Posted on 07/13/2004 4:41:41 PM PDT by mdittmar
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.
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. Nissley said she could not discuss the details of Emerich's case because of confidentiality requirements that also protect the doctor from being identified.
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 printshop 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 if 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.
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 other states are California, Delaware, Oregon, Nevada, and New Jersey.
All other states and the District of Columbia allow physicians to submit reports on a voluntary basis.
Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a San Diego-based watchdog group, said cases like Emerich's highlight a tension between medical privacy and public safety.
"Certainly, cases like this could lead individuals to refrain from giving their doctors adequate information to treat them," Givens said.
I will take your lead.
Carry on Capt!
Second, you shy away from casual or social drinkers?
(ref your post #109 to ridesthemiles)
NO, they shy away from HIM.
LOL
The Capt.
my bad; phone statistics should be "phony statistics"
its all those brews i had at lunch...LOL
The Capt.
Thanks for the explanation... although it still strikes me as odd why balance problems would effect one's ability to drive. Deaf people have balance problems, too, they just have had longer to adjust to them.
I did 8 12oz cans in 36 minutes in a contest eons ago. Would have been quicker, but sombody slipped a Pabst amongst the Schlitz.
Took a while to get through the Pabst.
As a smoker myself,I'm sure it's just a matter of time.
Sorry about your reading comprehension problem. It's an awful thing. Maybe the government can help you out.
And here I am thinking that you are from Texas after all of these years.
Back in the day, we used to polish off a six each on the subway from Grand Central to Yankee Stadium.
In my younger days, I could polish off six before breakfast. I don't think I could do that anymore.
In states that report to the government, a good doctor would advise you before you answer his questions. "BTW~ Mr so and so, if you answer this question about drinking above this level, I will have to report your condition to the state... Now how much alcohol do you consume daily?" I for one will with hold information that would cause my license to be withdrawn; if I believe I cannot drive safely, I will give my keys to someone else. I don't really need the state for this, but if a state believes this is the way their citizens want to be treated, the people have the right to move, I guess.
I wonder if this guy moves to another state, gets a new doctor, cuts his beer report down, can he now have a license?
In states that report to the government, a good doctor would advise you before you answer his questions. "BTW~ Mr so and so, if you answer this question about drinking above this level, I will have to report your condition to the state... Now how much alcohol do you consume daily?" I for one will with hold information that would cause my license to be withdrawn; if I believe I cannot drive safely, I will give my keys to someone else. I don't really need the state for this, but if a state believes this is the way their citizens want to be treated, the people have the right to move, I guess.
I wonder if this guy moves to another state, gets a new doctor, cuts his beer report down, can he now have a license?
Only if he finds a doctor who will write a note saying he is safe to drive. And the doctors I've met are very reluctant to contradict a fellow practitioner. I also found out if one state suspends a license, it gives that information to all the other states so you can't escape that way.
I had my driver's license suspended by an idiot doctor. The short version is: I fell down a flight a stairs at work, unknowingly went to clinic that was connected to work, doctor who I hated and told clinic 5 years prior I never wanted to see again ambushed me, started demanding I had epilepsy (with no tests to support such claim), walked out of clinic, returned from vacation to find letter from state suspending my license immediately. Got fired for "conduct unbecoming" because I got mad when I found out doctor and superior at work were passing confidential information claiming "public safety".
State Board of Medicine did nothing, EEOC did nothing, State Supreme Court did nothing, several lawyers told me they didn't want the case because "no one wants to upset the status quo (i.e. Government)".
And to top it all off Social Security denied I had a "disability".
I don't think I've ever heard Nelson's.
I actually kinda like Kristofferson's original. In any event, one of the better songs of the period.
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