Neurologist Says You No Drive

Two friends have said that when they reported certain problems to a neurologist he in turn reported them to the Motor Vehicles folks and they were not allowed to drive. This is in California. What's going on?

primarily, seizures and epilepsy. if its not controllable by meds then it can cause a risk to both the person and the others on the road. if a seizure were to happen while the person is driving - is the worry they have.

also narcolepsy, and uncontrolled diabetes are another reason for that. though i think the diabetes might be under someone other than a nuerogist (but im not certain).

When I moved to my current state of residence over 20 years ago, I went to DMV to get my license. I checked off the box that asked if I took meds. At the time, my only meds were psych & asthma. Ever since, I've had to get permission to drive. At first, it was every year but then switched to every two years. Its extremely stressful.

I had to go to the DMV to renew my license today. It did ask if I took any meds but it actually said if you take any medications related to something that would affect your driving. I said No. I take meds but none of them are due to something that would affect driving.

I believe that if someone has something that would make it unsafe for themselves or others than they should not be driving. This includes neuroligical issues.

I think so too

Have you tried googling for a list of conditions that need to be notified?

https://www.gov.uk/health-conditions-and-driving:

A
Acoustic neuroma
Addison’s disease
Agoraphobia
AIDS
Alcohol problems
Alzheimer’s disease
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - see Motor Neurone Disease
Amputations
Aneurysm
Angina
Angioma
Angioplasty
Ankylosing spondylitis
Anorexia nervosa - see Eating disorders
Anxiety
Arachnoid cyst
Arnold-Chiari malformation
Arrhythmia
Arteriovenous malformation
Arthritis
Asperger syndrome
Ataxia
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Autistic spectrum disorders (ASD)

B
Balloon angioplasty (leg)
Bipolar disorder
Blackouts
Blepharospasm
Blood clots
Blood pressure
Brachial plexus injury
Brain abscess, cyst or encephalitis
Brain angioma - see Angioma
Brain haemorrhage
Brain injury (traumatic)
Brain tumours
Branch retinal vein occlusion
Broken limbs and driving
Burr hole surgery

C
Caesarean section
Cancer
Cataracts
Catheter ablation
Cardiac problems
Carotid artery stenosis
Cataplexy
Cerebral palsy
Chronic aortic dissection
Cognitive problems
Congenital heart disease
Convulsions
Coronary artery bypass or disease
Coronary angioplasty
Cystic fibrosis

D
Deafness
Defibrillator
Déjà vu
Dementia
Depression
Diabetes
Dilated cardiomyopathy
Diplopia (double vision)
Dizziness
Drug misuse

E
Eating disorders
Empyema (brain)
Epilepsy
Essential tremor

F
Fainting - see Blackouts
Fits - see Seizures
Fractured skull - see Head injury
Friedrich’s ataxia - see Ataxia

G
Giddiness (recurring)
Glaucoma
Global amnesia - see Transient global amnesia
Grand mal fits
Guillain-Barré syndrome

H
Head injury
Heart attack
Heart arrhythmia - see Arrhythmia
Heart failure
Heart murmurs
Heart palpitations
Hemianopia
High blood pressure
HIV
Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Huntington’s disease
Hydrocephalus
Hypertension - see High blood pressure
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Hypoglycaemia
Hypoxic brain damage
Hysterectomy

I
Intracerebral haemorrhage
Ischaemic heart disease

K
Kidney dialysis
Kidney problems
Korsakoff’s syndrome

L
Labyrinthitis
Learning difficulties
Left bundle branch block
Leukaemia
Lewy body dementia
Limb disability
Lumboperitoneal shunt
Lung cancer
Lymphoma

M
Macular degeneration
Malignant brain tumours - see Brain tumours
Malignant melanoma
Manic depressive psychosis - see Bipolar disorder
Marfan syndrome
Medulloblastoma
Memory problems (severe)
Meningioma
‘Mini-stroke’ - see Transient ischaemic attack (TIA)
Monocular vision
Motor neurone disease
Multiple sclerosis
Myasthenia gravis
Myocardial infarction - see Heart attack
Myoclonus

N
Narcolepsy
Night blindness
Nystagmus

O
Obsessive compulsive disorder
Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome
Optic atrophy
Optic neuritis

P
Pacemakers
Palpitations - see Heart palpitations
Paranoia - see Paranoid schizophrenia
Paranoid schizophrenia
Paraplegia
Parkinson’s disease
Peripheral arterial disease
Peripheral neuropathy
Personality disorder
Petit mal seizures
Pituitary tumour
Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Psychosis
Psychotic depression

R
Renal dialysis - see Kidney dialysis
Retinal treatment
Retinopathy

S
Schizo-affective disorder
Schizophrenia
Scotoma
Seizures
Sight in one eye only - see Monocular vision
Sleep apnoea
Sleepiness (excessive daytime)
Spinal problems and injuries and driving
Stroke
Subarachnoid haemorrhage
Syncope - see Blackouts

T
Tachycardia
Temporal lobe epilepsy - see Epilepsy
Tourette’s syndrome
Transient global amnesia
Transient ischaemic attack (TIA)
Tunnel vision

U
Usher syndrome

V
Valve disease or replacement valve
Vertigo
Vision in one eye only - see Monocular vision
Visual acuity (reduced)
Visual field defects
VP shunts

W
Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome

Wow !! So if the condition is under control with meds, do we still tell, like depression. .

Very good question and my guess is that there are a lot of people who do not tell.

I didn't

I think your psychiatrist or consultant would say if you needed to.

That makes sense just like any

That makes sense

If there is any doubt you should of course ask - if you had an accident while knowingly unfit to drive you would be in serious trouble and naturally your insurance would be invalidated so you would become personally liable for damages. All the same potential loss of mobility would be deeply inconvenient for most people, but consider the alternative.

there are things that are reported in CA:

Conditions that may trigger reporting include Alzheimer's disease and related disorders, seizure disorders, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, vascular dementia, brain tumors, narcolepsy, sleep apnea, and abnormal metabolic states (including hypo-glycemia and hyperglycemia associated with diabetes). In addition, if the doctor reasonably and in good faith believes a patient's medical condition will impair safe driving, the doctor may choose to report the patient. Doctors are protected against civil and criminal liability for these confidential reports.

Thankfully, California does not have the exhaustive list that the UK does, because seriously, based on that list, everyone would have to report if they had a medical condition at all.

I think in California at least, in some cases, if the patient can go back to the neurologist and he finds the conditions gone, he then can remove the block on the driving with the California DMV. In my experience this happened when the patient had a concussion and/or seizures.

Usually, if someone can go x amount of months with no seizures, etc., their neurologist will remove the licensing block.