can I lie on a dot physical?

a very smart man, indeed.

 

Driving is my bread and butter. It has put my sons through college. I have terrible sleep apnea, but I am certainly not going to be honest about it to the FMCSA. Like I said, driving is all I have. Why would someone be honest, knowing that it will probably cost them their CDL? And the fact that I have the condition is between me and my doctor. HIPAA and medical privacy laws prevent anyone from finding out, unless I say so, in writing. Not going to happen! So, I would say that you need to think about your answers on the physical paperwork. If it's going to cost you a loss of license.... lie! I do every two years, and don't feel guilty at all.

 

Sorry dude, Hippa doesn't apply to this work, it is exempt and also if you cause an accident, the can have the court force your records to be disclosed.

By the way, if you falsify your dot physical and you taking a drug or have a condition that is deemed dangerous like seizures and get into an accident, that person or their family will own everything you have and more by the time a lawyer gets done.

 

I don't think it is that the physical is exempt it is more like you must release the information to get the physical. Once finished to drive with most carriers you are mandated to give them a copy.

 

I am so sorry to hear about your sleep apnea. I hope you are not a large person. If you are at some point in the future your going to be told to do a sleep study for this. There is no current mandate in the FMCSA rules about this only guidelines that an examiner is free to not use. However I expect this to change in the future. I would hate to see you lose your medical if this were to happen.

 

Yep, lie away, no worries, they really don't care what you put down

 

It takes two to lie. One to lie and one to listen. - Homer Simpson

 

The physical and all related information is exempt for the US DOT and those agencies under it. HIPAA has the exemption right in it, you can look it up. For patients HIPAA only covers medical workers and those related to medical care, no one else. That means that the girl in the office isn't covered under it even if we were not exempt.

 

Ok, bottom line you just don't have much privacy anyway.

 

Yes that is the truth.

Some of you would lose your mind if you know how carriers/doctor's offices/hospitals handle some of the most important information. Many of them don't even secure their servers, let alone the paper work they handle. Many clinics talk about HIPAA but I have only had three people explain to me what it even means, and one only able to explain in detail what it protects, who is involved and any other info. My wife had to see a doctor for her head injury, the nurse's first question to my wife wasn't anything but who is this man and is he allowed to know about your medical condition. Take a doctor's office, if they have a sign in sheet, they just ignored HIPAA. but again ... people are so used to so much openness it is really no use to have some of these laws. Just look at Facebook and see what people post.