Pain meds and working

[Pharmacist.steve]

An employer cannot ask any personal questions during the interview process.. after the job is offered/hired.. then the ADA (Americans with Disability Act) and HIPAA comes into play.

I would hate to be an employer that told an employee that they could not take ANY PRESCRIBED MEDICATIONS or OTC drugs... unless it interfered with job/productivity/safety. Proving that can be a very slippery slope for the employer.

Unless the employer limits its hiring to exclude diabetics - low/high blood sugar can affect job performance .. and/or epileptic - don't want employees having seizures in the work place... or people who are depressed.. cause they often can't focus as well or not as productive. How about people with allergies.. who take antihistamines - causes drowiness and can affect job performance.

Drug tests are to determine if a person is taking ILLEGAL drugs or take legal drugs without a physician order.

I would have to do some research...but.. I would think that a lab could not "fail" someone on a drug test... if they could produce a legal prescription for the opiate that was found their urine/blood.... and to report back to the employer that they failed under such circumstances would be -IMO - a false report.... and subject the lab to liable/slander claims...