![]() ![]() Ignoring family input, he said, is “always a mistake.” We’re afraid she’s going to burn the house down.’” They want to avoid (hearing) family members tell them “‘Grandma’s burning the cookies and leaving the gas on on the stove. “A few of my colleagues won’t allow the family in the exam room,” he said. What’s critically important is for doctors to listen to patients’ caregivers about what’s going on in the home, when patients aren’t on guarded behavior, he said. “And if they’re feeling a little shaky at age 85, and well … they’re not driving that much anyway and a lot of times people will just sort of let it go,” Grisolia said.ĭoctors have little time with their patients, so diagnosing Alzheimer’s or dementia is tough, especially because most patients can “be moderately far along in their disease and still have social graces” that disguise any sign that cognition is slipping, Grisolia said. The DMV requires them to pass knowledge and vision tests. Oops! We could not locate your form.Īt some point, many seniors don’t bother to renew because the DMV requires their physical presence when their five-year license expires after they turn 70. Hill said doctors are not required to report those cases. ![]() He spoke of “the average doctor’s hatred and fear of anything that smells of legal risk,” even though not reporting the patient could subject the doctor to civil lawsuits if a patient should drive and hit a person or property.įor many patients, the issue is moot because of other medical issues - they suffered a stroke or are generally very frail - and are physically incapable of getting behind a wheel, he said. Doctors “are terrified to fill out these forms because they think they’re at risk, even though they’re not.” “It’s very rare for a family doctor to report somebody with dementia they’ll most often refer to a neurologist and trust the neurologist to do it, and the neurologist may or may not,” he said. James Grisolia, a member of several aging drivers task forces, also acknowledged physicians’ reluctance to report. Linda Hill, director of preventive medicine residency at UCSD, in her Linda Vista Clinic. “They’re hesitant to bring up driving issues with their patients.” Linda Hill, a researcher who leads a UC San Diego program that trains doctors on how and when to screen for and report cognitively impaired patients. “Doctors don’t report their patients when they should,” said Dr. Doctors reluctant to look closelyīut doctors and dementia experts say many reports that should be filed never leave the physician’s office for a variety of reasons, mostly because of the time it takes and the possibility that discussions with the patient and family may be unwelcome and uncomfortable. If the DMV believes someone is a risk, “we will suspend or revoke their driving privilege,” Armenta wrote. ![]() Drivers sometimes are mailed a form that their doctors are supposed to fill out. “Every driver is given due process,” he wrote. The DMV reviews the doctor’s report, interviews drivers about their condition and treatment, and may require tests of knowledge, vision and driving. In an email, DMV spokesman Artemio Armenta said each case is evaluated individually. That means drivers must comply with a prescribed medical regimen and report any changes, and/or agree to have annual medical reports submitted to the DMV.Īchievement, discipline: San Diego Unified candidates weigh in on Latino parents’ top concerns Since 1997, the DMV put 52 drivers on probation. The DMV did not release the number of restrictions it placed on licenses, such as limiting driving to daylight or within a few blocks from home, which experts say is common.Ĭuriously, even when doctors do report their patients with Alzheimer’s, a degenerative condition for which there is no cure, the DMV merely suspended licenses of 76 percent rather than revoked them. Lawsuits filed by victims have won big dollar awards. In addition to the danger to impaired drivers and others on the road, doctors who don’t report patients who later cause harm while behind the wheel risk litigation. It curtailed many more licenses for conditions involving lapse of consciousness, usually related to epilepsy, and for various mental disorders.Ī lot is at stake. When doctors and the DMV decide it's time for you to stop driving CloseĭMV statistics reveal the agency took action against the licenses of 4,388 to 6,389 drivers with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s or dementia each year over the last decade, far fewer than the estimated 50,000 people who develop the disease in California annually. ![]()
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