The donor could alleviate the liability for his company and the TPA by getting a note from his treating physician stating based on the job description supplied by his employer the medication would not cause a safety risk. The TPA should regard a Safety Sensitive Concern from the MRO as a flag to proceed with more information. There are two ways this situation can be handled to relieve all parties mentioned of liability. Perfectly legal as he has a valid prediction that is recent, however, he is now again on a controlled substance. Of course, he doesn’t want to take time out from work to go to the Doctor so he goes to the medicine cabinet and self treats with that same T#3 that was originally prescribed for his knee pain. Fast forward 1 year later, the donor picks up something and strains his back a little. The donor hasn’t taken all the prescribed medicine for his knee pain, as it has healed, and he was on his way back to normal duty. Many might ask the question of “Why would the MRO still choose to issue the concern after the donor’s physician has replaced the scheduled drug with a non scheduled drug or taken the patient off the drug entirely?” As an MRO, I see on a daily basis the patient who had knee surgery a year ago and was prescribed T#3 for pain. At that time, the MRO may use his judgment on whether or not to issue the Safety Sensitive Concern regardless of medical information supplied by the donor’s physician. The donors physician has 5 days from the time the donor is notified of the process to contact the MRO. Drug screen that has an initial positive result that has been deemed negative due to a verified prescription must NOT receive a Safety Sensitive Concern until the donor has an opportunity for their prescribing physician to either take the donor off the medication or change them to a non scheduled drug.

The new ruling that took effect Janustates that any D.O.T. The new Safety Sensitive 5 day hold ruling has brought about more than a few concerns amongst Third Party Administrators, Medical Review Officers, and Companies.

Dot safety rating review letter