Sleep Apnea

Way ta be! A Godsend for those of us that truly need it. A cash cow otherwise. Keep up the good fight, and congrats!

 

The Dr. wanted to use the MAD device on him for the 2nd retest. Well... turns out the insurance nor his company would pay for that, and the fact that the MAD (mandibular advancement devices) has no compliance record attached to it is why. So he ended up just doing a retest without the MAD or a CPAP and during the 2nd sleep test he had 0 episodes (in sleep lab) The Dr. is just elated about this. One because it shows that people have different sleep patterns daily. Also that his intolerance to the CPAP use was not the answer to (in his case) occasional sleep apnea. (something we all have)
What I understand is that what the REAL sleep professionals want, is real data on this. NOT Junk Science. Not fear tactics, or journalistic sensationalism. The truth is, I have seen it first hand EVERYONE sleeps differently. It all ends up in what consists in your day... Stress, depression, exhaustion, grief, too much food/ drink... too little, who the H** knows. All I know is my man is sleeping soundly again for the first time in over 6 1/2 weeks. In the end there is no set guidelines or concrete numbers to indicate one way or another how beneficial this mandate is using SAFETY as a guideline. It's more a fear of liability then anything. And that is what scares the heck out of me!

 

good fo rhim. As of yet though this isnt a mandate by the fmcsa, yet. Only a recommendation. Now companies on the other hand are treating at as such, in part driven by insurance companies and I would expect getting things in place for when the fmcsa in all likelihood will mandate this.

Companies can legally make a study a condition of employment. A driver is free to not apply or accept a position at such companies.

While I believe Schneider to be at the forefront of how this needs handled on their end ( with costs borne by them), I think they can certainly have a more complete assessment done for referal in the first place.

A driver can also go through their Primary Care Doc , get assessed and if found to be unwarranted for referal to study then that doc can write a letter stating such.

 

As the cost of this was born by my better half company. What you said is true, However, I have said this in another post... all the FMCSA needed to do was merely mention this, sit back and watch the circus begin...and so it has. With the DOT requiring Dr.'s to undergo certain requirements to perform CDL physicals and the idea of having ANY liabilities attached to them or the company the driver works for is what is surely driving this. Add to that media tagging on any and every single truck driver incident as fault of the truck driver. When I know you guys are some of the safest drivers out there. You guys need as many people on your side as possible. For as wonderful an asset the CPAP machine is for those who really need it the truth is it is not the cure all for this situation.