Driving on Methadone

[Tony.B.]

Evening All

After a meeting with a very good and well experienced CPN and  GPSI Keyworker i was left astounded.

I knew that guidelines were pretty harsh, was i to be shocked?

After being informed that within my county there is a client who on 5mls all wants to do is ride his moped to work.DVLA say no(comp says noooo)

Compared to my own ambitions(expectations) in this regard this seemed nothing short of bizzare.

How are these people going to get a fair crack can someone please tell me.How am i going to return to work , or how am i receiving equal opps?

I certainly appreciate that it is down to the individual still i think that is my point.Individual funtionality.

Please if you have any current legislation or policy and esp experiences please post.

Cheers
Tony

[stavros]

dEAR tONY ,
 wHERE ARE YOU BASED  ( ROUGHLY) are the rules of driving being  looked at again , this scares me as my job is driving ,
 Anyhoo hope you are well

 Take care
  STAVROS

[simon]

Here is a link to the guidelines and yes they are strict.
http://www.dvla.gov.uk/drivers/medical/minutes_2003/meeting_minutes_16_april_03.htm
http://www.dvla.gov.uk/at_a_glance/ch5_drugandalcohol.htm
Bottom one is the guidelines.

[judith yates]

This is a very difficult area, as you say. Thanks for putting the link to the guidelines. Always make sobering reading, One interesting paragraph is this one:

 Quote" Applicants or drivers complying fully with a Consultant supervised oral Methadone maintenance programme may be licensed, subject to favourable assessment and, normally, annual medical review. Applicants or drivers on an oral buprenorphine programme may be considered applying the same criteria.

There should be no evidence of continuing use of other substances, including cannabis."

I do not yet know anyone who has tried to get through this system, do you? There is some uncertainty in my mind about the word "consultant" too. Do you think a GP prescriber would do?

[bp]

Judith

I think the DVLA guidelines are very much like a driving test, they need to be navigated with great care and even then you're not sure of success at the end. I don't know of anyone who has actually declared that they are on a methadone script and succeeded in getting a driving license, but that is not to say it hasn't happened. I think most people just don't declare it and just hope for the best.

Beryl

[Tony.B.]

Great replies

Beryl i think the way i see it and the evidence i have come across, on a personal basis is exactly how you put it.

Some great links there too.

Tony

[Tony.B.]

Yes i am well thanks

I am in the s/west, Gloucestershire

For my sins some would say.

This issue seems to be pretty universal tho my friend.It is a crucial issue and one that i was very ignorant of until i began looking into it.

Best Regards
Tony

[simon]

Judith,
If a GP won't do what chance has a Nurse prescriber got ?.

[Rokki]

Do they make Diabetic's who use insulin seek a special permit to drive?  If not then what is the difference? We know that methadone does not make you high. Of course with patients who are maintained on a low dose they start feeling sleepy around 3pm in the afternoon...This is after taking their daily pitance at maybe 6 am to 8 am....This is nothing short of withdrawl happening to the patient.

Here in Calif you can not even get a driving under the influence for being on methadone...as it should be...Of course 

Love and Respect

Rokki

[bp]

Do they make Diabetic's who use insulin seek a special permit to drive?  If not then what is the difference? We know that methadone does not make you high.

Love and Respect

Rokki

Hi Rokki

Yes, "we know" but the powers that be don't know nor do they want to; therein lies the problem.I'm not too sure if the insulin analogy holds water in this case.

Cheers

Beryl

[simon]

I have a friend a type 2 diabetic who had to go on insulin, he lost his private pilots licence his heavy goods licence and was informed he couldn't drive his car until some period of stability. So yes this does effect diabetics too.
http://www.dvla.gov.uk/drivers/dmed1_files/pdf/INF188_2.pdf

[stavros]

I SEEM TO FIT BOTH CRITERIA AS I  INJECT INSULIN TWICE A DAY ALSO I TAKE ORAL METHADONE AT ROUGHLY 8 .00am i agree with one of the earlier posts , thaT is i do not declare either as my job consiasts of a lot of driving , so fingers crossed
    keep the faith


 STAVROS