US: Airline pilots, train engineers to get random tests for opioids

Airline pilots, train engineers and truck drivers subject to federally mandated drug screening will soon be tested for a range of opioids under a new rule issued Thursday. While transportation workers have long been subject to random screenings for various drugs, the list didn’t include the synthetic opioid pain killers that have helped lead to a dramatic spike in addiction and overdose deaths in the US. Following through on a proposal released Jan 23, the DoT published a final rule adding the drugs hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxymorphone and oxycodone to a list that already included marijuana, cocaine and heroin. The new testing rules take effect Jan 1. President Donald Trump declared opioid addiction a public health emergency Oct 26 and that class of drugs has begun to show up in post-accident drug testing. <br/>