Why Does an MRO Contact an Employee after a DOT Drug Test?

Under 49 CFR 40.131, an MRO who receives a confirmed positive, adulterated, substituted or invalid result from the laboratory must contact the employee directly and on a confidential basis to find out whether the employee wants to discuss the result. The MRO explains that if the employee declines, the test will be verified as positive or as a refusal to test, as applicable.

Staff under the MRO's personal supervision may make the first contact, but the rule limits them to scheduling the discussion and explaining the consequences of declining. Staff must not gather medical information. Reasonable efforts to reach the employee include at least three attempts spaced over a 24-hour period at the day and evening phone numbers on the CCF. If those efforts fail, the MRO directs the DER to tell the employee to contact the MRO, without telling the DER about the result.

Under 49 CFR 40.133, the MRO may verify a result without an interview if the employee expressly declines, if more than 72 hours pass after a documented DER contact, or if neither the MRO nor the DER can reach the employee within ten days of the date the MRO receives the confirmed result from the laboratory. The MRO must then allow the employee to present information within 60 days of the verification to document that serious illness, injury or other circumstances unavoidably precluded contact, and the MRO may reopen the verification on that basis. For an invalid result, 49 CFR 40.133(b) provides that the MRO may instead verify the test as cancelled, with instructions to recollect immediately under direct observation.

Related topics are covered in Who Can Be a Medical Review Officer for DOT Drug Tests? and Can a Prescription Explain a Positive DOT Drug Test?.

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