transport-sleep-apnea-scam

[Todzo]

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/trucki ... -scam.html

[SleepyonMagnoliaSt]

I'm amused at the 'Sleep apnea is a scam' thing.

LOL I sure wish. Maybe then I'd sleep

[salton]

A friend of mine used to speak of a river in Africa.

I think Marten Transport is doing the public a service by trying to clear the road of folks like that yahoo.

[Todzo]

I'm amused at the 'Sleep apnea is a scam' thing.

LOL I sure wish. Maybe then I'd sleep

Knowing that some studies report that only 20% of those commended to CPAP were able to use it for more than four hours a night at the one year mark I am NOT laughing at all.

Until they are able to effectively treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea it is a death sentence for truck drivers jobs.

[ncgncg]

I'm amused by the idea of a "forced sleep apnea program." I can just imagine the help wanted ad: "Come work at our trucking firm! We enroll you in this program where you'll be forcibly afflicted with sleep apnea using our patented Apneator machine!"

It seems like the relationship between the guy and his employer was pretty adversarial from the get-go. That makes it nearly impossible to tell if its his employer or him or both being unreasonable. I guess it would probably take an actual journalist to find out whether this is a case of evil employer or a case of cranky truck driver, but I also doubt any would be interested in the story.

[49er]

I'm amused at the 'Sleep apnea is a scam' thing.

LOL I sure wish. Maybe then I'd sleep

Knowing that some studies report that only 20% of those commended to CPAP were able to use it for more than four hours a night at the one year mark I am NOT laughing at all.

Until they are able to effectively treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea it is a death sentence for truck drivers jobs.

I have extremely mixed emotions about this issue. There is no doubt in my mind that apnea is over diagnosed and personally, I know people who were victims of this situation.

I also feel the sleep industry is a big time cash cow and I could see how this could affect overdiagnosing truck drivers.

But on the other hand, if you do have untreated sleep apnea, you have no business driving a truck for a living. The ramifications of this are quite obvious.

Then again, if they aren't getting support like this particular poster complained about, that is not good either.

By the way, in visiting various truck driver forums, there seems to be an assumption that only overweight people have sleep apnea. So if the screening is focusing on these folks and not making it a general requirement for all drivers, there could be some serious consequences to that policy.

Thanks for the link Todzo. An interesting issue.

49er

[Todzo]

I'm amused at the 'Sleep apnea is a scam' thing.

LOL I sure wish. Maybe then I'd sleep

Knowing that some studies report that only 20% of those commended to CPAP were able to use it for more than four hours a night at the one year mark I am NOT laughing at all.

Until they are able to effectively treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea it is a death sentence for truck drivers jobs.

I have extremely mixed emotions about this issue. There is no doubt in my mind that apnea is over diagnosed and personally, I know people who were victims of this situation.

I also feel the sleep industry is a big time cash cow and I could see how this could affect overdiagnosing truck drivers.

But on the other hand, if you do have untreated sleep apnea, you have no business driving a truck for a living. The ramifications of this are quite obvious.

Then again, if they aren't getting support like this particular poster complained about, that is not good either.

By the way, in visiting various truck driver forums, there seems to be an assumption that only overweight people have sleep apnea. So if the screening is focusing on these folks and not making it a general requirement for all drivers, there could be some serious consequences to that policy.

Thanks for the link Todzo. An interesting issue.

49er

Hi 49er!

I am several months into a test. Several years ago I fell from by bicycle. Understand that I have commuted by bicycle for years. I am profoundly experienced. Yet I fell from that bicycle on a sunny windless day, I stopped with my chest – was most likely knocked out for several minutes – and bruised most “six pack” attachments to my ribs. After thinking about it for a time I decided to not renew my drivers license.

The test is simple. If I stay up on my bicycle for six months I will consider getting a drivers license and car again. So far so good.

Some ten years into this whole CPAP thing I think I really do understand why most cannot use it and why I still do.

The test is critically flawed and breaks basic science being in the lab rather than where the person sleeps – which – is in the home. Further, it looks at a single night but we never sleep the same any given night, week, month, season, or year. Yet they call this critically flawed test a “golden standard”?!?!?! It is simply an unreliable and inaccurate tool!!!

Titration suffers the same critical flaws!!!

Then they proscribe xPAP as their first choice “golden standard” - BUT – much less than half of the people proscribed xPAP find they can actually use it over time. I think a large part of that failure is a critical lack of due diligence to monitor the data from the machines and know what is going on.

So the doctors make their gold but the truckers loose their jobs. I think we need to reverse this!!!

May all our trucker friends do well!

Todzo

[chunkyfrog]

I'm just relieved that the big whiner is off the road!

[allen476]

There are a few things that the article didn't mention that might shed light on the whole situation.

1) What was the standard that the company used for requiring the sleep study?

2) Who is paying for the sleep study?

3) Is there any type of education concerning sleep apnea? Do they conduct classes about the warning signs of SA?

4) Is there any type of appeals process for any discipline over failure to use cpap therapy or the required sleep study?

5) Why is the company involved not only in the sleep study aspect but also the prescription aspect?

6) Is the DME involved in any type of kickback scheme to the trucking company?

7) Why is there no doctor involved in the process?

8.) How is the trucking company bypassing HIPPA and receiving medical test reports outside of the scope of DOT regulations?


To me, this whole thing seems suspicious at best. A company ramming their employees through a sleep study and then have a hand in the prescription process as well. No doctor involvement, no appeals process, and no educational support lead me to believe that a major lawsuit is in the future.

Like 49'er, I have mixed emotions as well. The trucking company however should not be using future employment as the sole bargaining chip for compliance.

[SleepyonMagnoliaSt]

I'm just relieved that the big whiner is off the road!

LOL here here!

[Crazy Eddie]

There are a few things that the article didn't mention that might shed light on the whole situation.

1) What was the standard that the company used for requiring the sleep study?

Looks to me like they're trying to reduce truck caused accidents, of which a great many appear to be due to fatigue.

2) Who is paying for the sleep study?

Appears to me to be the company itself paying for everything.

3) Is there any type of education concerning sleep apnea? Do they conduct classes about the warning signs of SA?

4) Is there any type of appeals process for any discipline over failure to use cpap therapy or the required sleep study?

5) Why is the company involved not only in the sleep study aspect but also the prescription aspect?

6) Is the DME involved in any type of kickback scheme to the trucking company?

7) Why is there no doctor involved in the process?

8.) How is the trucking company bypassing HIPPA and receiving medical test reports outside of the scope of DOT regulations?

vOv

I was able to find this with google: http://www.fusionhealth.com/marten-tran ... o-drivers/

It's the same article as is on their own site but formatted to be more legible imho.

There's more down the page I don't know how relevant: http://tinyurl.com/o4v6gfx

[Drowsy Dancer]

I'm amused at the 'Sleep apnea is a scam' thing.

LOL I sure wish. Maybe then I'd sleep

Knowing that some studies report that only 20% of those commended to CPAP were able to use it for more than four hours a night at the one year mark I am NOT laughing at all.

Until they are able to effectively treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea it is a death sentence for truck drivers jobs.

I have extremely mixed emotions about this issue. There is no doubt in my mind that apnea is over diagnosed and personally, I know people who were victims of this situation.

I also feel the sleep industry is a big time cash cow and I could see how this could affect overdiagnosing truck drivers.

But on the other hand, if you do have untreated sleep apnea, you have no business driving a truck for a living. The ramifications of this are quite obvious.

Then again, if they aren't getting support like this particular poster complained about, that is not good either.

By the way, in visiting various truck driver forums, there seems to be an assumption that only overweight people have sleep apnea. So if the screening is focusing on these folks and not making it a general requirement for all drivers, there could be some serious consequences to that policy.

Thanks for the link Todzo. An interesting issue.

49er

What I thought was very interesting about that thread was that, except for one poster who clearly used xPAP, everyone on the thread was up in arms at how horrible the employer was.

Here's the company's dilemma: federal law is pretty clear that trucking companies can't let drivers with an untreated impairing condition operate a commercial motor vehicle: "A motor carrier may not require or permit a driver to operate a CMV if the driver has a condition — including sleep apnea — that would affect his or her ability to safely operate the vehicle." Source, Department of Transportation: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety-securit ... Apnea.aspx

Federal law is also pretty clear that the company can't discriminate against someone with a disability if they can make reasonable accommodation for that disability (for purposes of this discussion I'm assuming that OSA might qualify as a disability in this context, but I'm glossing over some analysis here in the interest of spending less than an hour on this post).

Also, if a company knows, or should have known, that one of its drivers has untreated OSA and that driver falls asleep at the wheel and causes an accident that kills somebody, that company is going to be sued.

So it doesn't surprise me that trucking companies would be both fairly aggressively screening drivers for OSA and then offering them treatment (rather than just firing them for having OSA in the first place).

I am pretty sure that airline pilots are somewhat similarly screened for OSA and required to show compliance to remain medically cleared to fly, but I'm not aware that they react to this the way that truckers have. Maybe "trucking culture" is different from "pilot culture." My late brother-in-law was a trucker and I could see him reacting the way most people on the cited thread did to an OSA diagnosis--he wouldn't control his diet to take into account his diabetes because "that's what the pills are for" (notice I said he was my late BIL).

That, or pilots don't do message boards. ETA: Silly me! Every specialty interest group has message boards, and here's a pilots' discussion about OSA: http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/sh ... hp?t=45342

[123.Shawn T.W.]

I was just talking with one of our other drivers (Heartless Express ) who use to work for Crete ... He said they (Crete) required a sleep study, and about 2/3's of the drivers required machines, which the company paid for, including the study ...

I applied to Roehl ... They had some strange hiring requirements ... I ended up giving up on them, as I had no release paper on a concusion I had recieved 20 years ago ... I had a sleep study done in Mexico a few years ago ... Which said everything was OK, but they didn't like it, because it was written in Spanish!

Anyhow ... Neither my company now or Werner seem to care that I have sleep apnea ... Just deliver the load on time!

[hyperlexis]

I empathized with the guy until he said that he intentionally used the CPAP machine while awake to try to cheat the system.

The fact is that being a long haul trucker is not a constitutional right -- you must comply with stringent licensing and safety rules. So if drivers are being overworked or are not able to get proper rest because they are fat (or not) and having sleep apnea, then they either need to treat their apnea so they can be well rested, or they should find another job where they don't risk killing people or spilling tankers full of toxic chemicals all over the road. Or, perhaps, they would prefer Google just replace them with self driving trucks?

The fact the guy said he wore a CPAP mask for four hours whilst awake is bizarre if not totally suspect. He likely didn't do anything, or didn't wear it for the minimum time, and got busted. He likely was just ignorant of all the data an auto machine tracks, which can prove he either didn't wear the machine long enough while sleeping, or showed that he wore it whilst awake, during working/driving hours. (To cheat the test).

No one wants to be forced to do anything medical against his will, but if he really had problems falling asleep with the CPAP, he should have asked his DME people for more help. Perhaps the employer's DME people were at fault for not providing the proper support and the education that these truck drivers -- including the OP -- needed. Shame on them for that, if correct.

[muchojo]

Wow those links show that to be such a Great Company, providing everything at NO Cost to the Drivers. They have a 95% compliance compared to 50% on the Outside.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Marten Transport Implements Sleep Disorder Program at No Cost to Drivers

Carrier partners with Fusion Sleep to promote driver health and safety
As part of its efforts to promote driver health and safety, Marten Transport has implemented a fatigue management program in partnership with Fusion Sleep at its Tucker, Ga., terminal with plans to expand in the coming weeks. The program helps identify risk factors in sleep disorders and apnea and provides immediate treatment at no cost to drivers.

Marten Chief Operating Officer Robert Smith says he is proud to tell his clients that they are leading the industry on safety standards. “The Transportation Sleep Medicine Program that Fusion Sleep provides is the gold standard of addressing critical sleep and health issues within the driving population of all carriers,” he says.

As newly recruited drivers begin their on-boarding process, Marten and Fusion Sleep have integrated a sleep medical review and sleep testing process within new-hire orientation and DOT physical exams so that the general flow is not interrupted. “We find it highly efficient and beneficial to our new hire process,” says Smith. “There’s no delay in getting drivers treated as needed and on the road earning.”

The program Marten has implemented is designed to identify problems and conditions that impact sleep quality, quantity and daytime function in the transportation industry and other industries where safety is key to their operations.

According to Dr. Jeffrey Durmer, MD, PhD, chief medical director of Fusion Sleep, many drivers do not realize they have sleep issues until they are tested. “We’ve seen many, many drivers who thought they were fine but were identified as having a sleep issue, received treatment and are amazed at how much better they feel when they’re treated,” says Durmer. “Marten is definitely ahead of the curve in implementing a full sleep disorder program.”

Marten Transport expects to expand to other terminals in January. “First and foremost we want our drivers healthy and safe,” says Smith. “We also take very seriously the safety of the driving public. Those priorities led us to Fusion Sleep to provide the best screening, treatment and monitoring we could while still getting drivers through orientation efficiently and quickly.”

Fusion Sleep’s Sleep4Safety Program is staffed by dedicated board certified sleep medicine physicians, sleep medicine trained nurse practitioners, sleep technologists, respiratory therapists and medical compliance coaches working directly with fleets and their drivers.

“Our sole focus is to continually improve driver services in order to provide long-term therapy resulting in over 95 percent compliance where the industry standard is 50 percent or less,” says Mary Parrish, Fusion’s vice president of transportation safety. “The key to success for these professional drivers is getting acclimated to sleep therapy and we offer a full support system and staff to get them comfortable, rested and successful.”

About Marten Transport
Marten Transport, headquartered in Mondovi, Wis., specializes in transporting food and other consumer packaged goods that require a time and temperature-sensitive or insulated environment. For more information on services or opportunities at Marten Transport, call 800-395-3331.


About Fusion Sleep
Fusion Sleep is the only comprehensive Sleep Medicine Program that combines professional expertise in the field of Sleep Medicine and multiple treatment options for numerous sleep disorders with a user-friendly follow-up program to ensure enduring and successful outcomes for carrier fleets and drivers. For more information, http://www.sleep4safety.com