WASHINGTON REPORT BY LAURA SHELTON, CMP
PIE Issued Excluding Mounir R. Khouri From Providing Services On January 20, 2016, the Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a decision and order under the Procedures for Transportation Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Programs that excludes a service agent, Mounir R. Khouri, from providing drug and alcohol testing services in any capacity to any DOT- regulated employer for a period of 5 years. Mr. Khouri provided Consortium/ Third Party Administrator Services (C/TPA) and Medical Review Officer (MRO) services to DOT-regulated trucking companies. Mr. Khouri pled guilty to criminal
charges that he made materially false statements that an MRO had reviewed drug test results, when a qualified MRO had not done so. This Federal Register
publication serves as notice to the public that DOT-regulated employers or their service agents must stop using the services of Mounir R. Khouri for administering their DOT-regulated drug and/or alcohol testing programs. Any DOT-regulated employer who
uses the services of Mounir R. Khouri between January 20, 2016 and January 20, 2021 may be subject to a civil penalty for violation of Part 40.
Background In accordance with the provisions of the Department’s regulation at 49 CFR Part 40 (Part 40), Subpart R, Public Interest Exclusions (PIE), the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a Notice of Proposed Exclusion (NOPE) to Mr. Khouri on August 27, 2015, notifying him that he had engaged in serious noncompliance.
In the NOPE, the FMCSA stated that the Department’s Office of the Inspector General had conducted a criminal investigation that revealed that Mr. Khouri subverted the MRO’s role in the testing process. Specifically, Mr. Khouri held out as performing C/TPA services and he: Received laboratory confirmed drug test results and falsely certified that those results were reviewed by a qualified MRO; acted as an MRO, without qualifications to do so, by verifying laboratory confirmed positive test results; and prepared false Federal Drug Testing Custody and Control Forms (CCFs) for untested specimens and misrepresented that the specimens had tested negative. In the United States District Court for the District of Vermont, Mr. Khouri pled guilty and was convicted for making false statements on a CCF. Please view the full DOT decision
here:
https://www.transportation.gov/ sites/
dot.gov/files/docs/PIE_Decision_ Khouri.pdf. For more information, contact Patrice
M. Kelly, Acting Director, U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590; (202) 366-3784 (voice), (202) 366-3897 (fax), or
patrice.kelly@
dot.gov.
HHS Notice: Specimens with Same Abnormal Color in Bottle A & B On Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016, the National Laboratory Certification Program (NLCP) issued a notice concerning regulated specimens with abnormal color (i.e., as identified by laboratory staff ). Abnormal color alone is not a
reason for reporting a specimen as invalid. When a laboratory identifies a specimen with the same abnormal color in both Bottle A (the primary
34 datia focus Spring 2016
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