More Fentanyl Shows Up in Random Workplace Tests

September 2, 2025

Unlabeled pill bottles in a pharmacy

(Wall Street Journal) – More Americans are testing positive for fentanyl use in randomized workplace drug tests, highlighting a persistent challenge for employers.

The positive rate for urine tests indicating the presence of the synthetic opioid fentanyl was 1.13% in 2024. That is up from 0.91% in 2023 and double the rate in 2020, according to a recent analysis of more than eight million drug tests by Quest Diagnostics, one of the U.S.’s largest drug-testing labs.

“We’re seeing trends that are outside of the norm that we see for other drugs historically,” said Suhash Harwani, senior director of science for workforce-health solutions at Quest Diagnostics. (Read More)