Sleep Apnea Testing: Medical Review Board Recommends Screening, Disqualification Criteria

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[I am reprinting this article about Sleep Apnea Testing but I want to make clear that i am strongly against what the article says. The section about using only one criteria for those over 42 is ridiculous.  Aging, being male or being post-menopausal female should not be considered a “criminal offense” where drivers are in need of greater scrutiny nor should people over 42 be considered “old”.


Sleep apnea is an inconvenience to the truckers, but only a small danger to those on the road.  The recommendations for a PAP machine, bariatric surgery, or facial bone surgery equates to an enormous expense to the drivers if they don’t have health insurance. Certainly, the recovery time would take them off the road for weeks.


All this just to remain a CDL holder?!?


My last comment: if this means so much to the FMCSA then they should pay CDL holders expenses to meet this health criteria.]

Sleep Apnea Testing: Medical Review Board Recommends Screening, Disqualification Criteria


The FMCSA’s Medical Review Board has issued their preliminary recommendations for how trucking should test for and deal with sleep apnea.
As the Medical Review Board sees it, there are two parts to the sleep apnea issue that need to be addressed: Screening, and treatment.

First, all truckers with a Body Mass Index (BMI) equal to or greater than 40 will be required to undergo a screening to see if they suffer from severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Truckers with a BMI equal to or greater than 33 will need to undergo a screening if they meet 3 or more of the following criteria (or only one if they are 42 years old or older):
  • Is male
  • Is a postmenopausal female
  • Has diabetes
  • Has high blood pressure
  • Has a neck size greater than 17 inches (males) or 15.5 inches (females)
  • Has a history of heart disease
  • Snores loudly
  • Has had witnessed apneas
  • Has a small airway to the lungs
  • Has untreated hypothyroidism
  • Has micrognathia or retrognathia
Drivers who are found to have even mild sleep apnea would need to get new medical certification every year. For those who are discovered to have OSA, they would need to take action within 90 days by either using a PAP machine (or other similar oral appliance), undergoing bariatric surgery, undergoing oropharyngeal surgery or facial bone surgery, or undergoing a tracheostomy. After treatment, they would be need to undergo another medical certification test. If they passed, they would be certified for one year.
Critics of the proposed program have voiced concerns over how expensive and disruptive all of the screenings and treatments would be.
These are only the preliminary recommendations from the Medical Review Board and may change before they are formally presented to the FMCSA.
While the FMCSA is not required to use the Medical Review Board’s recommendations in their rulemaking, it will more than likely take them into serious consideration.
Source: overdrive 

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