Acton, MA, August 16, 2017 — Psychemedics Corporation (NASDAQ:PMD) today announced it has become the first laboratory to be approved for the testing of drugs of abuse in hair by the State of Iowa.
On May 9, 2017, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad signed into law an Act allowing private sector pre-employment drug testing using hair samples. This law went into effect on July 1, 2017. Prior to the passage of this law, Iowa only allowed private sector testing for drugs of abuse through urine, blood, and oral fluid.
Psychemedics was instrumental in getting the law changed to include hair, which has a much longer look-back period than other matrices. Now, less than one month after the law went into effect, the Iowa Department of Public Health has issued a letter approving Psychemedics to conduct private sector pre-employment drug testing using hair.
The Iowa Department of Public Health is currently in the process of formulating administrative rules to govern the testing of hair for drugs of abuse. These rules must become final before testing can begin. Psychemedics is hopeful that the rules will become finalized in the coming few months, and looks forward to providing companies in Iowa the same platinum-standard in testing it provides to companies across the United States and the world.
