Random Drug Testing for California Doctors?

The initiative is a proposed California state ballot measure that would require doctors to be randomly subjected to drug and alcohol testing, in the same way DOT safety sensitive employees are.  The “Pee in the Cup” campaign is being pushed by former AOL and NetZero executive Bob Pack- whose children were struck and killed by a driver under the influence of alcohol and prescription pills in 2003.

The campaign has already raised $2 million in funding and reports having a poll showing 85 percent of California voters would support random testing of physicians.

The goal is to get the measure on the November 2014 ballot alone or with the other following initiatives:

• Lift the cap on damages in medical malpractice cases.
• Change the makeup of the state Medical Board, which disciplines bad doctors, to require that a majority come from outside the medical profession.
• And ensure funding for a state database to track what drugs doctors are prescribing —and if they’re being recklessly prescribed.

California Medical Association spokeswoman Molly Weedn calls the effort by Pack and his supporters “nothing more than an ill-fated publicity stunt.’’

Source: San Francisco Chronicle -http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/Doctor-drug-tests-backed-by-tech-mogul-4529844.php