MOS Updates

We wish to clarify an issue brought recently to our attention regarding Medical Review Officers (MROs) contacting employees’ treating physicians.  For a number of years, we have emphasized that Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) rules do not apply to MROs carrying out their verification process duties under 49 CFR Part 40.  That position still holds: MROs do not need and must not attempt to obtain an employee’s permission in order to confer with prescribing physicians.

Senators Chuck Schumer (NY) and Jay Rockefellar (WV) have co-sponsored a bill which would require doctors to undergo training for 'prescribing opiate-based narcotics." The training would include safe management of pain, identifying opiate addiction and other sources of pain management excluding opiate narcotics. Currently, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) does not require doctors to receive training in order to dispense opioid narcotics.

Bloomsberg Businessweek recently released an article discussing the rising popularity in synthetic drugs, which produce similar highs to illegal drugs, but using legal substances. The effects of ingesting the synthetic drugs mimics street drugs like marijuana, cocaine and LSD.

School Transportation Vehicles: Testing Requirement

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