Experts called for sleep apnea screenings, but Trump ignored them

[TexasTowelie]

The Trump administration's decision to drop a proposed requirement for sleep apnea screenings for train engineers and truck drivers runs counter to industry practices, expert recommendations and rules already in place by the government agency that regulates aviation safety.

Commuter railroads now screen their employees in "safety-sensitive" jobs for the disorder, as does the Federal Aviation Administration for airline pilots.

Yet the federal agencies that regulate railroads and trucking companies decided last week that they didn't have enough information to make the screenings mandatory.

Federal regulators just last year began the process of developing a new rule on screening train and truck operators after fatal commuter train crashes in New Jersey and New York.

Read more: http://www.northjersey.com/story/news/transportation/2017/08/14/experts-called-sleep-apnea-screenings-but-trump-ignored-them/557687001/

[Angry Dragon]

1. Trump knows best, he says we do not need regulations, just more law and order

[TreasonousBastard]

2. Don't have enough information? It was almost by accident that I found out I had it...

Then I found out that if I was not properly continuing treatments my driver license could be revoked.

You lose your job if you smoked a joint last week, but a disease that could cause you to fall sleep on the job is no big deal.

MAGA!

[DAMANgoldberg]

3. Ex trucker here.

This is long overdue and should be a no-brainer. Considering that most new trucks and many older ones have integrated Auxillary Power Units (APUs) that allow for a CPAP Machine to be plugged in rest, this is a rule I wish were around years ago, because I still might be trucking, despite it not being "fun" anymore due to electronic logging and other measures.

[stopbush]

4. I have sleep apnea. The testing for it is a real PITA.

YOu go to a sleep lab where you are wired up all over your body, your face, your head, your nose. They then tell you to go to sleep, which is nearly impossible due to all the wires. Try not to roll around, you're told.

Well, my test started at 7pm and I was wide awake until at least 2am. Trying not to move, you know. Finally fell asleep and woke up every 20 minutes. "Yep, you've got sleep apnea!" came the verdict.

Then, you get to go back to be fitted for a breathing apparatus. Wired up again, only this time, your nose or face is covered with a mask blowing air down your throat to keep your airway open. I was wide awake for only the first 4 hours of that one.

Can't imagine tens of thousands of truckers going through this process, which ain't cheap, BTW. Not exactly what I would term "a screening."

And, the crappy little breathing machine you end up buying costs anywhere up to $3000. You better have great insurance, because after you get the machine you need to buy replacement things, like nose pillows and a simple head stirrup that runs $120. Need to replace that every 6 months.

All the above said, I did have probably 20 very good nights of sleep over the 9 months I had my machine. Problem was I lost my job after the first three months and had to pay the $100-per-month fee out of my own pocket. I asked Apria what it would cost to buy the machine and they told me $800, and that I could pay it month by month. So when it got down to my owning $200, I called them to pay it off, at which point I was told, "no, that's wrong. It will cost you $1100 to buy the machine at this point." That was the day I boxed it all up and returned it to Apria.

[onecent]

5. Exactly stopbush!!!

I had the same thing going for several months. and now it is in my attic....doing what it does best!!!!

[The King of Prussia]

6. Coming from a country with "socialised" medicine my experience is somewhat different

I've seen how sleep apnoea is tested for in the US, and how it is done here is very different. My test at the Papworth RSSC was much less intrusive than the one you describe. The CPAP machine itself is hard to get used to - it probably took me 3 months. I wouldn't be without it now; it has transformed my life. Most noticeably I have lost 4 stone in weight. I sleep very well every night, before CPAP I was getting no real sleep at all.

[stopbush]

7. Here in the USA, if you can average 4 hours of sleep a night with the CPAP

you are considered to be meeting target.

I actually got used to it in a week. But being out of work, I could not afford the replacement supplies out of pocket, so after a while, the apparatus didn't work as well.

I had one night on CPAP where I got 7 hours of sleep without waking.

[The King of Prussia]

9. I don't know what the target is here

but I'm sure it's more than that. I get 7 hours every night now.
Of course I am, in general terms, aware of the cost of the equipment, but I don't have to pay it. My health had deteriorated to the point where I was incapable of working. So instead of being unemployed and on benefits, because my condition is treated I am working and paying taxes. It seems to me that both I as an individual and society in general benefit from this. There is no doubt in my mind that what I have heard US commentators deride as "socialised" medicine is far superior to what you have. I am terrified that our Tory overlords will dismantle the NHS.

[mopinko]

10. medical devices are such a rip off.

a plastic box w a chip only slightly smarter than a talking greeting card, and they get $3K? ridiculous.

they also could do that screening in home. give you a recorder like the cardiac monitors, and you are done. i asked my sleep doc why they didnt do that and got some yadda yadda about standardization. but an in home test would also point out other issues, like a snoring partner or rowdy pets in the bed.

sigh.
i think they are occasionally found on ebay. but yeah, the supplies are a whole nother rip off.

[littlebit]

8. I have been a trucker for almost 20 years.

Up until 6 years ago my DOT physicals were no big deal. Then all of a sudden the doctor wanted me to go have a sleep study done before he gave me a new card. So the company I worked for at the time suspended me pending the study. Six weeks of not working and $2000 later I find out I do not have sleep apnea.

Every year since I have had to go thru the same crap. With the same result. I for one am happy about this decision.