Drivers License & Pilot License

Every pilot’s nightmare is the thought of losing his medical certification and being stopped from flying.  That happened to me in May of 1986, when I was diagnosed with type 1.  In accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices, Canada, along with every other country in the world, would not allow insulin-dependent pilots to hold any type of pilot’s license.  My short eight-year career with Air Canada came to an abrupt end, and I was told in no uncertain terms that I would never be allowed to fly an aircraft again.

7 comments - Jun 26, 2008 -

Researchers from the University of Virginia, with funding from the National Institutes of Health, are conducting a study on driving safety with regard to people with type 1 diabetes, and they need your help.

0 comments - Sep 11, 2007 -

Was that person arrested for drunk driving truly under the influence of alcohol—or could it be that he was simply a diabetic having a low? The similarity in symptoms caused by alcohol intoxication and low blood glucose levels is striking and commonly leads to easy—but false—conclusions by law enforcement officers.

2 comments - Sep 1, 2006 -

Telling the world you have diabetes is not the easiest proposition. Coming "out of the closet," so to speak, could bring support or condemnation from others.

0 comments - Oct 1, 2002 -

Living with diabetes means living in a world of limitations—some imposed by society and some by the disease itself. Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 5, I've spent the last 35 years trying to break free of those limitations.

0 comments - Mar 1, 2002 -

As a trial lawyer in California who has type 1 diabetes, I have represented more than two dozen people with diabetes whose driver's licenses were suspended by the state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). While all of my clients eventually had their licenses returned, they all suffered emotionally and financially while inadequately trained and overworked DMV hearing officers delayed and denied the return of their driving rights for weeks or months at a time.

3 comments - Jan 1, 2002 -

As blanket bans on commercial driving licenses for people with diabetes come under increasing fire, a new study leaves the debate on safety at a crossroads.

1 comment - Sep 1, 2000 - Not Yet Rated

In 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Bell v. Burson that driving is an "important interest" that may not be taken away from a licensed driver without a government agency's providing procedural due process.

1 comment - Oct 1, 1999 -

A study published in the August 25 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reports that people with type 1 diabetes "may not judge correctly when their blood sugar levels are too low and may consider driving with a low BG." In the study, "low" was defined as less than 70 mg/dl.

6 comments - Oct 1, 1999 - Not Yet Rated

Dr. Arthur Neumann, a retired physician, has lived with diabetes since 1951. He awoke at 4:00 a.m. one morning suffering from a severe hypoglycemic attack and within minutes blacked out. Luckily, his companion was there to inject him with a shot of glucagon-a solution which raises blood sugar by forcing the liver to release stored glucose. Naturally, Neumann reported the incident to his doctor.

0 comments - Jun 1, 1996 -