Man Tells Doctor He Drinks 6-Pack A Day, Loses License

[Kadie]

Man Tells Doctor He Drinks 6-Pack A Day, Loses License
Pa. Law Requires Doctors To Report Possible Impairments For Drivers

POSTED: 6:45 pm EDT July 13, 2004
UPDATED: 6:49 pm EDT July 13, 2004

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A Pennsylvania man who told his doctors he drinks more than a six-pack of beer a day is now fighting to get his driver's license back.

The man said he disclosed his drinking habit in February to doctors who were treating him at a hospital for an irregular heartbeat.

In April, he got a notice that his license was being revoked for medical reasons related to substance abuse.

A state law requires doctors to report any impairments that could lessen ability to drive safely and requires revocation until the driver proves competence.

http://www.thekcrachannel.com/news/3526212/detail.html

[7th_Sephiroth]

1. how does this law NOT violate

Dr/Patient Privelage?

[toddzilla]

3. when he kills your wife and kids on the way home from the bar?

sorry, drinking and driving is way too tolerated in this country.

[minkyboodle]

5. maybe he likes to drink at home?

You could drink 12 beers a night and never touch the wheel impaired.

[TrustingDog]

9. Xactly, he just said he drank beer...

is all.

I drink beer too, but don't drive when I do. Maybe he's some kinda whacko like me.

[7th_Sephiroth]

8. that or

a pot smoker afraid to be arrested doesent divulge his habit, is given the wrong prescription, and has a reaction, Doctor/patient convidenciality is there to give people trust in thier doctors so they dont have to worry about self incrimination, yes driving drunk is bad, and i'm not saying it isint, but i would much rather be able to trust a doctor than be loose my license (anti-alchohol doctors could report a man for saying he has a few beers on the weeksends)

[Journeyman]

14. Where in the article, toddzilla, does it say. . .

the drinker was driving intoxicated? Could be he gets home from work, quaffs a six-pack or more, gets eight hours of sleep and drives back to work fully sober. Yet they've taken his license from him because of something he might do.

Solzhenitsyn spoke of laws under Stalin that made all human endeavor -- including thought -- illegal. All the state needed to do was cherrypick what they needed to put any and every one away. Would you and your family feel safer if we had such draconian laws. . . at least as regards driving (for lord knows, there are plenty of actions that impair driving as much as if not more than alcohol, e.g., cell phone use, applying makeup, prescription drugs, etc.)?

[Katarina]

15. Did it say that he was drinking and driving?

Is it now against the law to drink in your own home? I DO NOT advocate drinking and driving. My step-father was badly hurt by someone drinking and driving. But what someone does in his own home is no one elses business! That doctor was wrong!

Edit for spelling.

[matcom]

16. you are FUCKING KIDDING RIGHT??????????

RIGHT??????????????

on edit: i won't make a personal attack.

i'll just assume you are "drunk" :eyes:

[fishnfla]

10. Well

drs. are required by law to report suspected cases of child and spousal abuse in many states as well, even against the victims wishes

[TrustingDog]

13. ::groan:: - no comparison.

[fishnfla]

18. 'k, how 'bout this?

in this state, Drs. are required to notify Tallahassee, in writing, when a patient's vision does not meet the minumium standards for the DMV, and their drivers license is revoked. They are required to tell the patient too, but the state has to move in to yank the DL. Same thing as this story in a way

all i'm saying is, there are limits to the Dr/Patient privelege.

[Warpy]

19. Lots of things do that

For instance, docs have to report things like new cases of HIV and other STDs. They have to report TB cases. They have to alert the DMV if a driver's eyes aren't good enough for him to drive safely. They have to report any suspected battery of spouses or children. These are all public health concerns. Getting an alcoholic off the road easily fits in with this stuff.

Oh, and that six pack a day? Every health professional knows you double the stated amount at least.

[TrustingDog]

2. physician, fuck thyself. n/t

[Snazzy]

28. ha! Gonna use that! n/t

:toast:

[leftofthedial]

4. this is a healthcare disaster

one can no longer tell one's insurance adjuster, er, "doctor" the truth.

why, the peasants could sicken and die, my liege.





not to mention that this anti-drinking fad has gone W-A-Y too far. Pre-emptive license revocaton seems, shall we say, bogus.

[stevedeshazer]

6. There are already laws against driving drunk

Now doctors are the new Guardians of American Morality?

[Habibi]

7. Insane.

Now patients will think twice about telling their docs the truth about their imbibing habits, leading to god-knows-what treatment mishaps.

Doctor-patient privilege is dead, apparently.

[seabeyond]

11. or doctor that doesnt have to treat gays

or pharmistists, that dont have to give perscriptions

[olddem43]

12. This is real crap -

a person could easily drink 6 beers after coming home from work and be perfectly sober in the morning.

[fishnfla]

17. Well as a drunkard myself i know

one thing is the article and the headline dont jibe, in the text it says he drinks MORE than a six-pack a day

I also know that drinkers tend to be in denial and hide their habit. If he drinks more than a six pack, he 'prolly drinks alot. More than enough

later on in the article he changes his tune (or lies more) to state he only drinks on the weekend

who knows maybe he was sloshed when he was at the Drs. office and drove himself there? It has happened to me plenty of times...

[Warpy]

21. Thanks for the voice of sanity.

Yes, alcoholism is a disease of denial. Yes, alcoholics lie to themselves and everybody else about how much they're drinking.

Getting these guys off the road is necessary. Most people who are busted for DUI have driven drunk an average of a dozen times without getting caught. If they're lucky, getting busted is a wakeup call. If we're lucky it is.

If it isn't, they go out and kill people. One killed five people here in central NM last weekend.

It isn't about morality, folks. Let them drink if they feel they need to and they're not ready to get sober. Just don't let them drive and put the rest of us at risk.

[fishnfla]

23. point of clarification

when I said it has happened to me plenty of times: I dont drink and drive anymore, as you describe, I learned my lesson.

I was referring to the fact that routinely I encounter individuals in my line of work who have been drinking, and I know they are driving

[mongo]

24. Sanity? More like the voice of the totalitarian mommy state

So, we take a drivers license away because someone might be driving drunk.

A lot of posters here get angry and spout all kinds of stuff over the issues. Shall we lock them all up too because they might commit an act of violence someday?

[fishnfla]

25. speaking of the totalitarian state

the patient in this case indicates he drinks more than a six-pack a day. The Dr. makes a notation in the chart to that effect,becuse it affects his condition. Perhaps he makes the notation "ETOH", which is the designation some physicians use to indicate the smell of alcohol on a patient.

he writes the guy a script for his heart and sends him on his way,

on the way home the guy hits a schoolbus with a BAC of .14%

Guess who gets in the most trouble?

[mongo]

27. Nowhere in the article did it say that the guy was drunk at the drs.

If he was, it would have been appropriate for the Dr. to take his keys away - or call the law.

Which is not the case or he wouldn't have gotten the notice IN THE MAIL.
TWO MONTHS LATER.

No, this is about a Dr. abusing his authority to advance his own agenda.

[fishnfla]

31. screw the article, I am projecting from first-hand experience

the guy had a heart problem, right? So the doc takes his stethoscope and gets like 12" from the dudes face. He 'prolly smelled the booze before that even, when he walked into the room. He questions the guy, and he admits to it, bingo! he's on the road to recovery.

Its 'prolly not the first time the Dr. had to resort to drastic measures to improve someone's health or save a life. Perhaps thats his agenda.

[mongo]

Well, thank god the Dr is the moral compass of society

and thereby taking away any freewill on the part of the individual.

Dr's should not have this much power in a free society.

[fishnfla]

37. No, you're wrong

driving a car is not a right.

Perhaps cars have too much power in our society?

[mongo]

39. I never said driving was a right

and that was a sorry excuse for an argument.

Since you stated you used to be a drunkard, how 'bout we MANDATE 3 AA meetings a week for you. Oh, and we have a blood alcohol machine that we've hooked up to your phone - please take the test 4 times/day or we will arrest you.

This is about the gov't intruding into your personal life - and punishing you for something that you MIGHT do - profiling if you will.

If the Dr. can have his license taken away, why not just let them lock people up in treatment? I'm sure that would work real good.

[Mandate My Ass]

26. Amen

We don't know when or under what circumstances this guy drinks. What he reveals to his DR. regarding his medical history is then used against him in a manner that hampers his ability to make his living without evidence that he was ever been DUI.

There is a disturbing trend in the democratic US of A of criminalizing addiction and applying overly punitive measures against those that indulge in legal substance abuse.

[mongo]

32. and the thing is - what's next?

Shall we take away the firearms of anyone EVER diagnosed with depression? They might hurt them self or others.

Shall we sterilize any woman arrested for a drug offense. Drug addicts don't make good mothers.

Shall we execute anyone with HIV? That would curb the spread of the disease.

[Mandate My Ass]

34. One other disturbing thing I heard

New, more punitive DUI procedures are in place in PA among other states. Granted I don't sanction anyone driving while blottoed but this new law, from what I've heard, stipulates that any accident, from fender bender upward, will require that both drivers undergo mandatory blood, urine and/or saliva testing at the officer's request. Any narcotic substance, even prescribed medications, any metabolite of past cannabis or narcotic use can be used against the driver as evidence of DUI no matter how little or how much time since ingestion has passed.

I have to look into this but my source was someone who had been through a DUI and heard this info in a class he was required to take.

[mongo]

35. so if you smoke a joint 6 days ago it's a DWI?

Welcome to the facist states of amerika.

[Mandate My Ass]

38. I have to verify the info but this person

has no reason to lie or exaggerate and I do remember reading something about this when it was passed in the state legislature this past winter.

I sometimes take very mild tranqs to sleep but I don't know how long they stay in my system. That's hardly a valid basis for a DUI since the narcotic effect is only supposed to last a few hours, but for all I know the metabolites could last days. DUI is a big cash cow and they'll do anything to keep the $$$$ rolling in.

[oldcoot]

33. According to the article, he now drinks only on weekends

He did not originally claim that he drank on weekends.

[Khephra]

20. This is bullshit

I agree that drinking and driving is a horrible thing, but some of the alchohol laws are just fucked.

[fishnfla]

22. But is this a legal issue?

or is it an issue of public health and safety?

At what point does alcoholism become a public health issue?

[Toucano]

29. False sense of security

Anyone who would drive drunk would certainly never THINK of driving without a license. I mean, there are laws you can break and laws you obey, right?

The law may have good intentions, but it misses the mark.

If we want there to be fewer drunks on the road, we need to get them into treatment.

[Deja Q]

30. Substance abuse?! For a LEGAL substance?

Gee, I eat a lot of sugar-loaded food. Revoke my license. :eyes:

If the dude isn't driving after he's downed the 6-pack, then it shouldn't make a flying fickling finger of a difference.

[HornBuckler]

36. Ridiculous

By That Logic All Bartenders Should Take Everyone That Has Had A Couple Of Beers License. Everyone That Leaves A Bar (Well Not Everyone, Say 90%) Are Legally Drunk When They Get To Their Car.


Not Friggin' Sloshed, Legally Drunk.

[Kat45]

40. That is absurd!

People won't give doctors info about their drinking or drug habits if they have to fear the law stepping in. If I smoked pot, I'd want to be able to mention it to a doctor who was giving me a script in case there could be an interaction. If I drank daily, same thing. I used to live with a guy who drank a six pack of talls every day. He drank it when we were home at night relaxing. He was not driving drunk; we were in for the night when he was drinking. He would not have deserved to have his license pulled, but with this doctor, it would have happened. And these days, without a car, it can be difficult to impossible to get to work. As I said, this is absurd.

[oldcoot]

41. How many drinks a day is too many?

How many drinks can you drink in Pennsylvania without your doctor reporting you? Can you safely report 5 drinks? Can you safely report 3 drinks? What is the limit or is this up to your doctor's discretion? If your doctor opposes drinking for religious grounds, what is to stop him or her from reporting you to the state because he or she thinks your behavior is immoral?

Penalizing people for things they might do is bad policy.

[JVS]

42. This is a sad moment for Pennsylvania

Our people should be free to be drunks if they so choose.
I read about it this morning in the Post-gazette. A real shame.