professional standards in the following two main areas:

(1)the collection facility and its operation and
(2)the collection facility’s personnel.

To obtain accredited status, collection facilities are required to adhere to strict standards in areas such as:

  • Regulatory compliance
  • Company services standards
  • Specimen handling
  • Operational practices
  • Business ethics
  • Facility equipmentAll accredited collection facilities are also required to maintain a staff of Certified Professional Collectors that are formally trained in DATIA’s Collector Training Course or that received training from the CPCT on their staff and successfully completed the DATIA Certification Exam.

What Is A SAMHSA Certified Lab?

SAMHSA: The Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration

Formerly known as NIDA, National Institute of Drug Abuse, SAMHSA is a Federal department of Government which regulates and certifies laboratories drug testing specimens. Currently, SAMHSA regulated laboratories are the only type of labs that may process any employee who is governed by the United States Department of Transportation (DOT).

SAMHSA Policies

SAMHSA Laboratory Certification is the highest standard available for drug testing labs and ensures the most accurate processing. Through SAMHSA all non-negative, and positive donor specimens are tested.

The Lab will conduct specimen validity tests (SVTs) to determine if the specimen was adulterated or substituted. Tests found to be adulterated or substituted are also reported to the MRO and may be considered a refusal to test.

At the laboratory, the staff will determine if a flaw in the specimen exists.If a flaw exists, the specimen is rejected for testing.

If no flaw exists, this is the process that a specimen will undergo under SAMHSA Guidelines.

  1. Open only the A bottle and conduct a screening test.
  2. Specimens that screen positive will be analyzed again using a completely different testing methodology.
  3. If the specimen tests negative in either test, the result will be reported as a negative.
  4. Only if the specimen tests positive under both methods will the specimen be reported to the medical review officer as a positive test.
  5. Report the findings of the analysis of the A bottle to the Medical Review Officer (MRO)
  6. Store the A and B bottles for any reported positive, adulterated, or substituted result for at least 12 months.

Accredited Drug Testing Certifications

SAMHSA Certified

Accredited Drug Testing Is DATIA Certified, and has also been recognized as Nationally Accredited though DATIA. There are only 25 drug testing facilities that have been rewarded this privilege.

Accredited Drug Testing only utilizes SAMSHA Certified Laboratories.

At Accredited Drug testing, we hold our company to the highest values in the Drug Testing Industry to provide our clients this the best services.

“When you need a test, chose the best”!