RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
And in his State of the Union address, President Obama made America's opioid epidemic a national priority. Republican presidential hopefuls Carly Fiorina and Jeb Bush have talked in personal terms about their own children's drug problems, and it isn't just an issue for families. As NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports, it's also creating costs and challenges in the workplace.
YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE: Three decades ago, the treatment Michele Zumwalt received for severe headaches involved a shot of the opioid Demerol. Very quickly, Zumwalt says, she would get headaches if she didn't get her shot. Then she began having seizures, and her doctor considered stopping the medication.
MICHELE ZUMWALT: I didn't know I was addicted, but I just knew that it was like you were going to ask me to live in a world without oxygen. It was that scary.
NOGUCHI: Zumwalt did not cut back. In fact, over two decades, the Sacramento resident got an ever-increasing number of opioid prescriptions, all while working in corporate sales.
ZUMWALT: I could show up at Xerox and put on a presentation, and I was high on Percodan - I mean, fully out of it. I don't know how many I had taken, but so many that I barely remember the presentation. And do you know that people didn't know?
NOGUCHI: Her addiction worsened, eventually forcing her on medical leave. Now sober a dozen years, Zumwalt wrote a book about recovery called "Ruby Shoes." Her story highlights, among other things, the many challenges employers face in dealing with prescription drug abuse. According to one study, prescription opioid abuse alone cost employers more than $25 billion in 2007. Other studies show people with addictions are far more likely to be sick, absent or use workman's comp benefits. Patrick Krill directs a treatment program at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation that targets lawyers and judges, a profession he says has twice the addiction rate of the general population.
PATRICK KRILL: The more of a professional stature you have, the less likely you are going to be forced into recovery and, you know, the longer your addiction is probably going to go on unchecked.
NOGUCHI: He says most patients come because work forces them to, but sometimes the job is also a hindrance. Last month, the advocacy group National Safety Council released a survey showing 4 out of 5 employers in Indiana said they've confronted painkiller abuse in the workplace.
DON TEATER: Many times they're showing up to work late if they can't find their pills because they're starting to have withdrawal symptoms. They know they can't work.
NOGUCHI: That is Don Teater, medical adviser for the council. He went from family physician in Clyde, N.C., to addiction specialist after seeing prescription opioids and heroine rip through his rural community. Three-quarters of his patients have lost their jobs. Some managed to hide prescription drug abuse for years, he says. But it does affect brain function and productivity.
TEATER: You know, they're just not as sharp. They're not thinking as quickly. For people that are working in safety-sensitive positions - you know, driving forklifts or something - their reactions might not be quite as fast.
NOGUCHI: One of the biggest problems, Teater says, is that many employers aren't even testing for prescription opioids.
TEATER: You know, I'll be talking to 50 or 60 HR people, and I'll say, how many of you test for oxycodone? And, you know, a third of the hands will go up, maybe. And, you know, oftentimes I'll say, how many of you don't even know what you're testing for? And a number of hands will go up.
NOGUCHI: According to Quest Diagnostics, only 13 percent of the roughly six-and-a-half million workplace drug tests screen for prescription painkillers. Even federal government workers in public safety positions who are required to undergo periodic drug testing are not currently tested for prescription opioids. Ron Flegel is director of workplace programs for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
RON FLEGEL: Within federal agencies we don't test, so we can't see exactly what the positivity rate would be in prescription drugs. But we know from the private employers the percentage is quite high as far as people that are testing positive.
NOGUCHI: Flegel says, in coming months, new rules will include prescription painkillers in federal drug testing. Meanwhile, tables have turned for Michele Zumwalt, the recovering addict. She now helps manage her husband's construction firm.
ZUMWALT: Through the years we've seen, you know, lots of people with addiction. We can almost recognize it in the workplace now, you know, as employers.
NOGUCHI: They urge them to get into rehab, she says, and hope they turn around. Yuki Noguchi, NPR News, Washington.