The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published data on May 11, 2022 concluding that drug overdoses in 2021 reached the highest levels on record. CDC stated that an estimated 107,622 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States in 2021, largely driven by opioids. This figure is a 15% increase over the number
Prescription Drugs
U.S. Department Of Justice Issues Guidance Concerning Legal Protections For Individuals Recovering From Opioid Use Disorder
By Stacey J. Lococo on
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) published guidance on April 5, 2022 explaining how The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects people who are in treatment or recovery for opioid use disorder (OUD), including those who take prescription medications as part of that treatment.
The guidance states that individuals in treatment or recovery from opioid…
Use of Opioid Medications By Applicant For Forklift Job Was Not Sufficient to Deny Employment Without Individualized Assessment
By Kathryn J. Russo on
A federal court in Ohio denied summary judgment to both parties where an employer refused to hire an applicant who used opioid medication as a forklift driver. The court held that there were disputed issues of fact as to whether the parties participated in the interactive process in good faith and whether the applicant’s opioid…
DEA Issues Public Safety Alert Concerning Fake Prescription Pills Containing Fentanyl and Methamphetamine
By Kathryn J. Russo on
The Drug Enforcement Administration issued a public safety alert on September 27, 2021 to warn Americans of the alarming increase in the lethality and availability of fake prescription pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine. Calling its public safety campaign “One Pill Can Kill,” the DEA’s first public safety alert in six years seeks to raise public…
Pennsylvania Court Affirms Unemployment Benefits for Medical Marijuana User
By Mary-Ann P. Czak on
A Pennsylvania Appeals Court affirmed an order granting unemployment benefits to a medical marijuana user who was terminated by his employer for a positive drug test. The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Auth. v. Unemployment Comp. Bd. of Review, Case No. 228 C.D. 2020 (Commw. Ct. Pa. Nov. 18, 2020).
The employee was employed as…
Request For Medical Examination Was Permissible Under ADA After Positive Drug Test Result
A federal court in Indiana dismissed an employee’s claim that his employer did not have the right to request a medical examination after he tested positive for drugs and subsequently admitted that he was taking numerous prescription medications that could create a safety risk. Beal v. Muncie Sanitary District, Case No. 1:19-cv-01506 (S.D. Ind.…
EEOC Issues Guidance on Opioid Addiction in Employment
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued two technical assistance documents on August 5, 2020, addressing accommodation issues under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for employees who use opioid medications or may be addicted to opioids. They provide employers insight into how the EEOC envisions information exchange and accommodation efforts.
Employer’s Request to Count Employee’s Prescription Medication Sufficient to Support Invasion of Privacy Claim
By Kathryn J. Russo on
A federal court in Alabama held that an employer’s request to count an employee’s prescription medication – in connection with a drug test that the employee passed – supported the employee’s claim for invasion of privacy. Effinger v. Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority, Case no. 2:19-cv-00766-KOB (N.D. Al. Jan. 23, 2020).
The plaintiff was a…
Marijuana-Based Drug Is Placed On Schedule V of Controlled Substances Act
By Kathryn J. Russo on
Posted in Medical Marijuana, Prescription Drugs
The U.S. Department of Justice and Drug Enforcement Administration announced on September 27, 2018 that Epidiolex, a cannabis-based drug approved by the Food & Drug Administration, is being placed in Schedule V of the federal Controlled Substances Act, the least restrictive schedule of the CSA. This is the first time that any marijuana-based drug has…
FDA Approves Marijuana-Based Drug For the First Time
By Kathryn J. Russo on
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved June 25, 2018 a prescription drug made from marijuana for the first time. The drug, known as Epidiolex, is approved to treat seizures in two rare and severe forms of epilepsy, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome, in patients two years of age and older.
Epidiolex is made from…