DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THOSE WITH A PM/ICD

• by SMITTY
• 2008-06-12 11:06:24
• General Posting
• 1430 views
• 5 comments

I don't know what the California laws, or any state or federal laws are regarding people having pacemakers and/or defibrillators may be. But any law or rule that places a penalty restriction on people with a heart assist device is unfair and asinine. All that any of us that have these heart assist devices have done is learned that we have a medical problem and that problem has been corrected or helped by a man-made device. Getting that manmade device has not made us a higher risk for any activity. That includes not being a higher risk for life insurance coverage. I'll concede that PM/ICD wearers may not be the most desirable candidates for medical insurance because if we have one of these, it is not if but it is when will that expensive device have to be replaced.

What started this are the questions from Chiliman: "Are there state regulations (California here) for people with ICD's? Do EP's generally allow patients to drive? Do ICD's give any pre-defibrillating warning before firing" got me to thinking about how the laws in some states discriminate against pacemaker/ICD patients.

According to the information I have gotten is some people get a few seconds warning before the ICD fires, and some do not. Either way, it is a moot point when you consider the reason you have that ICD. If you did not have the ICD and went into V-fib, or V-tach that could very well be worse than the shock you will get from the ICD. In my opinion your potential risk to yourself and other drivers comes not from the fact you have that ICD, but comes from the fact you have a heart ailment that can be debilitating.

If laws exist that single out drivers a PM and/or ICD, then we should have laws that penalize everyone with a serious health problem. For example, some people with a low heart rate of very low blood pressure (either of which they may not be aware of) are at risk of passing out anytime, anyplace. Any of us are at risk to some degree of having a stroke without warning. The list can go on and on. The thing is if the lawmakers want only healthy people driving cars trucks or whatever, then very rigid physical examinations should be required to get a drivers license. Even that would guarantee no health problem related accidents as we often see news items about athletes in the prime of life dropping dead.

I think it is time that those of us or those that have family members, with a pacemaker and/or a defibrillator to mount a campaign to demand that we not face discrimination, a restriction or penalty of any kind because we have a heart assist device. After all I am no greater risk to others, because I have a PM, than my neighbor who may need one but has not yet had that need diagnosed and therefore does not have one.

All of this brings us back to the one fact that in life there are no guarantees. We all pay our money and we take our chances.