• Basic Dedection Timetable – Oral fluid is 24 hours or less, Urine is 1 to 4 days (except Marijuana which can be up to 30 days), Hair is 30 days to 90 days
• Urine Instant vs Urine Laboratory -Instant tests can pick up over the counter medications. Laboratory testing is specific and can give quatitative levels.
• Urine Advantage – Urine testing is the “Gold Standard” because of amountof court proven cases. Oral Fluid doesn’t pick up Marijuana positives as well. Hair testing is more expensive.
• Random Selection – True random selection means everyone’s name is place is a pool and has an equal number of chance to be chosen for each selection.
• Effective random selection rate – 50% for drugs and 10% for alcohol (per year of total populaton). Selections are generally made quarterly or monthly depending on the number of employees.
• Cost Effective – If you have 10 or more donors to be tested or your donor makes over $35 per hour, onsite services are the most cost effective and time effective method of drug testing.
• Policy – Having a policy is crutial in defending your drug testing program. There are free templates to use as a start up from agencies like The Department of Alabama Industrial Relations and The Department of Labor “Drug Free Workplace”.
• Associations – It is important to know your provider. Are they members of a national drug testing industry association
• Certifications – Important to remember to only use certified laboratories, medical review officers, and breath alcohol technicians along with collectors who have received qualification training.
• Parents and children – The local drug store will have instant drug test for your child but be aware that over the counter medications can cause a positive test for certain drugs. The most effective way to test is to use a knowledgable provider who uses a laboratory test.
• Beating a drug test – Most laboratories test for chemicals which are bought of the internet to beat a test (adulterants). Most laboratories will check the pH, specific gravity, and creatine of a urine sample to make sure it is consistant with human urine. Collectors check the temperature and make a visual inspection of the urine during collection procedure.
• Drug Free Workplace – Some states offer a discount on workers compensation insurance premiums after certification of a “Drug Free Workplace”. These saving can at times pay for a drug testing program.

These are some basic drug testing facts. Us can also follow S&L Onsite Services on Twitter for news and facts at www.twitter.com/slonsites

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The report, which did not identify the drug, was published on SI.com and attributed to unidentified NFL team sources. The Web site reported that Raji’s name will be on a list of players who tested positive.

Raji, rated fourth on Todd McShay’s projected list and No. 5 on Mel Kiper’s most recent Big Board on ESPN.com, missed the 2007 college season with academic problems.

Continued: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft09/news/story?id=4037535&campaign=rss&source=NFLHeadlines

The 23-year-old right-hander, who has never appeared in the major leagues, was 2-4 with a 2.48 ERA in 48 relief appearances last season at Double-A Connecticut of the Eastern League. He was optioned to Triple-A Fresno on March 5.

Pichardo will serve his suspension at the start of the season and will lose approximately one-third of the $65,000 salary on the minor league side of his contract, which calls for him to receive $400,000 if brought up to the majors.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gxRu3aPd1kog6LuUUcquyOYVVwvgD9740OTO0

He became the third player penalized this year under the major league program. Philadelphia Phillies reliever J.C. Romero and New York Yankees minor league pitcher Sergio Mitre were suspended for 50 games each on Jan. 6 after testing positive for banned substances contained in over-the-counter supplements.

By Paula Reed Ward, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The owners of the company that makes the Whizzinator, a prosthetic penis used to mask illegal drug use, were charged yesterday in federal court with conspiracy to defraud the government and are expected to plead guilty.

Gerald Wills, the president of Puck Technology, based in Signal Hill, Calif., and Robert D. Catalano, the vice president, are charged in a 19-page criminal information of conspiracy for selling two different products that mask illegal substances in a user’s urine.

The products, the Whizzinator and Number 1, are sold through the company’s Web sites.

As part of the case, the government is moving for forfeiture of all of the company’s assets, as well as its Internet domain names.

The charges were brought, at least in part, after undercover law enforcement officers ordered one of each product and had them shipped to the Western District of Pennsylvania.

According to the criminal informations, the company and its owners defrauded the government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which is tasked with overseeing federal workplace drug testing programs.

Continued:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08289/919969-85.stm

With a quick snip or a clump of hair, parents can find out within days whether a child has dipped into the family medicine cabinet, has tried cocaine in the past three months, uses crystal meth on the weekends, or is taking painkillers on a daily basis.

“Prescription drugs are so accessible to kids. They’re in the medicine cabinet, so they don’t really think it’s dangerous for them,” said Zeynep Ilgaz, president and co-founder of Confirm BioSciences, the California-based maker of the home drug-testing kits.

“Kids think it’s a safe way to get high because they’re not illegal.”

Continued: http://www.leaderpost.com/Health/Test+highlights+possible+rise+prescription+drug/1298048/story.html

washington — The Federal Aviation Administration today banned pilots and air traffic controllers from using a popular new anti-smoking drug after a medical safety group warned that the medication had apparently contributed to auto accidents and other mishaps that posed risks to both users and others.

The drug, called Chantix, had been hailed as an innovative treatment to help smokers quit. But a report from a medical safety group — also issued today –linked the medication to a variety of unusual and serious side effects, including loss of consciousness and seizures, and prompted the FAA to act, said spokesman Les Dorr.

The agency had approved the drug last summer, before drug safety regulators began investigating reports of serious psychiatric problems, including suicidal behavior, sharp shifts in mood and vivid nighttime episodes some patients call “Chantix dreams.”

The warning was contained in a report by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices based on an analysis of “adverse events” reports submitted to the Food and Drug Administration.

“We have immediate safety concerns about the use of [Chantix] among persons operating aircraft, trains, buses and other vehicles, or in other settings where a lapse in alertness or motor control could lead to massive, serious injury,” the study said.

It remained unclear whether other federal safety agencies would follow the FAA’s example.

The study also cited a range of other serious reported side-effects, including vision problems, heart rhythm disturbances, seizures and skin reactions. The nonprofit group that conducted the study advises hospitals and doctors on the prevention of medication errors, and is based near Philadelphia.

“These data provide a strong signal that the risks of [Chantix] treatment have been underestimated, and show that a wide spectrum of serious injuries are being reported in large numbers,” the report said.

Prescription drugs are usually tested on a few thousand people before approval, but serious problems many not emerge until many more patients have used the medication for a sustained period.

Responding to the study, FDA spokeswoman Susan Cruzan said: “We agree that these findings are a signal that requires further investigation and confirmation, and the FDA has been conducting a review of the adverse events associated with Chantix.”

To read the rest of the article: http://articles.latimes.com/2008/may/22/nation/na-smokedrug22