Trucking Along: Implications of the Sleep Apnea Bill Being Signed Into Law. As of October 15, theres a new law on the books that requires the formal rule-making process to be followed in addressing concerns about sleep apnea and truckers. Heres how it affects the different stakeholders involved. By Sree Roy When a bill passes both the US House of Representatives and the Senate without opposition and is immediately signed into law by the President—during a government shutdown, no less—its easy to assume all stakeholders are thrilled with the swift law-making. And indeed many are happy with Public Law #113-45 (better known as the sleep apnea bill), but theres also a contingent that warns of negative consequences of the new law on the safety of the nations roads. The sleep apnea bill passed the House on September 26, the Senate on October 4, and was signed by President Obama on October 15. With those last two dates in the midst of the 2013 government shutdown, the bill thrust the field of sleep medicine into the headlines. The new laws text (read it here) is short but the implications are many. It requires that the formal rule-making process be followed regarding sleep apnea screening, testing, and treatment of truckers and other commercial motor vehicle operators and forbids the issuing of any informal guidance on this subject. The trucking industry applauds the new law. “The rule-making process allows for medical experts, the regulated community, including professional drivers, to provide valuable data and input for the agency to consider in developing its regulations. A formal rule-making will also require an analysis of the benefits and costs of regulating sleep apnea, an analysis not required for the issuance of guidance,” says Bill Graves, president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the largest national trade association for the trucking industry, in a statement. He adds that with more than 3 million professional truck drivers in the United States, the cost of mandated testing could exceed $1 billion annually. If our industry is to be burdened with such a cost, then the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration owes it to trucking to conduct a full and thorough rule-making, including collection of scientific data and a cost-benefit analysis, Graves says. Source Sleep Review
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 16:01:21 +0000
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