Physician Drug Testing Is Unscientific and Is Unlikely to Achieve Stated Aims
Authors: Gregory E. Skipper, Julius Cuong Pham, Peter J. Pronovost
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2015)

Letters21 April 2015Physician Drug Testing Is Unscientific and Is Unlikely to Achieve Stated AimsGregory E. Skipper, MD, Julius Cuong Pham, MD, PhD, and Peter J. Pronovost, MD, PhDGregory E. Skipper, MDFrom Promises Treatment Centers, Santa Monica, California, and Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety & Quality, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.Search for more papers by this author, Julius Cuong Pham, MD, PhDFrom Promises Treatment Centers, Santa Monica, California, and Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety & Quality, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.Search for more papers by this author, and Peter J. Pronovost, MD, PhDFrom Promises Treatment Centers, Santa Monica, California, and Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety & Quality, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/L15-0078-2 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:We thank Dr. Donohoe for sharing his views on physician drug testing. He suggests that impaired physicians cannot be identified through drug testing for various reasons, including misconceptions surrounding substance abuse, business interests, legal costs, and vague hospital procedures. Many of these points do not relate to the effectiveness of drug testing but rather a larger social context around it.Although it is true that drug testing will not detect all cases of abuse (for example, alcoholics in withdrawal and testing too long after sentinel events), these 2 examples hardly represent all of the situations in which drug ...References1. Stout PR, Bynum ND, Mitchell JM, Baylor MR, Ropero-Miller JD. A comparison of the validity of gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry analysis of urine samples for morphine, codeine, 6-acetylmorphine, and benzoylecgonine. J Anal Toxicol. 2009;33:398-408. [PMID: 19874645] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Skipper GE, Specht T. State PHPS protect the public—and save careers. Physician Health News. 2013;18 February 4-5. Google Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Gregory E. Skipper, MD; Julius Cuong Pham, MD, PhD; Peter J. Pronovost, MD, PhDAffiliations: From Promises Treatment Centers, Santa Monica, California, and Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety & Quality, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=L15-0079. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoCalifornia's Proposition 46: A Wolf in Sheep's Wool Julius Cuong Pham and Peter J. Pronovost Physician Drug Testing Is Unscientific and Is Unlikely to Achieve Stated Aims Martin Donohoe Metrics Cited byDepression and Substance Use Disorders in Physicians 21 April 2015Volume 162, Issue 8Page: 598KeywordsBlood sugarDisclosureDrug abuseDrugsHealth careLaboratory testsLife expectancyResearch laboratoriesSpecificitySubstance abuse ePublished: 21 April 2015 Issue Published: 21 April 2015 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2015 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...