DOT Issues Interim Final Rule on 6-acetylmorphine (6-AM)
U.S. Department of Transportation sent this bulletin at 05/03/2012 11:41 AM EDTPosted for public inspection in today’s Federal Register for publication Friday, May 4, 2012, is a Department of Transportation Interim Final Rule:
Procedures for Transportation Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Programs
6-Acetylmorphine (6-AM) Testing
The following is a summary of the Interim Final Rule (IFR):
1) The Department is amending certain provisions of its drug testing procedures for 6-acetylmorphine (6-AM), a unique metabolite for heroin.
2) The IFR is intended to streamline the laboratory process for analyzing and reporting 6-AM positive test results and is designed to facilitate Medical Review Officer (MRO) verification of 6-AM positive results.
3) Effective July 3, 2012:
a) For Laboratories:
-
Laboratories will not be required to consult with MROs when 6-AM is confirmed and there is no morphine detected at 2000 ng/mL;
-
In such cases, laboratories will not be required to test for morphine at Limit of Detection (LOD); and
-
Laboratories will not be required to report these 6-AM results to ODAPC.
b) For MROs:
-
MROs will no longer be required to consult with laboratories when 6-AM is confirmed and there is no morphine detected at 2000 ng/mL; and
-
MROs will not be required to report these 6-AM results to and consult with ODAPC.
4) MROs will continue to adhere to 40.151(g) by not accepting an employee’s assertion that there is a legitimate medical explanation for the presence of 6-AM in a specimen.
5) Public comments regarding the IFR will be accepted until June 3, 2012.
The document can be viewed at the Federal Register’s Public Inspection website: https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2012-10665.pdf (This link is only good for today, May 3, 2012).
We expect to have the actual Federal Register IFR on our website Friday, May 4, 2012: http://www.dot.gov/odapc/frpubs.html.