A final rule issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Sept. 19 will allow diabetic individuals with a “stable insulin regimen” and properly controlled “insulin-treated diabetes mellitus” or ITDM to be qualified to operate commercial motor vehicles or CMVs in interstate commerce.
Previously, individuals with ITDM were prohibited from driving CMVs in interstate commerce unless they obtained specific written exemption from the FMCSA, the agency said.
The new rule enables a certified medical examiner or ME to grant an individual with ITDM a Medical Examiner’s Certificate, MCSA-5876, for up to 12 months, with the ME subsequently responsible for determining if the individual meets FMCSA’s physical qualification standards and can operate CMVs in interstate commerce.
It also eliminates the exemption program that currently requires some 5,000 individuals with ITDM to incur more than $5 million in costs as a group on a yearly basis to renew and maintain their exemptions. The agency itself expects to save more than $1 million per year over the next three years in costs associated with administering its diabetes exemption program.
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