For Immediate Release: May 18, 2009
Contact: Carol Morgan: (712) 242-2131
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Southwest Iowa ECI: “The Medical Review Officer’s Perspective:
Drug & Alcohol Testing in the Workplace”
COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA – No business, regardless of size or location, is immune to the countless problems that alcohol and drug abuse can cause. Most individuals who abuse alcohol and other drugs are employed, and when they arrive for work, they don’t leave their problems outside the door. Everyone involved in running a business—both employers and employees—suffer when there is workplace alcohol and drug abuse. Some costs are obvious, such as increased absences, accidents and errors. It also impacts absenteeism, tardiness and productivity rates, worker’s compensation claims and the overall climate and morale of the workplace.
The Southwest Iowa Employers’ Council (ECI) and Iowa Workforce Development will be hosting a training session titled “The Medical Review Officer’s Perspective: Drug & Alcohol Testing in the Workplace” on Wednesday June 10, 2009 from 10 am to 12:30 pm. This session will be held at Micah House, 1415 Ave J, Charles Lakin Campus, Council Bluffs, IA. Featured speaker will be Dr. Douglas W. Martin, Medical Director, St Luke’s Center for Occupational Health Excellence, Sioux City. All business owners, human resource personnel, managers, line supervisors, attorneys, legal para-professionals, health care staff and other interested parties are invited to attend. Due to the complex nature of this topic, businesses are encouraged to send multiple staff.
There is a minimal registration fee to attend which covers meeting expenses and lunch. Pre-registration and pre-payment is requested by Friday June 5th to Carol Morgan at (712) 242-2131 or
. This program has been approved for 2.5 (General) recertification credit hours towards PHR, SPHR and GPHR recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI); this session also meets the one (1) hour continuing education requirement for supervisors under Iowa Code Section 730.5 9(h). A certificate of attendance will be provided at the training session. Program topics include:
• Drug and alcohol testing…what does it cost a business?
• Drug and alcohol testing as it relates to both private and public businesses
• What are the testing methods? What about cutoffs?
• What does a drug test measure?
• Which drugs are tested and why
• How does it work? What are the safeguards to insure accuracy?
• Drug retention times
• Misinformation about testing and myths surrounding drug and alcohol testing
• What’s the best specimen? Urine, Hair, Saliva, Blood or Sweat
• Where are the Feds on new technology?
• What about cold medication? Poppy seeds, passive inhalation of marijuana
• Refusal to test—Adulterants, Substitution
• Negative Dilute—What does it mean? Is it urine?
• Are there products out there to beat a drug test? The World of Adulterants
• What do employees know about drug testing that employers don’t?
• Compliance with state and federal regulations and to insurance companies dealing with compensation claims
• The new DOT Drug and Alcohol Testing Regulations that became effective 8-25-08About the speaker: DOUGLAS W. MARTIN, MD, FAAFP, FACOEM, FAADEP, CIME, CEDIR
Douglas Martin, MD, is a native of Louisville, Nebraska, a small town of approximately 1,000 people near Omaha that is famous for Ash Grove cement manufactured from the limestone deposits along the Platte River. He attended the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences (a BS in BS!) with Highest Distinction in 1987. He went on to attend the University of Nebraska Medical Center receiving the Doctor of Medicine degree with Distinction in 1991.
Dr. Martin completed his residency in Davenport, Iowa. During residency, he was awarded the Mead-Johnson Award for Graduate Education in Family Medicine, given to the top twenty family medicine residents in the nation. Dr. Martin went on to complete the Mini-Residency in Occupational Medicine at the University of Cincinnati.
He serves as the Medical Director for St. Luke’s Center for Occupational Health Excellence in Sioux City, Iowa, a hospital-affiliated occupational medicine provider in the Siouxland area. The majority of his practice is related to musculoskeletal medicine, which is directly related to the industry in the area; he often speaks of “meatpacking is my life” as he services one of the largest meatpacking facilities in the world in Dakota City, NE.
Dr. Martin has served on the Board of Directors for the American Academy of Disability Evaluating Physicians and is a Past President. He is a Past President of the Iowa Academy of Family Physicians. He was given the AADEP President’s Award for Volunteer Service three different years and Freeman Award as Outstanding Educator in 2005.
He has given numerous lectures on various Occupational Medicine topics, with emphasis on upper extremity repetitive motion injuries, disability medicine topics, and medical review officer advanced topics. He is currently serving ACOEM as the Chair of the Medical Review Officer Section and in that capacity authored ACOEM’s official comments on the Federal Department of Transportation Revised Drug & Alcohol Testing Rules.
Dr. Martin is a Diplomat of the American Board of Family Medicine, Fellow of the American College of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, Fellow of the American Academy of Disability Evaluating Physicians, Certified Independent Medical Examiner, Certified Medical Review Officer, an Aviation Medical Examiner, a designated Immigration Civil Surgeon, an arbitration examiner for the Nebraska Worker’s Compensation Court, and a Social Security Disability Examiner for Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota.
Dr. Martin and his wife Janet have four children: Kendall (age 16), Kylie (age 14), Kaleb (age 10), and Kaden (age 6). The eldest three children are competitive swimmers and state champions. He suffers from an incurable syndrome known as “Husker Fever” which has serious exacerbations on Saturdays during the fall months. He is the current Executive Board Chair for the War Eagle District, Mid-American Council, Boy Scouts of America. He also served as Congregational President of Holy Cross Evangelical Lutheran Church of Dakota Dunes, South Dakota, recently heading a $2 million expansion project.
The Southwest IA Employers’ Council is a local employer group supported by Iowa Workforce Development Region 13 including Harrison, Shelby, Pottawattamie, Mills, Cass, Freemont and Page counties, and is part of the statewide Employers’ Council of Iowa system. All businesses, including Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri employers are welcome to attend ECI events. This employer’s group addresses workforce issues, and provides both educational and networking opportunities for employers and human resource professionals. Contact Carol Morgan for more information about the Southwest Iowa ECI group.
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