The changing business of drug and alcohol testing, including the latest major industry developments, will be the subject of the upcoming Drug & Alcohol Testing Industry Association's Third Annual Conference in St Louis, MO on April 23 and 24.

Dr. Murray Lappe, founder and President of National Medical Review Offices, Inc., will deliver the keynote speech for the DATIA 1999 Conference. Dr. Lappe, a leader in the forefront of developing policies and procedures that affect workplace drug testing, will speak concerning the key issues facing the drug and alcohol testing industry in the coming century and how those trends will impact your business.

The Conference will provide real-life solutions on how professionals can effectively meet the many changes occurring in the industry and how to capitalize on these changes to ensure growth and success. Seminars include: 1) the new Drug Free Workplace Act and how it will provide new funding for small businesses to begin drug testing programs; 2) how to incorporate the latest on-site and alternative specimen testing technologies in your business; 3) how to better market your services; and 4) how to protect yourself from potential liabilities in drug testing.

by Eric Quilter
Compliance Software

There's been talk going around the drug testing business about "electronic" or digital signatures. If you can sign for your overnight package without the paper mess, why not do the same for a drug test? Before you can even begin to explore the practical and legal implications, you have to understand the difference between a "digital" signature and a "digitized" signature.

Many merchants currently use "digitized" signatures for credit card transactions. Instead of signing a paper transaction receipt, the cardholder signs on a sensor pad that captures the image of the signature. The image is usually stored in the cash register's computer with its associated transaction. Just like other graphics files, the image can be potentially cut and pasted without the permission of the cardholder. A "digital" signature, is a means of: verifying the authorship and content of a computer file; preventing any other party from modifying or perhaps even viewing the file without the knowing consent of the author.

Several technologies are available today that are considered valid approaches to creating digital signatures. For example, President Clinton signed a trade agreement last fall using a digital signature that employed the use of a "smart card." The credit card sized device had a beefed-up version of a Personal Identification Number (PIN) unique to the President. Any party wanting to edit the "signed" version of the document would need to have the President's smart-card.

Perhaps the most promising technologies for digital signatures are those that employ biometrics. Literally measurements that are unique to each human being such as finger prints, retinal scans, hand geometry, and even DNA. The advantage of biometrics is that everybody has them built right into their body. Specialized hardware and software use biometrics to create unique PINs, also referred to as "private keys" in the world of cryptography.

Let's say you wanted to buy something over the Internet with your credit card. To authorize the transaction, you could place your fingertips on a small, inexpensive sensing device attached to your PC. The device and software in your PC would analyze your fingerprints with an algorithm that would generate a PIN unique to you. Your credit card transaction could only be used by the intended receiver and could not be modified without your permission.

As anyone knows, paper is a dwindling and costly resource. Industries around the globe are racing to replace paper transactions with more efficient electronic versions without compromising security. The federal government is actually moving fairly fast on the issue, with several agencies having digital signature standards in place. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is currently developing very comprehensive standards for electronic versions of federal documents which require digital signatures. The Digital Signature Standard (DSS) created by NIST will probably be the one to watch for, as far as regulated drug testing is concerned. So don't be in too big of a hurry to throw away your ballistic pen for those wonderful 7-part forms!

by Sandra DeBow, Attorney at Law

Title I of the ADA prohibits employers from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in virtually all employment decisions, including hiring, firing, promotion, compensation, and training. Alcoholics and some drug abusers are disabled for purposes of the ADA.

Anyone who deals with Human Resources or Personnel Departments is familiar with the jargon of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). Terms like, "reasonable accommodations," and "essential functions of the job," are seemingly simple concepts until they are applied to a real-world problem. The ADA is difficult because the application of the law varies according to the unique circumstances of the workplace and the disabled individual.

The ADA specifically states that individuals who are currently engaging in the illegal use of drugs are not covered by the ADA. The term "drug" means a controlled substance, as defined in schedules I through V of section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act. So, why are employers so concerned about the ADA when dealing with drug users? Because the ADA creates a "safe harbor" for certain drug addicts. The ADA protects persons who have successfully completed or are participating in a supervised drug rehabilitation program and are no longer using illegal drugs, as well as persons who are erroneously regarded as using drugs when in fact they are not. Employers can administer drug tests to ensure that an individual who is participating in or who has completed treatment is no longer engaging in the illegal use of drugs. Although prior drug addiction may be a disability under the ADA, if the individual is currently engaging in the illegal use of drugs, he or she will not be protected by the ADA, even if she or he is a drug addict.

So, what is current drug use? The issue has been heavily litigated. "Current" illegal use of drugs is not limited to the use of drugs "on the day of, or within a matter of days or weeks before, the employment action in question." The illegal use of drugs must have taken place recently enough to justify the employer's reasonable belief that drug use is a continuing problem. Accordingly, an employee illegally using drugs during the weeks and months prior to discharge is "currently engaging in the illegal use of drugs." Returning to a simple rule, the EEOC has explicitly stated that an individual who has a positive, verified test result is considered a current drug user under the ADA. Therefore, employers are wise to adopt a drug-free workplace policy that includes, at a minimum, reasonable suspicion drug testing. A positive, verified drug test can drastically simplify what dictates "current use" for purposes of the ADA.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) recently issued a "favorable" report on the performance of 15 on-site urine drug tests. This study was conducted as part of their evaluation of alternative specimen use for federally mandated drug testing and to review the progress made by on-site urine test manufacturers.

Although SAMHSA will not endorse any one product, they are encouraged by the results of the study because they indicate that there should be a much higher percentage of confirmed positives and fewer false negatives when using these tests. Currently, these tests may not be used for federally mandated drug testing and some states have made their use illegal, however the tests are used extensively in non-mandated workplace testing.

SAMHSA said that the tests, which tested for amphetamines, cannabinoids, cocaine, opiates and phencyclidine performed much better than they have in previous years. "The favorable performance of the devices was encouraging considering the simplicity of their design and operational requirements." Despite these results, SAMHSA did indicate that these tests are not all together full proof. "Some devices were able to identify more positive specimens, but this was accompanied by a higher percentage of false positive results. Other devices were more conservative, giving few false positive results but missing many true positives."

DATIA recently distributed a survey to members asking for their input on proposed changes to the current federal Custody and Control Form (CCF). A working group has been created, including several members of DATIA and DATIA's Government Relations Representative, to make specific recommendations on how to improve the form. The goal of the working group is to create a new form that mitigates mistakes, reduces missed signatures, reduces the number of
copies and includes missing information with the end result being a form that is much easier for the collector and laboratory to use.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been charged with recommending changes to the Federal custody and control form (CCF) used by all Federal agencies including the Department of Transportation. The form is scheduled for renewal by July 31, 2000 and the working group plans to make recommendations in time for public comment before that date.

Tina Hayes is the Operations Manager for WPCI. WPCI is a National MRO group and Administrator of Drug Free Work-Place Programs with clients in all 50 states. WPCI is also partners with CANNAMM in Canada, who is a drug program administrator that serves Canadian businesses. WPCI has been involved in the field of substance abuse testing since the implementation of the first DOT legislation. In fact, in 1986, one of WPCI's 6 Pathologists /MROs was involved in two autopsies from the railroad accident that proved to be the original case giving rise to the implementation of the Department of Transportation drug testing program in 1988.

Tina, who is a new member of DATIA, joined because of her necessity to be up to date on the latest drug and alcohol testing industry news. Tina operates on the philosophy that "it is not enough to simply provide the drug testing services that clients ask for nowadays." Today's drug program providers must be one step ahead of their clients. Providers must keep current on all new legislation and communicate these laws and how they impact each client. DATIA makes this task easier. Tina has been an integral part of WPCI since she came to the company in 1994. She now oversees a staff of Customer Service Representatives who are the key contacts for WPCI's drug testing clients. She also organizes the workflow that allows WPCI's 6 Medical Review Officers to review each positive drug test result, which includes a direct phone call from the MRO to the donor. It is her job to keep constantly updated about laws affecting the MRO review process and educate the MROs to the new procedures. Tina also was a key person in the development of WPCI's internet website, (www.wpcidrugfree.com) by providing much of the content. Please welcome Tina Hayes as a new DATIA member.