Med card question

I think DOT form for the future exam asks if you've ever been issued a card for less than 2 years. Doctor won't have access to a database so if the OP forgot and completed the exam he probably get away with it. I'm retired now, so who knows.

 

I had the same thing happen in Minnesota. The girl doing the physical was an LPN that had never done one before and she kept leaving the room to ask the doctor questions. Finally she marks the card "over 40 BMI" and says I need a sleep study (I am NOT over 40 BMI, but Im sure the doctor she kept running to just said to mark it and send me on my way). They gave me a 6 month card (the only time in my life I had less than a 2 year card.

2 or 3 years prior to this the VA had given me a complete workup including blood work. Other than my weight (6 foot about 275 at the time) the only things wrong with me was I was pre-diabetic and my good cholesterol was 2 points low. That was it.

So after 4 months I went to a different doctor, told them all of the above and walked out with a 2 year card...

Its no biggie. Just for Gods sake do NOT take that sleep study. Once you do and they put you on that machine (and I have never heard of a person that took a "study" and didnt get one) its nearly if not outright impossible to get off it.

 

Because they sell the machine. I've never heard of anyone who did a "sleep study" without getting one. Never.
And guess what? We got along fine for thousands of years years without them. It's just an insurance con.
Case in point:
I went to a new dentist for a cleaning and maybe a cavity fill. It was a mother and daughter operation. Well, they did the cleaning but said I needed to go to another dentist for a 'consultation'.
I'm like, "aren't you dentists?"
Guess where the 'consultation' was?
At the husband/father and son/brother across town.
These people make me sick.

 

There is a serious problem with this advice. The FMCSA medical branch looks at the MCSA-5850 forms sent in by the MEs using some set things they look for. This form IS NOT the long form filled out by the driver and gone over by the ME, there is a mistaken belief the FMCSA gets this form, they do not.

If an ME sends in that form marked determination pending, and another MCSA-5850 hits the FMCSA the FMCSA is going to void that medical.

YES, some MCSA-5850s may get past the FMCSA medical branch, but the bulk will get looked at if anything draws attention to them. Almost a year ago I spoke to a friend who is in the Swift Safety Dept. This person had to get a driver home and get another driver to his truck because his medical had been voided by the FMCSA medical branch. This got reported in the CDLIS and the driver was stopped at a scale house.

I HIGHLY recommend a driver not doctor shop.

@brian991219 I am sure may want to chime in!

 

I call, BS. The last time I got a physical (about 2 years ago), the DMV had my paperwork before I drove across town to update it.

 

You can call it whatever you want. I have seen where this has happened quickly too. However, that was not my point. It takes a while for the FMCSA medical branch to get all the data in one place. Remember in these situations they are dealing with two separate physicals over a space of time.

 

Ok, lets go with that......
Say I have a current physical with 1 year left on it.
My new employer wants me to take another one. And I do.
Then I decide I don't like the new guy, but I like this other outfit. But they demand that I take a physical from 'their' doctor.
So I do.
Are you saying the Feds are gonna shut me down because I had 3 physicals in 3 weeks???
You're wrong @Moose1958. You could geta physical every day if you wanted to.

 

One part of the FAST ACT signed into Law By Obama was to allow VA providers to do DOT physicals. So far this has not happened, I guess they have not worked all the bugs out yet. Another thing outlined by the FAST act is hair testing provided they can work the problems out.

 

Personally I would never work for someone that required a hair test. Not because it would uncover anything but the principal of the thing.