Medical card 2nd opinions

[cheri1122]

Yep - because some drivers falsified their cards, we all have to use DOT approved docs, which means I can't use the doc I trust, who has been taking care of me for years, and knows everything about me. Great idea, huh?
Why not just pull the license of anyone caught without a valid and verifiable card instead? You know, punish the guilty parties, instead of everyone? What a concept!

 

[Pro3500]

I never falsified any documents to keep my license. My family doctor did my DOT in March of 2014. All she needed was the paper work to fill out. I downloaded and printed them out. I know the law is changing on that. The laws are not the same in all states either. I can drive for municipality, I can drive a school bus and I can drive intrastate in NY without a DOT physical.

 

[Turtle]

Why not just pull the license of anyone caught without a valid and verifiable card instead? You know, punish the guilty parties, instead of everyone? What a concept!

Because there's no way for the DOT officer to verify your card without getting into your long form, and medical privacy laws prevent that. Doctors can't give out that information over the phone even of the DOT cop calls them to verity. It's very, very difficult to verify a DOT medical card, which makes it very, very easy to falsify. That's the reason for the National Registry.

Also, in the past, you could be disqualified by one doctor, then you could go to another doctor and lie about your medical history and condition, and get passed. With the National Registry, every visit to a doctor on the Registry gets recorded and reported to the FMCSA. If you were disqualified by one doctor but passed by another, both of your long forms had better show that you supplied the same information for current and historical medical conditions.

 

[cheri1122]

I'm confused about the long form statement, as more than one roadside inspector has demanded to see my long form medical cert. - sure didn't feel as if I have any privacy!
Every attempt to get a DOT physical being reported would be just as effective as creating a registry of approved docs, wouldn't it? All they have to do is require that every applicant's results be e transmitted to a designated address, pass or fail. Computers make things like this feasible, don't they? [Yes, I know about the laxity in cybersecurity, but that's another can of wormy apples.]