This is an important question for your driver and your business !!!!!!!
One of the most frequent issues that is misunderstood by drivers is related
to the intermittant use of narcotics for pain. There are many drivers that
have back pain, leg pain, or neck pain for one medical reason or another. So
how long does a driver need to wait before it is safe to drive after the use
of narcotic pain killers.
I do not know of any available empirical studies that give us proof as to what
hour after the use of narcotic medication it might be safe to drive. However, there
is much data available as to the standard half life of certain drugs.
For instance hydrocodone's half-life is 3.8 hours +/- 0.3. This
means that the range of normal for the half life of how long it takes the body to dispose
of the hydrocodone ranges from between 3.5 hours to 4.1 hours.
What does this mean?
It takes a little over an hour for the hydrocodone to reach the maximum
level in the blood stream after the tablet is swallowed.
If we use 4 hours as the half life of hydrocodone the amount of hydrocodone
that is left in a driver's system over 36 hours is the following :
0 hours
- 0 %
1 hour
- 100 %
5 hours
- 50 %
9 hours
- 25 %
13 hours
- 12.5 %
17 hours
- 6.25 %
21 hours
- 3.125 %
25 hours
- 1.5625 %
29 hours
- 0.78125 %
33 hours
- 0.390625 %
37 hours
- 0.159325 %
As you can see by the percentages above it is an easy decision to tell a driver
he or she should not take hydrocodone at night and drive the next morning. About
25% of the narcotic is still active in his system.
The more important question is when can a driver drive. When I use the above
information to explain to an employer or driver it is also an easy decision to
tell a driver it is safe to drive 36 hours after the use of a narcotic.
Please also be mindful that if the driver has a metabloic condition that reduces
his liver's capacity to dispose of the narcotic the above projections can
increase.
Gregory P. Ennis, M.D., M.R.O.
Medical Director, EcCare Health Centers www.EcCare.com
Medical Review Officer www.aamro.com
