Nowanker

It'll be quite a challenge.
The problem is obvious, and the solution is pretty straightforward.
But arriving at a policy whereby the Medical Committee retains their authority and saves face (most important!), while simultaneously discouraging further uprising will take some effort.

Manda Racing

I flunked my PCA medical last week.... my doctors office shot me in the foot-- they left out the vision blank where vision is required for one of my eyes. "Susan, just write in 20/40 like the other one) Even after I pleaded with Asst. to fill in ALL the blanks like it says on the opening page.

Then it got worse, if you have a history of Diabetes there is a point/level where an EKG is required which I didn't receive, although my Dr. told me I wasn't diabetic OR pre diabetic....but the history box got checked; I received an EKG for my current FAA and CDL medicals but skipped this one.

Fill in all the blanks; I feel for you...

plafondles

The DOT minimum standards for CPAP usage is >=four hours per night 70% of the nights. You should be fine missing one night and still being within regs if you use the CPAP every night. Granted it would take pulling data from your machine and/or getting a note from your provider which I know and understand you are against.

I will echo it is laughable if the PCA is using the DOT/FMCSA guidelines for commercial truck drivers as their standard, unless they are concerned about a PCA member falling asleep towing their car to the track, has there seriously ever been a driver in any organization who fell asleep at the wheel due to OSA?

It reads that the PCA medical board is about picking and choosing who to punish and randomly picking a condition from the 140 page FMCSA medical examiner handbook to make their decision stick to their own interpretation. I assume the PCA medical director did not give you a 30 day determination pending certificate like most medical examiners do at DOT physicals for drivers to get this resolved, which would have allowed you to race at LRP.

Mahler9th

https://www.cpap.com/blog/commercial...t-sleep-apnea/




"Devices today can determine if you actually wear your mask or simply turn the machine on but don’t wear your mask. This measurement helps with assessing compliance and is usually a factor insurance providers measure for purposes of coverage. DOT may also use your CPAP compliance report to prove you’re treatment is successful."

ProCoach

Your "assessing compliance" hyperlink refers to Medicare payment to DME providers. Somehow, I don't think that is an issue here...

"Manufacturers designed compliance tracking machines to meet Medicare’s requirements mandating durable medical equipment providers show the equipment was used for Medicare’s set minimum number of hours. Without this data, DME providers can’t continue being paid by Medicare."

Mahler9th

Yep I know that.

26 "yes/no" questions on PCA form and a "yes" requires a separate page of explanation for any of them.

How does a sanctioning body verify that many, most or all issues related to "yes" answers are successfully managed with intervention(s)?

ProCoach

I hear you. A separate page for each is over the top. I agree with you.

I don't need a medical advisory committee to validate or verify my care.

I have HPT, "under control" states my doctor. He signs on the dotted line his professional judgment that my physical state is not an impediment to racing safely.

So did LV's...

thebishman

[QUOTE=ProCoach;19376666]I hear you. A separate page for each is over the top. I agree with you.

I don't need a medical advisory committee to validate or verify my care.

I have HPT, "under control" states my doctor. He signs on the dotted line his professional judgment that my physical state is not an impediment to racing safely.

So did LV's...[/QUOTE

I’m assuming you are referring to Hypertension which a far more common abbreviation for in the medical community is: HTN.

Unless you meant Hyperparathyroidism? lol

ProCoach

Yep.

LuigiVampa

The PCA medical committee has rejected my compromise solution and my race license remains suspended.

I had offered to provide an affidavit stating that I am in compliance with my CPAP usage, that I promise to always use the machine before PCA race events, as well as provide other affirmations about my usage. They rejected this proposal and still require an unspecified amount of data from me.

PCA does not verify compliance with treatment for any other medical condition. They may sometimes ask for additional information, as is their right, but there is no other condition where they demand proof that a racer is in compliance with treatment. Out of all the serious medical conditions there are it is sleep apnea that they are most concerned with.

In addition, the medical committee is still insisting that the DOT truck driver standard is the correct standard to use for race car drivers. They have not retracted their position that a racer with sleep apnea might fall asleep.

Something I have withheld from the start, because I did not want to pour gas on a fire, is how dismissively and disrespectfully I was spoken to by Harry Krinzi, who is the chair of the medical committee. He started the conversation by saying "I understand you are a lawyer" and it went downhill from there. I was lectured about how a race car traveling at 140mph is no different from a tractor trailer. It was ridiculous, and even though I wrote a respectfully worded email to the medical committee advocating my position and asking for more information, THE MEDICAL COMMITTEE HAS NEVER RESPONDED EXCEPT TO SAY THEY REQUIRE MORE INFORMATION IN ORDER FOR ME TO RACE. They refuse to answer any of my questions or provide a medical reason for their position (other than DOT truck driver standards).

If the medical committee were disbanded tomorrow, and instead PCA just had someone making sure that a racer's doctor certified that they were fit to race, we would all be just as safe. Based on my interaction with the medical committee I do not think that they add anything of value.

I have nothing but scorn and derision for the members of the medical committee, who cling to a ridiculous standard, as well as the feckless PCA leadership that allows a rogue committee to run amuck.

Ten years worth of PCA club racing comes to an end because the medical committee thinks I am a truck driver and refuses any attempt at finding a middle ground.

Matt Romanowski

This is such a bummer to see. I'm disappointed in the PCA leadership, Club Racing, and the medical committee.

ProCoach

I can not understand their intransigence.

Even entrenched organizations like the SCCA offer ways around this and do not suffer from a) a bottleneck caused by the outsized entitlement, arbitrary and capricious behavior of a "volunteer chair" and b) the lack of gumption from Club leadership to find a way forward when this occurs...

I also understand their was not unanimity in their finding.

This stinks, and this is a serious problem.

Emblematic of one of the main causes for the decline in attendance (or even interest) in PCA Club Racing.

Matt Romanowski

Except in their weird way, SCCA does want to improve. This just makes it seem like PCA doesn't want to fix the problem.

Veloce Raptor

Todd: it sounds like this particular doctor's ego is so sensitive and insecure that he can't admit, he might've made a mistake, can't back down, and can't compromise. So he's doubling down on his stupidity. You are better off without them.

Mahler9th

I am so saddened to hear this:

"Something I have withheld from the start, because I did not want to pour gas on a fire, is how dismissively and disrespectfully I was spoken to by Harry Krinzi, who is the chair of the medical committee. He started the conversation by saying "I understand you are a lawyer" and it went downhill from there. I was lectured about how a race car traveling at 140mph is no different from a tractor trailer."

I suspected this, and now it is confirmed.

Back around the turn of the century, the PCA program did not support the "frequent local all-Porsche racing" program that several of us sought.

Some PCA friends with a long SCCA history wanted us to approach them.

Others thought it might be great to convince NASA to change a fledgling BMW-Porsche group to an all-Porsche group.

I was at the center of this local discussion, and got everyone together in around January 2002, and we formed the Porsche Racing Club.

Some of our local PCA friends and others eventually worked with the Club Racing program as it expanded and improved until a "frequent local all-Porsche racing" program was possible.

Took years.

I have heard about and read about various admin. "opportunities for improvement" in many aspects of the CR program through the years.

It remains my hope that volunteers involved work hard to improve what seems apparent as an untoward trajectory.

I think this topic has nothing to do with doctor or lawyer.