Did you have to report your Sleep Apnea to renew your driver's license?

[justMongo]

new for Texas:

From The Texas Medical Association, May 12 2016
"Get Up to Speed on New Driving Rules, Medical Restrictions"

"A diagnosis of severe OSA (apnea-hypopnea index AHI>20) precludes certification to drive a motor vehicle (class A, B and C license) until the sleep disorder is effectively treated and the person demonstrates satisfactory ongoing compliance with therapy.
A person with moderate OSA (apnea-hypopnea index between 10 and 20) may drive passenger vehicles (class C license) if he has minimal daytime sleepiness (Excessive Daytime Sleepiness Study (EDSS) score is <10) and the OSA is being effectively treated and he is compliant with therapy. Persons
with mild OSA may drive with any license type if the AHI is <10 and the EDS score is <10.
Ceasing therapy should be accompanied by driving cessation if the OSA is still present.
An individual with moderate to severe OSA who meets these requirements should be recertified annually."

[0rangebear]

I would not report it without finding out what is Maryland's Department of transportation definition of sleep apnea.

Here in the forum you typically see AHI <5 as the criteria. The respiratory hospital I use here in in Colorado uses AHI <6 if associated with desaturation below 87.3 (it is adjusted for altitude)

They use an AHI <10 if there is no o2 desaturation. However, the state motor vehicle criteria is AHI<15.


Just because a sleep lab has diagnosed you with sleep apnea. Does not mean they are using the same criteria as the Motor Vehicle Medical Review Process. Be careful to identify whether you have "reportable sleep apnea" before you check that box, because it will be difficult to uncheck it once you've gone down that road.


Simply put; you could have sleep apnea from a personnel heath perspective and not have "reportable sleep apnea" from a legal perspective

[KSMatthew]

Maryland contact info:

MVA
Driver Wellness and Safety Division
6601 Ritchie Highway
Glen Burnie, MD 21062

For telephone questions:
MVA Customer Service Center: 1-410-768-7000

[justMongo]

There's a 2012 thread on this very topic.
http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...nd-the-law

And the first post is about Maryland...

Good advice from Orangebear about determining if one's specific apnea is reportable -- I have a feeling Maryland's attitude is: Yes, you must; and we'll then determine if you can keep your license. If you call the state, their answer will always be yes, you must.

There are lawyers who specialize in this area of law. I'd spend a few hundred to get a legal opinion before answering the question for the state.

[sptrout]

new for Texas:

From The Texas Medical Association, May 12 2016
"Get Up to Speed on New Driving Rules, Medical Restrictions"

"A diagnosis of severe OSA (apnea-hypopnea index AHI>20) precludes certification to drive a motor vehicle (class A, B and C license) until the sleep disorder is effectively treated and the person demonstrates satisfactory ongoing compliance with therapy.
A person with moderate OSA (apnea-hypopnea index between 10 and 20) may drive passenger vehicles (class C license) if he has minimal daytime sleepiness (Excessive Daytime Sleepiness Study (EDSS) score is <10) and the OSA is being effectively treated and he is compliant with therapy. Persons
with mild OSA may drive with any license type if the AHI is <10 and the EDS score is <10.
Ceasing therapy should be accompanied by driving cessation if the OSA is still present.
An individual with moderate to severe OSA who meets these requirements should be recertified annually."

Very interesting. How did you find it? With those tight restrictions one would think that it would be well known to all SA patients in Texas, but it has never been mentioned to me. I am sure not going to ask about it. Luckily, I am retired and do not drive much anyway although I never had a sleep/driving issue ever happen when I was driving more often. (Actually, I think my SA started after I retired for a variety of unrelated reasons.)

[justMongo]

I did a Google on texas drivers license medical.

[nativedancer]

never heard of any stipulation in NC.

[sptrout]

I did a Google on texas drivers license medical.

I would never have thought of searching that group of words. But, should not have to because this information should not be buried, and unknown to the public.

[OpalRose]

The only requirement in Ohio is that you pass a basic vision test.

[shawn42]

I would not report it without finding out what is Maryland's Department of transportation definition of sleep apnea.

Simply put; you could have sleep apnea from a personnel heath perspective and not have "reportable sleep apnea" from a legal perspective

This is a really good point. My study AHI was 60.2, though under treatment my average is around 3. My diagnosis was severe, but they don't specify any criteria for it. I'll have to dig around.

Everyone's giving a lot of interesting feedback here. I wonder how far lawyers might take such a thing in an accident case, regardless of the state's reporting requirements. I'm thinking of worst-case edge scenarios like an individual with a severe diagnosis who actually never had daytime sleepiness (before or after treatment); had a controlled treated AHI but then skipped a night on the machine for one reason or another (or worse yet: corrupted/lost data!) and then got into a legitimate accident without any sleepiness (presumably not that person's fault, according to the worst-case scenario). Assuming they acquired the individual's machine data, would they hang the person out to dry over a single missing night? I wouldn't put it past the realm of possibility.

Might make for a good daytime drama miniseries =)

Edit: All the reading I've done on the MD MVA says that a "diagnosis" needs to be reported, and indeed I was diagnosed with OSA (as well as Nocturnal Hypoxemia). So I'll certainly be reporting this.