Why Medical Professionals Use Drug Tests: Top Reasons for Diagnostic and Treatment Purposes

Debra Riley

Published

Before we dive further into this topic, let’s first make some things clearer. For starters, what do we know about drug tests? Namely, they can be defined as a process during which a biological sample (like urine or blood) is utilized to see if legal or illegal drugs are present.

When we say drugs, we refer to conventional illegal drugs, the ones that are legal (such as over-the-counter medicines), tobacco, and alcohol.

There are numerous reasons why someone could demand it and below we’ll discuss the most common reasons.

Why Medical Professionals Use Drug Tests

Medical Testing & Diagnostic

If a physician suspects a drug overdose or poisoning, he or she is going to demand a drug test. This is mandatory, especially if an individual is showcasing various symptoms that do not seem benign.

Then something must urgently be done. In these types of situations, drug test cups can be used because they are capable of showing whether someone has employed prescription drugs or different illicit substances. Another equally effective way is blood drug testing.

With the help of this test, you can very quickly conclude whether someone has used any type of drugs due to the fact that drugs in the blood can be spotted usually within minutes (or at times hours) from utilization.

Supervising People Who Are Employing Prescription Drugs

There are various patients who’ve been taking prescription drugs for many, many years. Sadly, some of them have a tendency to misuse these drugs believing that they won’t be able to function normally without them.

That’s particularly the case with the ones who are using the ones that help them relieve the pain.

If your healthcare provider notices this, then he or she will most likely request a drug test to see if you potentially have more drugs in your body than normal. 

drug testing kit

Other Reasons For Drug Testing – Athletic Testing

Above we discussed why a medical professional would request a drug test and as you can see it’s practically all health-related. But sometimes, people who aren’t part of the healthcare industry will request these types of tests.

For starters, a school principal can do this as well, whenever he/she suspects that some of the student-athletes have misused drugs.

Young people (especially the ones who are under a lot of stress and want to achieve huge success overnight) tend to turn to things like hormones, steroids, and other types of drugs that can potentially boost their performance. 

Not only is something like this perceived as cheating, but these drugs can also hurt your health if used the wrong way.

drug samples

Read Next: The Importance of Proper Sharps Disposal

Legal Testing

There are many reasons why legal testing may be required when it comes to things that are related to legal purposes.

These normally include gathering evidence that an individual has been under the influence of drugs while driving if a child or adult has been abused, or if it’s necessary to collect evidence when any other crime has been committed.

To Sum Up

As you can see, there are numerous reasons why someone could request drug tests. Fortunately, all of these tests are pretty reliable which is why they’ve been implemented for so long.