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janeS · March 2006

If your organization does a post-offer employment drug screen, do you require the new hires to list the drugs they are on. We (did) do and now have a new Associate Health person who says we cannot.

Same questions about random or fitness for duty drug screens.......we have them declare before screening...that way no surprises, the MRO gets in touch with them and everything is settled.

Please advise if our requiring them to declare is invasive or illegal.

Thanks,
Jane in Lex.

atrimble · March 2006

I do not have the ability to assess whether your policy or procedure is illegal. But we can all assume that someone somewhere will consider *any* drug test invasive...

We do not require prescription/non-prescription disclosure before our post-offer/pre-hire drug screening. That's what the drug screening is supposed to do - disclose any kind of "bad" drug use. We just had a Vietnam vet's screening get sent to a national clearing house for verification that he was on a narcotic pain killer. He has to provide a copy of the prescription to the "feds" or they would have initiated a BATF investigation as to why someone was taking this strong pain killer and trying to work. Everything cleared just fine - the narcotic doesn't impair his ability to perform the part time job we hired him to do, so he continues employment.

You may want to investigate how "positive" test results are handled. If you do it in house or by some type of non-medical facility, what rights do the applicant have to retesting/protesting?

E Wart · March 2006

Jane, I can't remember who I talked with (our EAP or the collector or whom) but I understand that you aren't supposed to ask for this information any longer (per haps HIPAA reasons??) Anyway, when I talked with our MRO about it, they said it doesn't matter. They don't get that info. They handled the results and don't need to know about prescriptions. If you have an MRO, you may want to ask them if they need this. Otherwise, I would say, just stop requesting current prescription info.
E Wart

atrimble · March 2006

I think the simple act of possessing personal health information, which is what having a list of prescriptions is, could be a violation of HIPAA, if the employee felt they were coerced into providing that information ("you won't be hired if you don't tell all"). You could probably have legal counsel draw up a permission form explaining what the employer can/will do with the information and what the employee can do if those rights are violated, which the employee would have to sign before providing the list of drugs. But I don't really see why an employer would need to know that I might be taking acid reflux prevention, or maybe birth control pills. I do ask employees to tell me about allergies and any permanent medical condition that paramedics may need to know about in an emergency (e.g., allergy to sulfas). But I'm also careful to explain that the information goes into a locked file and is used only for the purpose just explained, if needed. I probably ought to be covering my butt with some sort of signed disclaimer...

ray a · March 2006

We do prescreen and random drug testing. I do not request a list of medications from the employee, if they offer a list, it is placed in their medical file. The company that performs the drug screens for us will not take any information concerning medications used by the employee - they do not want those interpreting the results to be influenced in their decisions.

Irie · March 2006

Not a good idea to ask for that type of information because frankly, it isn't any of your business. Our company does pre-employment, post- accident, for-cause, and random. Even when an employee gets tested at the hospital they are not asked if they are taking any drugs. If a test comes back positive for a legal substance the MRO will contact the employee directly to discuss the positive result. The employee must produce a current valid rx and if the MRO deems it is valid the test is reported as negative. If it turns out to be positive, then the MRO will give us the information. Should an employee test positive for an illegal substance we are told immediately of a positive test as well as the substance used.

I see no reason for you to know what drugs an employee is taking. This would not be a violation of HIPAA if the information is coming directly from the employee but it isn't information that you ever need to know.

WT · March 2006

To do the testing, you are entitled to that information. However, you are going about it in the wrong way. Your Medical Review Officer would be the one to get the information. If a test comes back positive due to an Rx then the MRO investigates that. As the employer you simply get a positive or negative result. If the drug is a legit Rx, the result comes back negative and you do not know or need to know. The MRO is the filter between you and the employee.

pork1 · March 2006

JanS: I thought that I had posted on this subject but I evidently did not or somehow my post did not get done. I properly forgot to hit the POST button.

Your medical person is coming from the HIPAA Law. All of the above that expressed that you do not want nor need this medical information are correct. You need only the result, as developed above it is the MRO that may have a need to better understand the results of a particular test. When he/she does the concerned individual will respond and not the company. I only receive negative and positive results and of course the BILL for payment.

PORK

stilldazed · March 2006

Can't speak for your state, but Florida allows employers to give individuals who are drug tested an opportunity to disclose "relevent information" at the time the sample is collected. The Florida Drug Free Workplace Act (a general guide for many Florida employers whether they are official "drug free workplaces" or not) does require the employer to disclose which drugs the test is designed to screen, can allow the individual to disclose information at the time the sample is collected, and does require written notice and a 5-day window to disclose to the company's MRO after the test is confirmed positive.

Check your state's statutes for some guidance.

Good luck,

HRinTN4Life · March 2006

You don't worry about it. Get out and stay out of that process. Let the collection site, its staff, the lab and MRO handle this.

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