Drug Testing in the Media

The inability to provide a urine specimen does not equate to a refusal to take a drug test. Those citizens who are or were unable to provide a urine specimen should be allowed to participate in one of the alternative drug test methods suggested by SAMHSA in a 1994 proposed Regulation Revision. Alternative drug tests include hair, saliva, sweat (aka patch), or blood specimens (if a medical technician is available).

In a March 2006 online poll carried by the IPA internet Talk Forum, 63% of 109 paruretic participants indicated that they had been drug tested for either employment or judicial reasons. Another 7% indicated they had made job, location or other decisions based on the possibility of urine based drug testing. Since up to 7% of Americans have paruresis symptoms based on a Harvard Medical School Survey and an independent Canadian survey, this is a huge impact for American businesses when qualified employees are getting harder to find due to baby boomer retirements.

After the media appearance of the St. Louis Post article and the Dilbert comic strips below, IPA Staff Director Dr. Steven Soifer was requested by the Office Of Management and Budget to meet with them to discuss the new SAMHSA regulations. Is this coincidence, serendipity, or growing public and governmental awareness of the paruresis disorder?

Thursday, August 5, 2006, Internet Home of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,
http://www.STLtoday.com

Quotes …

By Deborah L. Shelton
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
07/17/2006

… Like job candidates at many companies, she was required to undergo drug screening. But she has a condition called paruresis, which can make providing a urine sample difficult, if not impossible.

Paruresis (pronounced: par-YOU-ree-sis) is a type of social anxiety disorder that prevents a person from using the toilet in a public restroom.

…To prepare for the test, White, …guzzled water nonstop before showing up at a West County testing laboratory last month. Still, even after waiting almost two hours, she could not urinate.

…White called New Frontier Bank in O’Fallon, Mo., and asked for a second chance, but a manager told her the job offer had been rescinded, she said.

…New Frontier Bank declined to answer questions about White’s situation, referring questions instead to ADP TotalSource, a human resources and employee assistance company. ADP TotalSource did not respond to requests for an interview.

…Soifer said some people had sued for discrimination and won.

“It’s one of these really gray areas,” he said. “Once our lawyer gets involved and contacts the company’s legal counsel and explains the situation, and explains that it could be a violation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the company often realizes they should provide reasonable accommodation.”

He recommended tests that utilize saliva, blood or hair samples instead of urine.

Some companies already use such tests because they are easier to administer, Soifer said.

The federal government is proposing new regulations for federal employees that would expand drug screening methods to hair, saliva, blood and sweat tests, which would prevent the dilemma.