[MCOH-EH] for cause/reasonable suspicion drug testing

[Swift, Melanie D., M.D., M.P.H.]

Very sound advice. Additionally, when developing diversion investigation procedures, remember that diversion may not be for personal or immediate use. Diverted drugs could be passed to a friend or partner. They can be sold on the street, particularly if they are in pill form. They could be stockpiled for later use. Even if used by the diverter, some have a very short half-life and will have been cleared before the drug screen is collected. So, a negative drug screen does not rule out diversion by any means. In fact, if the evidence for diversion is otherwise strong, getting a drug test in the absence of any evidence of impairment may not be a wise or helpful step. The negative test later becomes a liability when the employee fights their termination in court. But of course, in less convincing cases it brings clarity when it is positive.

Melanie
________________________________
From: MCOH-EH <mcoh-eh-bounces at mylist.net> on behalf of Miriam H. Alexander <Mhalexan at lifebridgehealth.org>
Sent: Friday, 26 June 2026 09:41:27
To: MCOH-EH <mcoh-eh at mylist.net>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: [MCOH-EH] for cause/reasonable suspicion drug testing

External Email Notice: This message was sent by someone outside Mayo Clinic.

We only test for the potentially diverted substances and have had “panels” that will go after the standard drugs of diversion. If there is no reasonable suspicion based on behaviors of employee(s) this is what we used.  If It is truly a reasonable suspicion based on behaviors, clinical stigmata etc we do our standard reasonable suspicion which does include marijuana.



Miriam Alexander, MD MPH

Medical Director for Employee Health and Wellness

AVP Occupational Health

LifeBridge Health

2401 W.Belvedere Ave., Hoffberger 54

Baltimore, MD 21215

Phone: 410-601-0563

Mobile: 410-206-0579

Fax: 410-601-4643

Mhalexan at lifebridgehealth.org<mailto:Mhalexan at lifebridgehealth.org>



From: MCOH-EH <mcoh-eh-bounces+mhalexan=lifebridgehealth.org at mylist.net> On Behalf Of Deanna Prater via MCOH-EH
Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2026 7:29 PM
To: MCOH-EH <mcoh-eh at mylist.net>
Cc: Deanna Prater <dprater at luhonline.com>
Subject: [MCOH-EH] for cause/reasonable suspicion drug testing



LBH SECURITY ALERT: This email is from an external source. Do not click on any links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Never provide your username or password.



We are reviewing our employee health and occupational testing policies for medication discrepancy or diversion investigations (e.g., dropped controlled substances, unresolved medication count variances).  In these situations, does your organization utilize targeted drug testing panels that exclude THC/marijuana, focusing instead on relevant controlled substances associated with the discrepancy?  If so, are these panels standard or ordered case-by-case?  The reason I am asking, is because marijuana is legal in Oregon, and if the employee would test positive for marijuana when we're really concerned about the results for the missing substance, it could be problematic.



Deanna Prater BSN, RN, CPHQ

dprater at luhonline.com<mailto:dprater at luhonline.com>

Phone: (541) 271-6323

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE This e-mail transmission, and any documents, files, or previous e-mail messages attached to it, may contain information that is confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, or a person responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you must not read this transmission and that any disclosure, copying, printing, distribution or use of any of the information contained in or attached to this transmission is STRICTLY PROHIBITED! If you have received this transmission in error, please immediately notify the sender by telephone or return e-mail and delete the original transmission and its attachments without reading or saving in any manner.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://mylist.net/archives/mcoh-eh/attachments/20260627/b6f83677/attachment.htm>