Medical Card Question

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by Female Driver, Mar 28, 2012.

  1. skein

    skein Bobtail Member

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    Dec 4, 2011
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    The drug tests are only testing a very few things. If you are not taking one of them they will not uncover anything else.

    If you are taking cancer drugs that contain cabanoids, pain killers that contain opiates, or attention deficit(or diet pills) that contain the alkanoids similar to speed then report it. They are not going to find anything else.

    There are some very good reasons not to report things like beta blockers or cholesterol drugs. They will flag you for a physical every year instead of every 2 years which is a pain in the butt. Some companies will discriminate against you because of them since it costs them more to send you for a physical every year.

    The sharp lawyers will never even bother to look for such things. That is NOT what they are looking for. The lawyer payday comes when the driver gets fired by the company for having an accident and gets mad as hell. Then when the lawyer talks to the driver, the driver spills his guts about every little thing that could possible be construed as wrong with the company.

    What the lawyer will not tell the driver is once it all gets put on paper the driver will never work again. They do not engage in real detective work, they are just looking for low hanging fruit and know it is around since the trucking companies treat so many drivers as easily disposable.
     
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  3. MNoutkast

    MNoutkast Medium Load Member

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    Feb 24, 2012
    Elk River, MN
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    Pass a DOT drug test yes, so as long as they have a prescription for the Morphine. Of course this is assuming the MRO does their job and the person answers the phone when they call. The other thing is that its hard to fail on something like Morphine, Tylenol 3 or Vicodin because of the cutoff levels for testing. (Both Tylenol 3 and Vicodin metabolize into Morphine.) It used to be 300ng the now raised it to 2000ng....for reference normal levels of Codeine will normally drop below the old cut off within 24 hours of the last dose. (When taken as directed.) It was raised because of the enormous amount of false positive that the MRO's had to check into.

    They would however be disqualified from getting a medical card, passing a DOT physical and would be disqualified from driving because of the morphine. So even though they could pass the drug test they would not be hire-able because of the use.
     
  4. roadiez

    roadiez Light Load Member

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    Apr 20, 2008
    Evansville, In
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    Well, have & do list my meds. I have Rx's for Hydracodone 7.5/500(Loratabs) & for Flexeril 10.0 mg...
    I listed it on my recent DOT physical & when I went to go for my rehire physical. The Dr. listed them on my long form & stated that I AM NOT TO TAKE WITHIN 10 HOURS OF DRIVING.
    Well, atleast I know I am covering my rear-end if something like an injury/fatality crash happens.

    The biggest thing that did happen was that it took 5 days to get my clearence back from the UA company comducting the tests. Instead of the normal 24 hour turn around.

    I went ahead on home on the 4th day(drove my own vehicle & only 140 miles from company)

    This happend just last week & still have the msg on my phone still. I might/might not give them a call back today. I do like the company. But just not real certain I want to retain employment with someone who just makes me wait 5-6 days & just say "Have YOU recieved a phone call yet"?

    They were insinuating that I was going to flunk my UA & one of the training coordinators actually said that I am as good as not going to pass the UA due to the Loratabs in my system. I told the all so smart wizard that "If I am NOT DRIVING I can take my meds as prescribed to me.

    I did not take my meds withing the 12 hour windaow as stated by the Dr. conducting the DOT Physical...

    So, what I would say is YES put all meds(including the little blue pills on there because even those come with warning of rapid blood loss to the head reagion(the one above your shoulders) & be completely honest with them. All meds can be prescribed for one thing or another. Dual use as some might say. I am also Rx'd some meds that are commonly presribed for seizures. But since these are used for something completely different I had no problems since my Dr. sent in a letter as to what they were for to the SMO.

    Just my 2cents worth so good luck to the original poster for this question.
    Also Is there a definite list someone knows of that lists all meds that are banned for drivers?
    All I find is general classes of drugs, or some posts points torwards what an airline pilot can/cannot take to be the same as drivers... To me if we(drivers) are held to the same standards as pilots..Then somebody needs to bump our pay up to meet their $100,000 a year pay as well but we all know that we had might as well be whizzing in the wind there!
     
  5. Moose1958

    Moose1958 Road Train Member

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    This website should have most of the information you want. If you have a specific question I would direct said question to the FMCSA, the information you can get on these boards while free is not necessarily accurate or official.
     
  6. Moose1958

    Moose1958 Road Train Member

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    Actually ALL medical records are required PER FEDERAL law to be electronic by 2014 with fines starting in 2015 for non compliance.
     
  7. Allow Me.

    Allow Me. Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    I don't believe it's medical records. You're referring to long forms being entered into a data base for drivers license.
     
  8. Moose1958

    Moose1958 Road Train Member

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  9. Allow Me.

    Allow Me. Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    So I guess they're going to have the "Electronic Medical record Police" stop by every Doctors office in the Country and make sure they are compliant.
     
  10. grusco

    grusco Light Load Member

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    Feb 25, 2012
    Rosemount, MN
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    If this were 1970 or even 1980 this would be necessary. Times have changed. Records are no longer kept on paper in file cabinets (or on individual computer disks). Information is shared between physicians, hospitals, clinics, insurers, and EMPLOYERS with the employees permission which we all grant when we sign on in any company of any size. The "cloud" is reaching further into every profession, especially medicine! There is a huge effort to centralize medical information. Think about Medicare! They pay the bills, they know exactly what they're paying for on who's behalf nationwide!

    If something were to happen to any of us 1,000 miles from home how long do you think it would take for an attending physician to acquire our complete medical history? He/She wouldn't start calling every physician's office in the country they would simply sit at a terminal and bing/bang it would be available in seconds (probably through your employer who got it from your physician). And your doc wouldn't have to wait for the call then send his staff to a metal file cabinet, pull out a drawer and search the alphabetized file folders to find your last name. Nor would she have to go to their isolated computer and pull up your last name.

    Hello 2012 and the digital age !!!
     
    roadiez Thanks this.
  11. Moose1958

    Moose1958 Road Train Member

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    I have a good friend that works in a surgeons office. If I understood what she told me right it's really not about enforcement as much as it is about getting insurance, medicare and medicaid reimbursements (getting paid). I think the software has to be according to a standard plus there are literately thousands of codes the physicians have to go by as well. It's more like what a previous poster said, it's the digital age adapt or get left behind.
     
    Roadmedic Thanks this.
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