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ECONOMICS, EDUCATION, AND POLICY

Random Drug Testing to Reduce the Incidence of Addiction in Anesthesia Residents: Preliminary Results from One Program

From the Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Michael G. Fitzsimons, MD, Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit St., Boston, MA 02114. Address e-mail to mfitzsimons{at}partners.org.

Abstract

Substance abuse occurs in approximately 1%–2% of anesthesia residents and nearly 80% of programs have had one or more resident (s) with such a problem. Education and control efforts have failed to reduce the frequency of substance abuse. Anesthesia providers have a professional obligation to be drug-free for the well being of their patients. We have instituted a program of preplacement and random urine testing of residents in anesthesiology in an attempt to decrease the incidence of substance abuse. We demonstrate that such a program is feasible, despite logistic and cultural obstacles. Larger multi-institutional studies will be required to determine whether instituting a program of random urine testing decreases the incidence of substance abuse in anesthesiology residents.

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