As a physician-patient relationship renders drug testing “clinical” rather than “forensic” the consequences become “treatment” rather than “discipline.” And that is the real reason behind all of this. A positive “forensic” test in most employee random drug screening programs today will result in an “assessment” for substance abuse. Most EAPs allow a choice in where that assessment takes place. The model this system is based on, Physician Health Programs. do not allow choice as evaluations are mandated to “PHP-approved” assessment centers; a rigged game.A positive “clinical” test will result in the same thing under the ASAM White Paper proposal. But the assessment will be at an ASAM facility and if a Substance Use Disorder (SUD) is confirmed it will result in mandated abstinence of all substances (including alcohol) and lifelong spirituality involving 12-step recovery And by using the healthcare system as a loophole and calling this testing “clinical” rather than “forensic” the ASAM will have successfully introduced widespread testing of a variety of Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs) of unknown validity while removing the safeguards provided by forensic testing including chain-of-custody and MRO review.
Disrupted Physician 
So the FDA is now involved? I thought the lack of Scientific Methodology to save money on Studies when seeking approval of the FDA was key. Apparently this industry (Testing) is end running the normal process of FDA approval.
At least the FDA has a hold on this. How long the hold? Your guess is as good as those affected!!!
LikeLike
The widespread adoption of non-Federal workplace drug testing following passage of the Drug Free Workplace Act of 1988 introduced the norm of physician oversight of drug testing as one means of preventing abuse of the testing process. However, the Medical Review Officers (MRO’s), umpires of the testing regimes, quickly recognized a new market where lots of money could be made quickly for relatively little work. In fact, the sky was the limit and advocating “all drug-testing, all-the-time” to expand markets in the proclaimed interests of the public’s health was a true bonanza. The MRO’s were not overseers of widespread drug-testing. Instead, the MRO’s became the chief salesmen of widespread drug testing. For these entrepreneurs, whose ceased acting as physicians long ago, the combination of greatly increased incomes and authority must have been intoxicating. Removing the constraints of acting in a “forensic capacity” as an MRO will be a bonanza of psychedelic intensity.
LikeLike