FMCSA Seeks Comment on Medical Review Report Filed for Proposed Diabetes Rule
Another step has been completed in a proposed rulemaking that would allow CDL drivers with controlled insulin-treated diabetes mellitus (ITDM) to operate commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce without first obtaining an individual exemption for that medical condition from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Sixteen months ago, the agency proposed that the rules be changed to simplify the obtaining of exemptions by drivers who treat their diabetes with insulin.
The proposed rule would let drivers with ITDM obtain a Medical Examiner’s Certificate (MEC) at least annually to operate in interstate commerce if the treating clinician— the healthcare professional responsible for prescribing insulin for the driver’s diabetes— provides documentation to the Medical Examiner that the condition is “stable and well-controlled.”
FMCSA said in its notice of proposed rulemaking that it believes this new procedure would “adequately ensure that drivers with ITDM manage the condition so that it is stable and well-controlled, and that such a regulatory provision creates a clearer, equally effective and more consistent framework than a program based entirely on exemptions.”
The agency added that its own evidence reports as well as ADA studies and other data “indicate that drivers with ITDM are as safe as other drivers when their condition is well-controlled.”
The public comment period on the NPRM closed back on July 6, 2015. That same month, FMCSA requested that its Medical Review Board (MRB) review and analyzie the over 1,250 comments received and provide recommendations the agency “should consider when making a decision about the next steps in the diabetes rulemaking.”
Now, FMCSA has announced the MRB report is available and that it is seeking public comment on the board’s recommendations.
In its notice published in the Federal Register for Sept. 9, the agency said it “believes that public comment on the [MRB] recommendations will assist it …Read the rest of this story
