Effective January 1, 2018, the United States Department of Transportation is implementing some changes to its drug testing program regulation by adding and amending some of the drugs used in its drug-testing panel, clarifying some of the provisions already in use, and removing the requirement for employers and Consortiums/TPAs to submit blind specimens.
Employees can now expect to be tested for four semi-synthetic opioids: hydrocodone, oxycodone, hydromorphone, and oxymorphone. These may also be recognized as OxyCodone, Percodan, Percocet, Vicodin, Lortab, Norco, Dilaudid, and Exalgo. Employees will no longer be tested for MDEA.
For further information regarding the new provisional changes, please see https://www.transportation.gov/odapc/Part_40_Final_Rule_Summary_of_Changes