Drug screen discrimination

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My fiance is enrolling in a nursing program in Indiana. The program requires a drug screen, usually a urinalysis. However, she has end stage renal disease and, therefore, doesn't produce any urine. The cost for a urinalysis is about $40. Because she has to have a blood drug screen, she has to pay about $160. Does this feel like discrimination to you? It sure does to me.

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No its not discrimination. She can not provide a urine sample for testing so she has to be tested in another way which happens to be more time consuming and expensive. Its not like the school has any control over the price, why does everyone want to play a victim?

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Specializes in ER.

It sucks but it is not discrimination. If they were mandating it because they were black or grew up in a neighborhood where weed smokers were common, that would be discrimination.

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Discrimination would be:

* They force her to pay for a blood test because she's X ethniticity

* They force her to pay for a blood test because she's homosexual

* They force her to pay for a blood test because she believes God is a giant reptile that bestows favors upon people who eat sprouts three times a day.

Sensing a theme here?

They are not discriminating against her. They are offering her another route to compete a requirement for the nursing program she's voluntarily entering into.

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My fiance is enrolling in a nursing program in Indiana. The program requires a drug screen, usually a urinalysis. However, she has end stage renal disease and, therefore, doesn't produce any urine. The cost for a urinalysis is about $40. Because she has to have a blood drug screen, she has to pay about $160. Does this feel like discrimination to you? It sure does to me.

If you or she is going to get fired up over this because you think it's illegal somehow I suspect you won't like how nursing school is going to go. Much of the grading and pass/fail situations are subjective and the decisions of the faculty are final.

If your fiancée's circumstances require her to incur increased costs for attending school that's unfortunate but it's not the school's problem, it's hers. If the school declined her application because she has ES renal disease, you could complain it's a violation of the ADA. Asking her to provide an alternative method of proof she's not using recreational drugs? So what. Be happy they asked and didn't refuse to consider another method entirely.

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But .... what about my strainer? I'm a Pastafarian. Would I have to take it off to pee in the cup?

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It's not discrimination. I'm not even going to touch the whole "ESRD starting nursing school" thing ...

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But .... what about my strainer? I'm a Pastafarian. Would I have to take it off to pee in the cup?

Take what off? I'm imagining a peepee teepee made of pasta :lol2:

ETA: I just looked up pastafarian and was regaled with tales of a Flying Spaghetti Monster. I'm dying.

OP: not to make light of your gf's situation. I'm sorry you're upset, but I hope you can understand why she is not facing discrimination.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

A drug screen is required for admission to the program. Your fiancee is aware that a drug screen is required for admission to the program.

I say this gently: it is not the school's fault that your fiancee can't meet the requirement at the lowest cost.

Discrimination is where someone is treated adversely based solely on age, race, gender, religion, disability, or other protected classes. Having end-stage renal disease does not make one fall under a protected class.

And even if you could successfully argue that having end-stage renal disease falls under "disability", all the school has to do is make reasonable accommodations to accommodate said disability--which, by making the drug screen available via blood test, it has. Reasonable accommodations doesn't mean that the school has to pick up the tab for the test, though.

I'm sorry if this isn't what you and she want to hear.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

So who do you think should pay for the overage? The school? It sucks she can't use the cheapest option but its not discrimination that the school isn't going to cover it for her.

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What you have described is not discrimination.

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Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

ESRD and trying to go to nursing school? I don't mean to be a bubble burster, but even if she gets in to nursing school and is able to make it through, graduates, passes NCLEX and gets a nursing license, I don't know how she would ever pass the required personal health screening you typically have to go through to get hired as an RN. I admire her wanting to try, but nursing is such a physical job, I'm just not seeing how she could tackle it. Considering the patients I see with ESRD, this has me scratching my head. Again, I'm not trying to be negative, but realistic.

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