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Any advice on getting drivers license back after medical suspension?
A neurologist took my drivers license away, claiming he is legally required to do so because I had seizure-like episodes. The term used is “loss of awareness”. No question, this is a misdiagnosis. This has caused and is causing terrible harm. My healthy, happy life style has been attacked to save this doctor’s medical license, it appears.
My advice to everyone, especially old women, is not to go to a doctor for summer dizziness or temperature related light-headedness. Perhaps some doctors actually listen to old women, but I have not found them. I have no traffic tickets, no accidents, no medical studies showing seizures, no diabetes. I only have my badly expressed attempt to get help for falls caused by Repatha shots, high ambient temperatures and perhaps some dehydration and sensitivities or allergies. (Multi-factorial causation for my falls.) End result is no medical help is available to me and although I understand what causes my problem now, I am not permitted to use normal driving to seek solutions. Various folks have advised me to drive anyway without a license or to leave the USA.
This nasty experience has induced a sort of guilt-ridden PTSD. Previous extreme situations involving loss of freedom keep flashing in my mind: I was a runaway kid in jail, cavity search before several guards, getting shot at, being unable to get a visa that I needed to go home to my family, friend in Russian prison who had a “heart attack” there, as so many dissidents did…and more. I feel like a whining child because I am privileged really. I did not have my leg blown off in a war. My trauma is minor compared to real victims of violence with PTSD. That’s why I say guilty feeling.
Any advice for me?
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@pml if and when you have an accident, you may be the cause of someone else’s death!
You know better than to sidestep the law, I’m confident of that. And you must not put yourself and others at risk on the roads.
That would go against, “love your neighbor as yourself “.
And that’s why I am writing this to you.
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5 ReactionsIt seems like the original problem has resolved. But I just want to discourage anyone from driving without a license. This could result in a very serious legal situation for the driver. If you cannot drive and don't live somewhere with public transportation look into having groceries delivered, county van services for seniors, and more. As soon as I can't pass a driving test, I will stop driving. I have no desire to harm someone else or myself because I can't see properly. Recently I have had three friends--all with valid licenses--make poor and dangerous choices because of declining vision. I was a passenger in one of these incidents--and I screamed in terror. Luckily the driver did not crash the car, but I took it as a warning!
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3 Reactions@mir123
Good thoughts here. A warning: my 20-something daughter, as nearly as I can tell, didn’t want to pay for a driver’s license. After she was picked up, she spent time in jail. She quit driving.
@methel That really is a cautionary tale--thanks for adding it.
@mir123 I agree with you basically that if you have vision or other health problems that could endanger anyone, you should not drive. There are already far too many impaired drivers. No sensible person wants to add to that problem, but there is a serious problem with doctors assuming people are too old to drive and imagining diagnoses for them that cause them to lose a driver’s license. Being old is not synonymous with being incompetent or irresponsible. When a doctor jumps the gun and creates a loss of license, it is awful. My neurologist thought I was losing consciousness so that my driving would be affected, but my problem was Repatha injections, and when I stopped taking Repatha, I have not fallen since. Every time I fell I was too hot and I was standing. I never passed out from a seated position or in an air conditioned environment like a car. The doctor simply didn’t know enough, but thought he did, That caused huge problems for me. Lesson learned: be careful what you say to a doctor and choose your words very carefully. The months without driving really eroded my confidence and sent me away from trusting in our medical system.
@tatiana987 I know you went through a difficult situation, and I'm sorry that even if it resolved practically there is mistrust and erosion of confidence. I hope that as time passes this might improve. Wishing you all the best.
@mir123 Thanks. I think a healthy suspicion of medical advice is a good idea. I have not found a doctor that I totally trust. In the medical system here, doctors don’t know me, my history, my language differences.
Before deciding to detox from Repatha, I read all my medical notes and history. That is a good idea. There is a lot to learn and there was far more error than fact.
One doctor phoned me, but did not leave a message, he said, because my phone message was not in English, he thought it was not me. I was shocked at how little he knew about me and yet I should trust his advice to take certain meds? Maybe, I say. Distrust is wise.
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1 Reaction@mir123
I think part of the misunderstanding is caused by the varying state laws which regulate driving. I have epilepsy myself and some states (like mine) have a self-report system where it’s the patient’s job to report a seizure and quit driving immediately ( and seek treatment and do some other things). But other states make it the physician’s duty to report any patient who may be having a seizure, under penalty of loss of his/her medical license. My state adopted the self report system because it believed that patients would be more apt to seek medical treatment and get help if they didn’t have to worry about their doctors reporting them.
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1 Reaction@methel I agree that self reporting probably works better. I live in Nevada.
I didn’t have seizures, but based on a 15 minute appointment with a few language mistakes on my part, I got zapped. The doctor guessed wrong. He kept his license and every year I have to prove again that I am not having seizures. Appointments with doctor plus paperwork for the DMV plus waiting in their lines once a year. Not a good state policy. What state are you in? Maybe I will move there.
@tatiana987
I admit that I haven’t searched all 50 states, but this is generally publicly available information. So if you are considering a move, it might be appropriate to read this information before changing states. And reading it helps one understand why things happen in the way they do.