CLIA Waived Drug Tests

Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)

• Congress passed the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) in 1988 establishing quality standards for all laboratory testing to ensure the accuracy, reliability and timeliness of patient test results regardless of where the test was performed.
• The categorization of commercially marketed in vitro diagnostic tests under CLIA is the responsibility of the FDA. This categorization includes the process of assigning commercially marketed in vitro diagnostic test systems to one of three CLIA regulatory categories based on their potential for risk to public health:
• waived tests
• tests of moderate complexity
• tests of high complexity