Lying about sleep apnea?

For the record, I absolutely hate dealing with any of these medical issues just to drive a truck. I feel that with all that I've been through in my life, I have to learn as much as I can to avoid having to deal with any issue negativity or to stay clear of people who have their own uneducated or arrogant opinion about the issue (DOT Docs, state carrier enforcement people, dumb GP docs) so I can continue to drive. I have looked at all of this, paid for legal advice and legal research and came to one conclusion - we are a scattered bunch of professionals who don't leverage the power we have to make positive changes in our industry and to prevent many of our fellow professionals from being abused with issues like this. Like me, organisations like the OOIDA choose to pick the right fight to make changes but no matter like those organiations, I am powerless until everyone else joins in on the fight.

I've gone round and round with this and there is a regulation that govern this issue and the use of the guidelines for medical practices that dictate best practices based on the medical panel's decisions. As convoluted as this is, the real issue is it is frustrating and politically motivated (meaning lobbying takes place within the US DOT by doctors) but nevertheless we have to deal with this stuff and have no choice until we start to fight it the right way.

As for the long form, the BMI is an indicator derived from the height and weight, just like a full hearing test, the results are the indication itself that someone is "in danger" of having sleep apnea but derived from those numbers as is someone with a specific type of hearing lost (like SCDS).

If you want to find the regulations and guidelines, look around the office of medical programs on the FMCSA site, by the way I think 49 cfr 391.41(b)(5) addresses the sleep apnea issue on the regulation end of it while the guidelines cover what is a "respiratory dysfunction".

Well I would think the medical suppliers are not the one's making the money, it is the clinics themselves - talked to a clinic owner who figures his profit margin is three digits. The sleep study isn't phoney, it is real and more to it than just watching someone sleep but overall I agree that this isn't really an issue as much as other things like HOS induced stress and an unstable US DOT.

That I disagree with you on, the 'mega-fleets' have less of an incentive to deal with this stuff because they derive their revenue from the revolving door and anything that stops or slows that door down hurts them in the long run. Having a driver who is medically dependent on a machine and its use hurts them when they try to force them to take a sleeper break so to adjust their hours in order to keep the truck moving.

That tax isn't yet here and may end up going away because of the fact it will hurt the US manufacturers a lot. BUT under Obama care, it may be more difficult to get a job without having the test seeing medical records privacy and work related medical issues could be disclosed to future employees to mitigate regulatory issues they come up with in the future.

Absolutely we are the ones who lose in this entire mess. I see one thing that has to be changed and we need to actually step up and force the change, maybe through a coordianted effort with the OOIDA and even the teamsters (maybe that's a bit of wishful thinking) - we need a law and not a regulation that simple closes two important loopholes that allow abuse -

1 - the DOT registered physician has to accept the results of a test or tests for any number of things by a treating physician without further testing for the DOT physical. This will eliminate some of the "well you had that test but I'm not satisfied with what your doctor has been doing for you so you need to get another test" (been there done that). The treating physician should be the tests to be taken before any tests that the DOT doc wants who sees you maybe once in your life.

2 - with that the 'mega-carrier' can not force you to see one of their docs if you pass a dot physical. I know of one carrier who has an in house doc and his failure rate is something like 60% on the first go around for new drivers. The driver has to pay for each retests and he has other medical tests done at clinic he works out of, getting kick backs on each one. So if a driver goes to a general clinic and get a pass on their physical to drive within months of starting a new job, the carrier has to accept that dot physical and any physical that is done outside of the carrier.

 

Sleep apnea ain't no joke, I was diagnosed before I started driving, I stopped breathing 120 in a minute during my sleep study, it causes high blood pressure among many things and it actually was a factor in Reggie White's death so guys don't take this condition lightly

 

I never said it was a joke, I just don't think as many people have it as are claimed.

 

Like many other medical problems, there is a threshold that is lowered due to the doctor's inability to do a proper diagnosis in the given time they are allotted. In this thread, the OP claims her husband can't sleep on his back (like me) and the sleep tech insisted on having him do just that - throwing off the results. I gave my opinion about that but there is a lot more that goes on with medical issues and doctors blanketing symptoms with possible causes. My wife went to the docs the other day and said "doc, my leg sometimes hurts when I sleep" so the doc gave her a script for some medication that treats restless leg syndrome and a bunch of informational pamphlets about it, then said she wanted some blood to test. My wife knows it isn't restless leg stuff and told the doc that but it is the only quick thing that the doc could come up with without further tests.

 

I've never been asked that or had my neck meaured or bmi calculated in any of my dot physicals and I just did one in Feb and yes I'm a big guy.

 

Thanks wulfman75 for the reply to my post. I didn't realize it had a typo. The neck size is 18 inches or larger and would be an indicator of sleep apnea. You can Google Body Mass Index then put in your height and weight to find out your BMI. I knew at the time of my physical in 2010 that the company was pushing for these studies along with other mega carriers. I don't know if I should say I'm happy for you or not. Some drivers I have talked to say that now they are using a CPAP machine they feel rested and refreshed when they wake up. With sleep apnea you never really get into that deep sleep cycle. Just like EOBR was forced on carriers that failed DOT audits I am sure the voluntary company compliance will cross over to mandatory at some point in the future.

 

I know how to find out my BMI. The point I was trying to make was it's not regulated and the only ones that ask those questions are the companies that are screening for it.

No need to feel bad for me, while I would be red flagged if I went to one of those companies I don't have any problems sleeping and I dream quite frequently.

Maybe some day it will be regulated, maybe not.

 

Sleep apnea is nothing to mess around with and you certainly don't want lie about it..... you don't think that in this era, that the fact that you were already diagnosed with it at another lab, that it won't pop up in the future? I understand that it probably doesn't effect you as much because you sleep on your side, (which usually doesn't obstruct your air way). AND, in any event, I know you don't want to plow into a family.
CPAPs now have a slot which you put a data card ( a camera memory card) which records your sleep, In general, if you are 70% complient you will pass DOT regs.

Don't fight it........ you just need to get a machine and use it.

 

Yep...a driver was found dead in his truck in horse cave,Kentucky...he had a cpap but he wasn't using it

 

My problem is the whole process. The Sleep study is setup for worse possible sleeping conditions in order to make you fail. I am 72 just recently became CDL driver I have not had any of the sleep issues but since my neck size was 17 1/4 I was ordered by company dr to have a sleep study. Of course in the horrible conditions they force you to try to sleep in for the test, I failed and have been placed on a CPAP. I am not having much luck trying to use the thing. To me the pressure is too high and that is what is causing me to have gastric distention and nausea, but try to get one of these doctors to listen to you. So, now I am stuck. I could/should have quit the company and refused the test. Since I do not have the severe snoring problem, or other sleep issues, I could have and continued driving and earning an income. Now it looks like my plans of being able to actually get to retire in 5 years are shot to hell. All over a RIGGED to fail test.