Question I know it screens for illegal dr-gs, but do you have to declare prescription medication like blood pressure or migraine medicine?
11 replies (most recent on top)
Any substance in your blood which affects your ability to safely and adequately do your job may be cause for placing you in a different job or termination. I have taken prescription dr-gs which caused me to be unfit for duty, even just allergy meds, and that is not fair to CVX who are paying me for my wonderful intellect.
They don't need you telling them what is in your blood, they will determine that with a test and take it from there.
Last commenter is incorrect. They will not take a disclosure. You have to fail first and then you show your prescriptions. This happened with my friend on a controlled substance Rx and it’s been the same at every company I’ve worked it. They dont give a cr-p about a warning.
Here's the simple answer: if everything you're taking is legit, tell them about it ahead of time rather than after failing a test. You cannot be fired (or in this case, not hired) because of what you disclose regarding legal medications. For 99% of people this will be a non-issue.
The process used to be that a person takes a dr-g screen and if anything shows up they are contacted by a Medical Review Officer (MRO) who will ask about the prescription and ask the person to submit proof of the RX. Remember that a valid RX needs in be in the person's own name and be written within the past 12 months. You can contact Health & Medical to be linked with the person who oversees the screening program for additional information. BTW, taking "legal" medications (dr-gs) from overseas countries which are illegal in the US, will NOT typically be a valid reason for it being in your system and is typically considered a positive test which is a serious policy violation which places employment at risk.
The "off-campus" person on here that keeps posting is just stupidity. no one cares, sweetie and if you're what most people know you probably are, that's offensive to our community.
For me I can't wait to get laid off campus 👉
You don’t need to disclose.
HIPAA legislation doesn't prevent you from disclosing what you're taking to the person performing your test. That's your decision. If you have a prescription for some sort of opiate and don't disclose it... I wouldn't be surprised if you fail the test. That being said, if you do fail, you could simply explain the situation after the fact. If you get a chance.
Where HIPAA comes in is when it comes to what the healthcare provider does with the information you've disclosed to them. That's a different thing, and yeah... they don't want to get into trouble over that.
Up to you though. I was always a worry-wart about it and asked about things I'm taking. Never once had a problem :)
No. Against federal law to ask about health or to test for legal dr-gs. They might test for pot, but it is against federal law. That said, I was always curious if I vacation in the Netherlands: it is a legal dr-g so hard to see how they could enforce.
No. Or at least, they never asked me to provide any such information. It may be against the law to require it- HIPAA is a pretty severe piece of legislation.