From: "Chuck Mauthe" <cmauthe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "'Politech'" <declan@xxxxxxxx>
Subject: big brother is now talking to your doctor
Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2004 15:26:44 -0400
original is at
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/9345310.htm?1c
Posted on Sun, Aug. 08, 2004
Fessing up to doctor costs drinker his license
A Lebanon County man admitted that he drank a 6-pack a day. A Pa. law
required PennDot to be alerted.
By Patrick Kerkstra
Inquirer Staff Writer
Like most people, Keith Emerich thought he could tell a doctor
anything.
So the 44-year-old print-shop pressman answered honestly when asked
during
an office visit whether he drank alcohol. Yes, he said, six to 10
Budweisers
a day.
That candor cost Emerich, of Lebanon, Pa., his driver's license.
In a strict reading of a Pennsylvania law that requires physicians to
report
patients with conditions that might "impair the ability to control and
safely operate" a vehicle, the doctor notified the Pennsylvania
Department
of Transportation of Emerich's appetite for brew.
With nothing more to go on than two check marks on a one-page
questionnaire,
PennDot revoked Emerich's license indefinitely.
Emerich thought it was a joke when the notice arrived in the mail last
April
Fool's Day. His driving record was pristine since a conviction for
driving
under the influence 23 years ago, and he said he does not mix drinking
and
driving.
"What I do in the privacy of my home is none of PennDot's business,"
said
Emerich, who is appealing the agency's decision in Lebanon County
Court. A
ruling is expected within weeks.