DOT Drug Panel: 2018

The DOT (U.S. Department of Transportation) added four substances and removed one from the drug testing panel. It expanded the panel to include four “semi-synthetic” opioid drugs (hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxycodone and oxymorphone) and removed methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA).  The changes to the DOT rules take effect on January 1, 2018.

The Federal Drug Panel includes the following substances:

  • Marijuana
  • Cocaine
  • Phencyclidine (PCP)
  • Amphetamine
  • Methamphetamine
  • MDMA: commonly known as ecstasy (E)
  • MDA: Methylenedioxyamphetamine
  • Codeine/Morphine
  • 6-AM (Heroin)
  • Hydrocodone/Hydromorphone
  • Oxycodone/Oxymorphone

Your Federal Drug Panel should include each drug separately.  If you’re getting data directly from the lab and the result is negative for Hydrocodone/Hydromorphone, the lab may simply report both together as “Hydrocodone/Hydromorphone: Negative.”

If, however, one or both are specifically detected, the lab may report, for example:

  • Hydrocodone/Hydromorphone: Positive
  • Hydrocodone: Negative
  • Hydromorphone: Positive

Note: When subscribers get results via EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) and the results for Hydrocodone/Hydromorphone, or Codeine/Morphine, or Oxycodone/Oxymorphone are Negative, the lab may report it as a single item.  This will not cause any reporting issues relative to the DOT MIS report as the DOT MIS report modules manages it without a problem.

If you are manually managing results, the Federal Drug Panel should include each drug separately:

  • Marijuana
  • Cocaine
  • PCP (Phencyclidine)
  • Amphetamine (classified as Amphetamines)
  • MDMA (or Ecstasy & classified as Amphetamines)
  • MDA (classified as Amphetamines)
  • Codeine (classified as an Opiate)
  • Morphine (classified as an Opiate)
  • 6-AM (Heroin) (classified as an Opiate)
  • Hydrocodone (classified as an Opiate)
  • Hydromorphone (classified as an Opiate)
  • Oxycodone (classified as an Opiate)
  • Oxymorphone (classified as an Opiate)

The DOT report generator will count each positive according to the requirements when the individual items are classified as Amphetamines or Opiates.