Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Ombudsman urges Health Ministry to make a list of medicines affecting drug test results

Diana Kovacheva
Photo: BGNES

Ombudsman Diana Kovacheva has submitted a recommendation to the Ministry of Health to publish a list of medications which give a false positive on drug tests for drivers.  

Prof. Kovacheva cites as her motive the fact that taking medicines from several pharmacological groups could affect the result of a drug test. The Ombudsman points out that even small concentrations of these medicines could bear a resemblance to banned narcotic substances, and that this is public knowledge. Analgesics, anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic medicines, as well as anti-depressants and other over-the-counter medications are all medicines of this kind. Ombudsman Kovacheva says that when a driver is given a drug test on the road, this means equating someone who has taken cough medicine with someone who has deliberately taken a narcotic substance. 



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

NSI: More than 1/5 of the population in Bulgaria lives in poverty

In 2024, the poverty line in the country was €375 per month on average per person in a household. A total of 1,401,300 people, or 21.7% of the population, were living below the poverty line , according to the National Statistical Institute (NSI)...

published on 4/25/25 4:46 PM
Krasimir Valchev, Minister of Education and Science.

Parents protest against plans to introduce compulsory religious education in public schools

A protest has been organised on social media demanding the resignation of Education Minister Krasimir Valchev and the cancellation of the Ministry of Education and Science's plan to introduce a compulsory subject called "Religion and Virtue" in schools,..

published on 4/25/25 4:18 PM

Former Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev accused of mismanagement

The Sofia City Prosecutor's Office has brought former caretaker Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev under investigation for mismanagement . The case concerns an annex to the contract for the creation of the new personal documents system, signed by..

published on 4/25/25 3:27 PM