Med card question

Their are guidelines about sleep apnea. The FMCSA does not have any but the generally doctors do from my understanding. It can be high BMI, daytime sleepiness, loud snoring, witness breathing interruption, low blood oxygen levels.

How many times do we hear driver say they want the stop for a nap but can't on ELDs. We hear that all the time. That's probably the biggest warning sign.

The first part of a sleep apnea test will show if someone has it or not.

 

NO! The ONLY thing a FMCSA Medical Examiner is doing is using the FMCSA guidelines and making a determination a person meets them or not. For the purposes of this debate, there are NO guidelines.

 

I'm almost at the point of exhaustion on this subject. I feel like I am beating my head bloody against a wall of some kind. What is so hard to understand about this subject? I can't say it enough, OSA is a problem. If a person, if they are a driver or not, is not resting they need to get examined. This is more properly handled by their primary care Physician and monitored by said Physician. By the way, there are at least 2 to 1 of the Medical Examiners that are doing it right. Some of them are asking a driver to get a sleep study. However, they will give a driver a one year to six-month card and send them on their way. They will then take the study and the treatment being used and go one with a one year card.

However, there is an ugly crooked underbelly to this crap. I was just speaking to a driver the other day AND seen this same thing mentioned in regard to one of the National Clinics, they refuse to accept outside sleep studies. Out and out refuse to take them! If this is not being crooked I have no idea what is!

 

Don't they ask on the long form medical if a driver has daytime sleepiness or loud snoring ? That's the back door to sleep apnea. A driver can say no and I would think a ME doesn't have to believe the driver. How do you get by that, if the ME doesn't believe what the driver says ? You can go to a different ME and since you believe it's a scam by the ME you disclose that to the new ME so they don't hit the driver for doctor shopping. The new ME will pass the driver and you get a 2 year card.

It's really simple fix to the problem don't you think ?

 

Yes, question #25 asks about sleep problems, and #26 asks if you have ever done a sleep study. This, however, is general questions. I was asked this question by my neurologist last year. You can't backdoor this into a guideline. Remember I have stated several times already a ME is supposed to talk to the driver about these issues. This is OK, heck I would be angry if a ME just rubber stamped this. The reason you talk about this is to rule out another cause. Some people have a tendency to drink coffee and/or other caffeinated beverages all day long. This too will cause sleep issues. It is total history. I have no problem with a ME asking for a sleep study. Despite what you might think. However these crooked MEs are refusing to give a driver a card AT ALL, this was NEVER the way the FMCSA wanted it done. The problem with getting another ME after one of these crooks has entered disqualified to undo that is very difficult. Most MEs won't 2nd guess them. This is why I and many others are so dang angry and want this system FIXED!

A guy I know who is an OO leased on with a MEGA carrier went through this recently. His story is really how it should be done. He has OSA and is using CPAP. Several years ago he was going through an exam with his Private Physician and was asked about sleep. The Physician asked him some questions and sent him to a place in Hampton for a sleep study. turns out he did have it and returned to his Physician who prescribed the CPAP. On his next Physical the ME asked those questions #25 and #26, accepted the sleep study and the data and stamped his one year medical.

For someone with serious OSA this is the way it should be handled. NOT how some of these dictators in white labcoats are doing. I have NO problem what so ever with asking for a sleep study when it is indicated. I just have a serious problem with the disqualification that some MEs are doing. It is NOT RIGHT and can NOT be defended!

 

I don't know how many driver get disqualified on the spot. Usually they give 3 month card maybe more like the OP got to fix the problem if he wants to. 3 months is not much time to go see a sleep doctor and a sleep test if needed. Then if someone has sleep apnea they have to back again to find the air pressure setting they need to fix the sleep apnea.

All that stuff is very hard to do when you drive a truck. When I went for sleep apnea test they were busy I drive to different office the sleep doctor had just to it done faster to speed things up.

 

Good chance you are dealing with an up and up ME. Not all of them are. I know 3 drivers that can't get cards TODAY because of that crook ME here in Hampton. THREE people that have been put out of work. In all three cases, they have DISQUALIFIED entered in the database!

 

No one is arguing, at least not me, that there are FMCSA guidelines regarding sleep apnea.

What I am arguing is that since the FMCSA created a "Certified Medical Examiner" registry and subsequently withdrew any baseline requirements for sleep apnea, more and more of these ME's are calling for sleep apnea tests IF a driver meets some of the previously held guidelines for sleep apnea testing.

Things like age, b.p. meds, weight, neck size, etc.

Your claim is that an attorney told you a ME can't be sued or held liable IF they don't require testing for sleep apnea on a driver that meets any of the normal tell-tale signs the medical community uses to identity an individual who MIGHT have sleep apnea BECAUSE there are no such guidelines.

I will agree to disagree. Because I know how the legal community operates when it comes to litigation, especially in the case of death, injury, pain & suffering.

If I were a lawyer representing a client or family of a loved one that was killed or badly injured by a truck driver who fell asleep at the wheel and caused the accident, I would dig (through discovery) up everything I possibly could to get a judgment, including whether or not that driver was ever tested for sleep apnea.

If not, and that driver even remotely met any of the normal physiological or medical conditions used to initiate a sleep apnea test, I would drag not only the ME into court, but any medical umbrella or consortium, truck company, etc, he is a part of and put him/her/them on the stand.

 

You know this how?

Anecdotally, I am hearing the exact opposite among guys I know, as far as being tested for sleep apnea. I personally know 3 guys that have all gone under the mask in the last year or so.