Drug Testing Labs Say Competitors Are Gaming the System

By Greg Jones, Western Bureau ChiefInsurance industry researchers say that drug testing is emerging as a new cost driver in the California workers' compensation system, likely as a result of the increased use of opioids to treat injured workers' complaints of pain.Some in the drug testing business say they aren't surprised because laboratories have learned how to game the system.Alex Swedlow, research director for the California Workers' Compensation Institute, said during the industry group's annual meeting in San Francisco last month that drug testing has emerged as the n...