[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 163 (Monday, August 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51349-51350]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-20842]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of the Secretary


Elizabeth Betsy Pope d/b/a Eastgate Laboratory Testing; Public 
Interest Exclusion Order

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a decision and 
order under the Procedures for Transportation Workplace Drug and 
Alcohol Testing Programs that excludes a service agent, Elizabeth 
``Betsy'' Pope d/b/a Eastgate Laboratory Testing, from providing drug 
and alcohol testing services in any capacity to any DOT-regulated 
employer for a period of 5

[[Page 51350]]

years. Ms. Pope and her company provided Medical Review Officer 
services to DOT-regulated trucking companies when Ms. Pope was not 
qualified to act as a Medical Review Officer. This Federal Register 
serves as notice to the public that DOT-regulated employers or their 
service agents must stop using the services of Elizabeth ``Betsy'' Pope 
d/b/a Eastgate Laboratory Testing for administering their DOT-regulated 
drug and/or alcohol testing programs.

DATES: The effective date of the Public Interest Exclusion is August 
18, 2015 and it will remain in effect until August 18, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patrice M. Kelly, Acting Director, 
U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy 
and Compliance, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590; (202) 
366-3784 (voice), (202) 366-3897 (fax), or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    In accordance with the provisions of the Department's regulation at 
49 CFR part 40 (Part 40), Subpart R, Public Interest Exclusions (PIE), 
the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a Notice 
of Proposed Exclusion to Ms. Pope on January 20, 2015. FMCSA 
recommended the PIE based upon a criminal conviction that resulted from 
the fraudulent Medical Review Officer (MRO) services Ms. Pope was 
providing to a DOT-regulated trucking company through her company, 
Eastgate Laboratory Testing. The grand jury had charged that from 
approximately January 2006 through approximately March 2012, Ms. Pope 
provided drug test results without using a qualified MRO, as required 
by the DOT regulations. Ms. Pope, who was not a licensed physician (a 
Doctor of Medicine or Osteopathy), and therefore not qualified to act 
as an MRO, used the signature of an MRO to certify results, while the 
MRO had not worked for her company since June 2005. Specifically, the 
NOPE cited a guilty plea that Ms. Pope entered in the United States 
District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania and the 
resulting December 10, 2014 ``conviction for mail fraud relating to 
[Ms. Pope's] forgery of a medical review officer's signature on 
commercial motor vehicle operator drug tests.''

Public Interest Exclusion Decision and Order

    On August 18, 2015, the Department issued a PIE against Elizabeth 
``Betsy'' Pope d/b/a Eastgate Laboratories. This PIE prohibits all DOT-
regulated employers and service agents from utilizing Elizabeth 
``Betsy'' Pope d/b/a Eastgate Laboratories for drug and alcohol testing 
services in any capacity for a period of 5 years. A full copy of the 
Department's Decision and Order can be found at http://www.dot.gov/odapc.
    In accordance with the terms of the Department's Decision and Order 
and per 49 CFR 40.403(a), Elizabeth ``Betsy'' Pope d/b/a Eastgate 
Laboratories is required to directly notify each of the affected DOT-
regulated employer clients in writing about the issuance, scope, 
duration, and effect of the PIE. The Department is notifying employers 
and the public about this PIE by publishing it in a ``List of Excluded 
Drug and Alcohol Service Agents'' on its Web site at http://www.dot.gov/odapc/ and will make the list available upon request. As 
required by 49 CFR 40.401(d), the Department is publishing this Federal 
Register notice to inform the public that Elizabeth ``Betsy'' Pope d/b/
a Eastgate Laboratories is subject to a PIE for 5 years. After August 
18, 2020, Elizabeth ``Betsy'' Pope d/b/a Eastgate Laboratories, will be 
removed from the list and the public will be notified of that removal, 
also in accordance with 49 CFR 40.401(d).
    Any DOT-regulated employer who uses the services of Elizabeth 
``Betsy'' Pope d/b/a Eastgate Laboratories between August 18, 2015 and 
August 18, 2020 may be subject to a civil penalty for violation of Part 
40.

    Dated: This 18th Day of August, 2015, at Washington, DC.
Patrice M. Kelly,
Acting Director, Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2015-20842 Filed 8-21-15; 8:45 am]
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