Congress Approves Diabetic Trucker Bill

A news release from The American Diabetes Association (ADA) said the bills would eliminate a provision in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) 2003 Diabetes Exemption Program that made it almost impossible for anyone with insulin-treated diabetes to apply to drive commercially.

“These regulations are important not only to people with insulin-treated diabetes who are seeking to drive a truck in interstate commerce, but also people in many other industries that look to the government’s standards in their workplace. Anytime a discrimination barrier is torn down – as this bill will do for commercial driving – it will have a profound effect,” said Lawrence Smith, Chair of the Board at the American Diabetes Association, in the news release.

In September 2003, FMCSA announced a Diabetes Exemption Program to end the 33-year-old blanket ban on operating a commercial motor vehicle in interstate commerce for people who use insulin and replace it with a case-by-case assessment that includes over 50 safety provisions. The Diabetes Exemption Program also included a “three year rule” that prevented the vast majority of people with diabetes from applying under the program requiring applicants to have driven a commercial vehicle while using insulin for the three years before applying for an exemption under the program.

The American Diabetes Association hailed the efforts of Representatives Howard Coble (R-North Carolina) and Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) for their work on this issue.

More information is at    http://www.diabetes.org .