Should physicians be able to drug screen without your specific consent?

[Connonym]

You go to the ER with a broken leg or a kidney stone, etc., and they routinely test your blood for illegal drugs. I'm sure there is an argument that this is germane to treating your illness but do they have the right to test you without telling you that they are doing so? They're not going to call the cops on you (unless you're pregnant) but it will go in your "permanent medical record." That means potentially your employer could find out, certainly your insurance carrier will find out. I have worked in the field of medical records for 10+ years and I don't for 1 minute believe your records are as confidential as you might hope. What do you say, is our privacy fair game because we seek medical treatment or is this another example of the overarching loss of privacy?

[druidity33]

1. That's difficult

I trust doctors and nurses to keep my info private, but insurance companies and my Corporate employer... not so much.

I think screening for Drugs of any kind could be EXTREMELY important if the patient is unresponsive or refusing to answer. Drug interactions can create serious problems including DEATH. I do however believe that MJ should be removed from the list of Schedule 1 drugs and legalized entirely or at least moved to the Sched 3 list as it doesn't appear to interact to other substances with the same virulence as Coke or Smack.

[melm00se]

2. if that is made illegal

then there should be no penalty for the health care provider if they administer a medication that causes harm because it negatively interacted with illegal drugs that were in the patient's system.

[dems_rightnow]

3. It's critical to your care.

So yes, it's that important.

[Fumesucker]

4. Unless you are unconscious or otherwise non-responsive they could *ask* you..

Anyone who thinks medical records are inviolate are naifs, look at the recent past, several of the POTUS candidates had their supposedly inviolate passport records accessed by people who had no business doing so.