The National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners was supposed to make it easier for drivers to find doctors to issue them medical cards and make sure only trustworthy doctors performed the exams. But so many CMEs are giving out medical cards to truckers without doing the proper certification steps that the DOT will be performing an audit on the entire system.
Since 2014, criminal investigations launched by the DOT Office of the Inspector General (OIG) have resulted in eight indictments and six convictions resulting from CME fraud. In the majority of these cases, medical examiners would issue a medical certification to a driver without performing a full exam.
In some cases, medical examiners were bribed to give drivers a pass. In other cases, drivers wouldn’t even be aware that a medical exam wasn’t completed properly. The CME would just skip steps in order to see more patients and make more money.
When CMEs are caught issuing fraudulent certificates, all drivers that received their current certification from that examiner are required to retake their medical exam within 30 days. In one case, more than 600 drivers were impacted.
On February 20th, the DOT OIG announced that it will be conducting an audit. According to the audit announcement, the objective is to “evaluate FMCSA’s procedures for (1) oversight of its medical certificate program, including commercial driver medical certificate data quality, and (2) validating information in its National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners.”
DOT has not yet published when they expect the audit to be completed or what actions they might take to address the issue.
Source: overdrive, ttnews, freightwaves, truckinginfo, DOT
Proud America says
Wholly cow fatboys and girls
Josh Faircloth says
When “real” Physicians have to pay the “FMCSA” to take a class on how to do physicals, this is what you get! You take “real” physicians out of the picture! The “real” Physicians spent 100’s of thousands of dollars and many years to get their degree! “BUREAUCRATIC BS” is what happened!
Wig Wag says
Trust me I would love to find someone to give me a 2 year card, but I know with being diabetic and being the majority of my life, a one year card is all I can get.
Chris says
Reading articles like this one is starting to make me believe that we are a country of cheaters and liars……, who knows maybe we are. The value of human input into all these aspects of professional life has been diminished to the point that I feel like a criminal every time I get into my truck.
Super trucker says
We are. As truckers we are second rate citizens. Non citizens have more rights and people fighting for them than truck drivers. Has anyone ever given you a gallon of water when your truck broke down in the desert
Kenny Bruno says
We are a ruthless corrupt society, that much is true. All you have to do is look is at our government, police etc… rules are not meant for them, the just enforce and collect. Work 4 years and you get a pension? I’d like to know how many of us commoners will get a pension.
Big pharmaceutical kick backs is life threatening for some people who need them to live, but why do they care.
We as a society make them richer and richer and there’s not one thing you can do about it, period!
Corruption is everywhere and where there is corruption comes wealth. Don’t worry about that, satan is behind them all. What wealth they build here wont go with them in the end.
When it comes to truckers we are a rolling dollar sign to most coties and states… weigh scales, tolls ect— and to anyone risking to challenge the front end of our bumper. Then they’ll sue the company because they have bigger pockets. Corrupt, you betcha.
My point is, as much as I put my two sense into these forums I honestly sometimes wonder if people really see the bigger picture in life.
Getting caught up in the world is your last worry. Not to say we shouldn’t care about one another but who honestly truly cares? What should really be our focus is our relationship with God before it’s all gone.
John Lackland says
Well if I was an MD I would probably be a bit contemptuous of a government agency which regulates trucks presuming to judge whether or not I’m qualified to do a simple physical exam.
Just saying.
Tommy Molnar says
I’m wondering if there’s a ‘special fee’ being charged to drivers who, for some reason, don’t meet the requirements.
Mike R says
Well I go to chiropractor for my dot physical every two years and I’ve been to several so called certified medical clinics. And the only difference I’ve seen is the size of the waiting rooms&the size of staff other than that nothing is different my chiropractor asked me the same question and performed the same level of examination as the clinics did and some cases better than the clinics.
Steve P says
My regular doctor stopped doing DOT physicals because of all the crap that they made him go through to remain certified.
Now I just go to the nearest witch doctor to get my exam.
thinkfryrselfmom says
Having a transportation oversight board regulate physicians is ridiculous. Why not just make the responsibility serious enough to call the doctor into question when a serious situation results from a certified drivers medical condition, something that was never done in the past. When a driver with history of stroke is given a card the doctors malpractice should have to pay for the resulting incident, not the truckers insurance. Now we have a whole new set of problems.
Lan Brooks says
Not making the money they thought they would on forcing drivers to take and pay for tests they don’t need?
Forcing drivers to use c-paps when they don’t need them. And making them pay for it. All while holding their CDL hostage if they don’t comply. So where is the investigation on that fraud?