As we age we seem to experience some deterioration of our body parts that can affect our ability to operate machinery, vehicles, fly airplanes, etc.
Here is a scenario the IHA has not thought through from an accident prevention point of view. A 72-year-old driver has a medical by a family doctor and is referred to a specialist who performs a CT scan and reveals partial blockage of the carotid veins in the neck of the patient and rather than perform the required surgery, the patient is told you need to have a stroke before we can perform the surgery that has been performed for at least 20 people in the area with great success. The question we need to ask is when required medical services are denied how many people out there have similar denials and operate buses, construction cranes, airplanes and many other vehicles and machinery on and around public highways and work sites? Visualize the fun a lawyer would have in cross examination in the event of a major accident.
When medical issues are revealed why not do the required procedure now because there is a paper trail? The cost will be the same and the patient will be younger and perhaps in better health to withstand the surgery rather than waiting and giving accident prevention a slap in the face.
R.E. Johnson
Nelson