URINE DRUG SCREENING AND THE FAMILY PHYSICIAN

Urine screening for drugs is increasingly employed in the United State s in an effort to reduce illegal drug use and its consequent morbidity , mortality and economic burden. The family physician may choose to en sure proper urine specimen collection or may choose to develop experti se as a medical review officer; training courses and materials are ava ilable. In addition, certification is available from several organizat ions. The physician who becomes a medical review officer is responsibl e for interpreting positive tests and may also become involved in drug rehabilitation programs. It is prudent to follow federal guidelines f or occupational urine drug screening, even when these guidelines are n ot mandatory, to protect against a possible challenge to a positive sp ecimen on the grounds of improper processing. In all cases, care shoul d be taken to correctly identify the patient, to label all specimens a nd to document that the specimen has been secured against tampering.