AMA Says Doctors Can Notify State About Impaired Drivers

The American Medical Assn. changed its ethical guidelines Tuesday to let doctors notify the motor vehicle departments in their states about patients with medical conditions that could make them unsafe drivers.

The new policy, which would not be legally binding, makes public safety a priority over the confidentiality of patients with conditions such as senile dementia or alcoholism.

“We all know that some people are driving when they shouldn’t be,” said Dr. Herbert Rakatansky, chairman of the AMA’s Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs. “This says that it’s desirable and ethical to report that information to the Department of Motor Vehicles.”

The policy change, adopted by a majority of the nearly 500 AMA delegates from around the country meeting this week in San Diego, does not have universal support among doctors.

In debate before the vote, some delegates argued that the policy would cause some people to not seek treatment rather than risk losing their driving privileges. Others said it would fundamentally alter the doctor-patient relationship.

“This will change us from physicians to policemen,” said Walter J. Kahn, a New Jersey doctor.

The issue is among the most controversial of dozens of health policy concerns under consideration during the semiannual House of Delegates meeting, which ends today.

A vote is expected this morning on another controversial item: whether the AMA should continue supporting a congressional bill that would neutralize Oregon’s assisted suicide law. Oregon lets doctors prescribe lethal doses of drugs to terminally ill patients who want to die.

AMA delegates are also considering whether to call for restrictions on advertising of new medications and whether to urge Congress to establish a Medicare benefit for prescription drugs.