NCJ Number
156829
Journal
American Pharmacy Volume: NS28 Issue: 7 Dated: (July 1988) Pages: 19-29
Date Published
1988
Length
11 pages
Annotation
Pharmacists should be knowledgeable about the main issues, problems, and controversies associated with urinalysis for drug testing, regardless of whether their role is as an employer, as a job applicant or employee, or as a health professional and drug use expert advising patients or members of the community.
Abstract
The issue most debated with respect to privacy and search issues appears to be reasonableness, Employers may use several types of urine testing policies, which involve a continuum of increasing intrusiveness and therefore require increasing levels of documented justification on the part of the employer. These policies are incident testing, probable cause testing, and routine scheduled testing. The five assay procedures commonly used are the enzyme immunoassay, radioimmunoassay, thin layer chromatography, gas chromatography, and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. An employee assistance program may be a more compassionate and cost-effective approach for dealing with employee drug abuse than are punitive disciplinary sanctions such as suspension or termination. Despite the controversies over urine testing, virtually all authorities agree that a positive urine test must be confirmed by a second, different test. The legal defensibility of tests and the quality of laboratories are also important issues. Photographs and 20 references