DOT Proposes to Amend Drug-Testing Procedures

Posted on February 3, 2010 by Governmental Affairs Team

Test tubesThe Department of Transportation (DOT) will publish in tomorrow’s edition of the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) (pdf) to amend certain drug-testing procedures to conform them to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) laboratory drug-testing requirements. According to a summary of the NPRM, the proposed changes are intended to create consistency with new requirements established by the HHS Mandatory Guidelines. Primary proposed changes include:

  • Testing for MDMA (aka. Ecstasy);
  • Lowering cutoff levels for cocaine and amphetamines; and
  • Authorizing employers to use HHS-Certified Instrumented Initial Test Facilities (IITF) to conduct initial drug testing, provided that confirmatory tests are conducted on all presumptive positive test results using a certified laboratory.

Employers may want to consider whether, if these changes go into effect as predicted, they will want to modify any non-regulated testing program to include these types of tests, so as to harmonize their program.

Other key proposed changes to the testing regulations aimed at aligning DOT testing with HHS requirements include the following:

  • Modifying some of the agency’s current definitions (e.g., adding a few new definitions in order to make them consistent with the HHS Mandatory Guidelines definitions
  • Requiring nationally-recognized Medical Review Officer (MRO) certification entities or subspecialty boards for medical practitioners in the field of medical review to have their qualifications, training programs, and examinations approved by the HHS on an annual basis.

The DOT invites comment on any of the above changes, but specifically requests input on, among other issues, which types of MRO records should be covered under the recordkeeping requirements, and whether the DOT program would be better served if it sought a shared MRO approval process with the HHS.

Comments to this proposal are due on or before April 5, 2010. All comments must contain the docket number: OST-2010-0026 or identification: RIN 2105-AD95, and can be sent or hand-delivered to Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE West Building Ground Floor Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001. Alternatively, comments can be submitted through the federal eRulemaking portal: http://www.regulations.gov.

This entry was written by Dale Deitchler and Nancy Delogu.

Photo credit:  Jonathan Lenz
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Final "Conscience" Rule Serves as New Religious Anti-Discrimination Measure for Health Care Workers

Posted on December 23, 2008 by Governmental Affairs Team

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule that aims to protect health care workers from discrimination if they harbor religious or moral objections to participating in reproductive health care services such as abortion and the provision of birth control. This rule expands protections articulated in sections of three federal laws (the so-called Church, Coats and Weldon Amendments) that safeguard an individual’s right to refuse to provide the aforementioned health services if those services violate that person’s religious beliefs or moral convictions. The proposed rule expands the scope of these statutory protections to include institutional health care providers and individual employees who work for entities that receive certain HHS funds. Additionally, the rule mandates that recipients of certain HHS funds certify compliance at the risk of losing federal funding.

Some members of Congress attempted to stall finalization of the conscience rule via legislation (S.20) and (H.R. 7310). Objections to the new rule include the fact that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) did not participate in drafting the provider conscience regulation, even though this agency is charged with addressing religious discrimination in the workplace. In fact, in July of this year the EEOC drafted a new chapter on compliance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act that offered employers guidance on how to balance their business needs with an employee’s religious beliefs. The new regulation, therefore, could cause uncertainty as to what it means to discriminate against someone who has religious or moral objections to performing certain health services, and makes it unclear as to whether and what extent an employer would have to reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious objections. Thus, health care employers could face conflicting interpretations of their obligations to accommodate an employee’s religious objections.

Despite the Bush Administration’s push for this “midnight” regulation, it is anticipated that President-elect Obama will likely seek to reverse the rule when he is sworn into office in January.
 
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