You have to be kidding me

[chadtm80]

Posted on Wed, Jul. 14, 2004

PENNSYLVANIA


Man tells docs he drinks, loses driver license

A Pennsylvania man is fighting to get back his driver's license, revoked after he told his doctors he drinks several beers a day.

By MARTHA RAFFAELE

Associated Press


HARRISBURG, Pa. - A man who told his doctors that he drinks more than a six-pack of beer per day is now fighting to get his driver's license back because the physicians apparently reported him to the state.

Keith Emerich, 44, said Tuesday that he disclosed his drinking habit in February to doctors who were treating him at a hospital for an irregular heartbeat.

''I told them it was over a six-pack a day. It wasn't good for me -- I'm not going to lie,'' Emerich said in a telephone interview from his home in Lebanon, about 30 miles east of Harrisburg.

Emerich received a notice from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in April that his license was being revoked effective May 6 for medical reasons related to substance abuse. He has petitioned a judge to restore the license, and a hearing has been set for July 29.

STATE LAW APPLIES

A state law dating to the 1960s requires doctors to report any physical or mental impairments that could compromise a patient's ability to drive safely, PennDOT spokeswoman Joan Nissley said. She said she could not discuss the details of Emerich's case because of confidentiality requirements that also protect the doctor's identity.

The law requires revocation of the license until the driver can prove he is competent to drive.

Emerich said his heart problem has prompted him to limit his beer drinking to weekends. Aside from a drunken-driving conviction when he was 21, Emerich, a pressman at a print shop who lives alone, said he has a clean driving record and does not drink and drive.

''What I do in the privacy of my own home is none of PennDOT's business,'' he said.

Asked whether he considered his client to be alcoholic, Horace Ehrgood, Emerich's attorney, said: ``It depends on what your definition is.''

''He's been able to go to work, and he's got a heck of a nice work record. He's been able to function in all other avenues of life,'' the lawyer said.

Pennsylvania's transportation agency receives about 40,000 medical reports and revokes 5,000 to 6,000 licenses a year but does not keep any statistics on its reasons for doing so, Nissley said. She also said she did not know how many revocations get appealed.

SIX STATES' LAWS

Pennsylvania is one of six states that require doctors to report motorists with medical conditions that could affect their driving, according to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. The others are California, Delaware, Oregon, Nevada and New Jersey. All other states and the District of Columbia allow doctors to submit reports on a voluntary basis.

Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a watchdog group, said cases like Emerich's highlight a tension between medical privacy and public safety.

Repeat After Me:

No Doc I Don't Drink
No Doc I Don't Drink
No Doc I Don't Drink
No Doc I Don't Drink
No Doc I Don't Drink
No Doc I Don't Drink
No Doc I Don't Drink
No Doc I Don't Drink

[Josephine96]

Good for the doctors.. bad for the drinker lol

[GalvestonDuck]

I have to agree with the docs on this one, although the law seems a little far fetched to me. Health care facilities are required to report gunshot wounds to police departments, animal bites and diagnoses of certain diseases (HIV, STD's, etc) to the health department and/or CDC, and abuse or neglect to child/adult protective services.

If it's the law to report his alcohol abuse, which could impair his ability to drive, than I feel they obeyed the law. He claims he doesn't drink and drive. But that doesn't change the fact that it is an impairment if he does drive.

[Stephanie]

If he had a car accident while driving under the influence that would be one thing. We have laws for that. Pennsylvania has "State Liquor stores". Liquor, beer, is only available in that state through them.

I agree with the patient, what he does in the privacy of his own home is his own business.

[GalvestonDuck]

So, if he has seizures, but has yet to have one while driving, does that make it okay for him to continue driving?

[opera ghost]

There's a difference Duck- you can't control when seizures happen... you CAN control whether you drive while under the influence. This guy has a problem with alcohol... but a clean work and driving record.

[Stephanie]

That's a medical condition that person has no control over when and where it could happen. Casual drinking in your own home is under your control, you know the consequences of going on the road while driving under the influence. Different scenerios in my mind. What's next - can't smoke in your house? Are we going to allow the government to take over our lives? Part of the reason why, IMHO, we have so many darn lawsuits is because we've taken away common sense and responsibility through legislation.

[GalvestonDuck]

Yet, both intoxication and epilepsy (or other neurological problems that cause seizures) are diagnosable health problems that can impair a person's driving. Even if it hasn't been a problem in the past, I still agree with the docs for reporting it.

[wx247]

I think the problem here may be the state and not the doctor. Nowhere does it state that the doctor reccomended the lisence being taken away. He was just following state laws. It is the state's fault for not investigating further to see when he was drinking and if this was a substance abuse problem that was worthy of revoking his driving privileges.

[GalvestonDuck]

Exactly. Like I said, I'm backing the docs who followed the law.

[Stephanie]

I should've been clearer - I was arguing against the law, not the doctor following the law.

[Pburgh]

So, let me get this clear, if someone is taking antidepressents, sleeping pills, pain pills, muscle relaxants or any other medication that may impair one's driving ability, is that also reportable with possible liscense suspension?? What a screwy law. I'm glad I don't live in Pennsylvania. ahhhhhh Oops, I do live here. Well I'm glad I never go to the Dr.lol

[CaluWxBill]

So, let me get this clear, if someone is taking antidepressents, sleeping pills, pain pills, muscle relaxants or any other medication that may impair one's driving ability, is that also reportable with possible liscense suspension?? What a screwy law. I'm glad I don't live in Pennsylvania. ahhhhhh Oops, I do live here. Well I'm glad I never go to the Dr.lol

Yep, you have to be careful what you tell your doctor lol.

[GalvestonDuck]

Yeah, by all means, whatever you do, don't tell him what illicit, over-the-counter, or prescription (but not yours) drugs you've been taking when you go to the ER and have to be rushed to surgery because you were an idiot and sliced half your arm off with a chainsaw. It's always best to make the people who hold your life in their hands think that you are clean and that your vital signs are not responding to their treatment for reasons other than the fact that you have drugs in your system.

[Pburgh]

The point I guess I'm trying to make is ----- Do the doctors who prescribe all of these medications report this to the State??? One of my employee's has a dentist who prescribes oxycontin for a toothache. I wonder if that's reported.

[Guest]

The point I guess I'm trying to make is ----- Do the doctors who prescribe all of these medications report this to the State??? One of my employee's has a dentist who prescribes oxycontin for a toothache. I wonder if that's reported.

I know more than 1 person who has died from oxycontin. If I'm not mistaken, it's equated as being the synthetic version of heroin. I can't believe someone would prescribe it for a toothache!

Back to the original discussion, I think it was wrong to suspend his license. The average American consumes alcohol too. Maybe not in excess, but it is still consumed. How do they differentiate between the moderate and the excessive user? Doesn't sound like a good law to me. Just taking away some more of our civil liberties...
...Jennifer...

[chadtm80]

The point I guess I'm trying to make is ----- Do the doctors who prescribe all of these medications report this to the State??? One of my employee's has a dentist who prescribes oxycontin for a toothache. I wonder if that's reported.

I know more than 1 person who has died from oxycontin. If I'm not mistaken, it's equated as being the synthetic version of heroin. I can't believe someone would prescribe it for a toothache!

Back to the original discussion, I think it was wrong to suspend his license. The average American consumes alcohol too. Maybe not in excess, but it is still consumed. How do they differentiate between the moderate and the excessive user? Doesn't sound like a good law to me. Just taking away some more of our civil liberties...
...Jennifer...

Exactly Babe!! Just another example of the goverment deciding whats best fo US

[Pburgh]

It really seems like an invasion of privacy.