Report offers recommendations for CMV drivers with controlled diabetes

Washington – A recently released report from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Medical Review Board offers recommendations for helping commercial motor vehicle drivers who have controlled diabetes remain safe on the road.

The agency requested the report as part of a May 2015 notice of proposed rulemaking to ease restrictions on CMV drivers with insulin-treated diabetes mellitus.

The proposed rule would eliminate the requirement for drivers with the condition to obtain exemptions in order to work. Instead, these drivers would be allowed behind the wheel as long as they were cleared annually by a medical examiner listed in the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners.

FMCSA announced the availability of the report as part of a notice published in the Sept. 9 Federal Register. The board offered more than two dozen recommendations in the report, including:

• CMV drivers must provide medical examiners with the “FMCSA Drivers With Insulin Treated Diabetes Mellitus Assessment Form” completed and signed by a treating clinician.
• Drivers must undergo a complete ophthalmology or optometry exam, including a dilated retinal exam, at least once every two years to document the presence and severity of retinopathy/macular edema.
• Certified Medical Examiners should not certify drivers with insulin-treated diabetes mellitus who have had any episodes of severe hypoglycemia, such as loss of consciousness or seizures, or hypoglycemia without warning symptoms in the previous six months, or if their blood sugar is less than 60 milligrams per deciliter.

Any medically disqualified driver would be banned for at least six months. However, any driver found to have Stage 3 or 4 diabetic retinopathy would be permanently disqualified from driving.

Comments are due Nov. 8.