Failed DOT Exam, is there any hope?

You're short on specifics. What medication, and what the doc's concerns are would be helpful information.

In short, if you can find a doc that will sign you off as being fit to drive while taking the medication in question, then you will be fine. The major concern is that the medication you are taking would interfere with your ability to operate the equipment in a safe manner. Medications affect different people in different ways.

 

what is deal with the old DOC. he must have been old school.

 

No trucking company will hire you if you mention you failed a DOT medical exam due to mental health medication.
If this new doctor is certifying you under the new rules, then don't sabatoge your future by dragging up the past. The new doctor knows about the failed exam & says you're OK now, so forget it or remain unemployed.

 

Not to delve into the specifics, the first doc is right in asking questions and not taking the approach that it is alright with you driving. Seeing that it takes more than 30 to 45 days for many of these meds to be ineffective after you stop taking them by the vary nature of the type of drug and the person (I don't think many docs understand that), it is better that they ask questions and be judgmental of the situation than to just blow it off as something that is acceptable.

Now that said, the doc is responsible for you if you have an issue and it was discussed. With mental health drugs, especially with some anti-depressents which raise the suicide issue, if something happens the doc is liable for it.

 

Not necessarily. Doctors don't always agree on things any more than truck drivers do. They don't call it "The Practice of Medicine" for nothing. There could be any number of things going on here, from him being an ethical doc and observing something that made him not issue the DOT card, to being a crook who could have been bought with a hundred dollar bill. We don't really have enough info on this to know.

 

First off, only your most recent DOT physical is vallid. If doctor A fails you, then you go to doctor B and he passes you, Your int he clear. That being said, any company you join will probably make you see their doctor. If you fail with their doctor, you can simply look for another company with a nicer doctor lol. As long as you have the 2 year med card from doc B you are eligible to apply and doc a's opinion is irrelevant.

 

Yea, I wouldn't mention doc A unless the company finds out somehow

 

as for now the only way anyone will know is if you tell them, but after first of the year all certified doc's will have to send in monthly reports for all dot's they do good or bad.

 

I think it would be normal for red flags to be raised, depending on what you are on. A lot of drivers are on some type of anti-depressant drug, without having a problem with their physical.

Going off of a mental health drug suddenly, just stopping it cold turkey, can lead to some extremely bad reactions, and very bizarre behavior, to say the least. It can also be detrimental to your physical health as well. I hope that you went off it gradually, at the direction of your family doctor.

OK, this is good. Hopefully he knows what he is doing and you will be fine.

Yes and no. As Chinatown noted, if you bring this up to a company, you will likely not be hired. However, and this just could be a HUGE however. . .

If, God forbid, you are involved in an accident where someone is injured or killed, you can be that the lawsuits will follow. And if some scumbag attorney gets hold of the results of the test that you failed, you will likely lose everything you own or have any hope of owning.

Man, this is a tough call, and it puts you in a tough situation. I think it is perhaps worth discussing with your wife, so that she is aware of the situation.

In the best of all possible worlds, you can get your DOT card, get your CDL, get hired and drive your entire career without having a catastrophic crash. However, we all know that this is NOT the best of all possible worlds.

Somehow, I doubt that I have been able to shed much light on your situation, but hopefully I have given you some things to think about.
Good luck, with whatever you decide to do.