Former Operator Of Drug Testing Company Gets Probation Over Fraud After Trucker’s ‘Diluted’ Results

The former operator of a motor carrier drug company has been sentenced to four years probation, after being convicted of fraud, according to a press release from the Department of Justice. Elizabeth “Betsy” Pope, 49, of Loudon, Tennessee, will also serve eight months of home detention. Pope was the operator of Eastgate Laboratory Testing, which was a third party for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s drug and alcohol testing program for commercial truck drivers.

“Since the early 1990s, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and its predecessor agency has defined drug and alcohol testing rules and regulations for employees who drive commercial trucks and buses that require a commercial driver’s license (CDL). These regulations identify who is subject to testing, when they are tested and in what situations.”

Pope was accused of fraudulently using the signature of a medical review officer who once also worked for Eastgate. That doctor’s employment with Eastgate ended in 2005. She had been contracted to provide drug screenings through her company. She billed the company she was contracted to do work for as though Eastgate actually performed the required services. In doing so, she received $109,000. InTransit, a company in Pennsylvania, accused her of fraud because Eastgate did not have an actual medical review officer on staff to review the results of the drug tests.

Federal regulations state that a portion of all drug and alcohol tests through any drug testing company must be reviewed by a licensed doctor, according to Trunkinginfo.

A commercial truck driver who had 18 years of experience underwent a drug test for pre-employment. The truck driver performed three different drug tests, and each one came back “diluted,” according to Land Line Magazine. The truck driver attempted to contact the medical review officer at Eastgate, and when he was not given the contact information by Pope, the fraud was exposed because he searched the internet for the doctor Pope claimed reviewed the screenings. That doctor contacted InTransit, and reported Pope was fraudulently using his name in her work.

Pope was convicted of fraud after it was determined in federal court that she had been using a computer-generated signature of the company’s former medical review officer. Pope was accused of using this signature to commit fraud between 2008 and 2012.

Earlier this year, the Inquistr reported on a video that that went viral which showed the importance of truckers being sober with quick reflexes. The video featured a truck driver’s quick response to a strong wind gust that could have ended in a tragic accident, but didn’t.

Fraud aside, have any of the Inquisitr’s truck-driving readers had a drug test come out positive when there was no drug use?

[Photo via U.S. Government]