The DER’s Role in Drug and Alcohol Testing The Designated Employer Representative (DER) plays a vital role in drug and alcohol testing, serving as the point of contact for their company’s testing program. Every company with safety-sensitive employees falling under the authority of the Dept. of Transportation must appointment a DER. The DER’s role is […]

Record Increase in Drug Overdose Deaths, Big Pharma Settles In our last blog article about the X-Waiver we said experts predicted that drug overdose deaths had increased during the COVID pandemic. Recent reports confirmed these predictions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that drug overdose deaths increased by 30% in 2020, a total […]

The Perfect Storm One of the consequences of the Covid pandemic that we have experienced for the past year is an increase in drug and opioid use and correspondingly an increase in overdose deaths. The reasons for this are several and easy to see. The economic lockdown and restrictions on gathering in groups limited social […]

What’s the Difference Between a DOT and Non-DOT Drug Test? In order to best explain the differences between a DOT and non-DOT drug test, we first should clarify two terms often used in drug testing; regulated and non-regulated workplace testing. Having a firm grasp on the nomenclature is principal to administering the programs as intended. […]

What is Customer Effort and Why Does it Matter? Before a company can structure a meaningful and ultimately successful customer experience or customer service program, they must first consider customer effort across all company departments. But what is customer effort and why is it important? In short, customer effort is the amount of time and […]

Accuracy, Sensitivity and Specificity of COVID Testing In previous blog articles we have discussed how the accuracy of drug test kits is measured. We’ve discussed the concepts of specificity and sensitivity and how they relate to overall accuracy. Given the current intense interest in COVID testing, including the newer antigen tests, we thought it would […]

Oregon Decriminalizes Drug Possession. On November 3, 2020, voters in Oregon voted Yes on Proposition 110 to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of hard drugs, including heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine. The measure, which passed with 60% of the vote, makes possession of small amounts of drugs a civil offense similar to a traffic ticket. […]

What do I do if the Custody Control Form seals tear? It is not uncommon for the tamper evident seals on the Custody Control Form to tear when removing them from the CCF or applying them to the specimen vials. So, what do you do if the tamper seals from the CCF tear?  There are […]

Should I perform DOT drug and alcohol testing during COVID-19? Since states began re-opening, we have fielded the question, “should I perform DOT drug and alcohol testing during COVID-19?” For a myriad of reasons, we cannot advise you and your business what to do in this circumstance. And everyone’s situation is different. However, we can […]