My father’s doctor at the VA gave my father an eye exam. He has been into the eye doctor frequently because of severe macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. My father asked his eye doctor after his appointment to sign the paperwork from the DMV that says his eyesight is good enough to renew his driver’s license. Doctor said no. My father then went to Costco where they gave him an eye exam and signed his paper, extending his license for 4 more years. He was almost 89 when this happened, and a very scary driver. I had been trying for over a year to get his car and keys away from him. I got him a very nice scooter, and made myself available for trips to the store and errands. He told me he would call the police and an attorney, if I messed with his car. Why is Costco able to do this? I took my father to the VA for a consultation, where they would test his reaction times, his ability to recognize street signs, et cetera. He did very poorly. I’m so mad at Costco. My dad could have killed someone.
Did you ask the VA to report your dad to DMV?
The form the DMV gave your dad to have his Dr sign lists a battery of tests that only a Dr has the expertise to administer, the results of which are numerical or otherwise of some objective scale; the Dr just records the results under penalty of perjury. The doctor does signs the paperwork whether or not the patient did good or bad. DMV considers the test results individually and in aggregate to customize a decision to issue, restrict, or revoke. It does have some hard minimums and it couldn't care less, and gives no opportunity for the doctor's determination of someone's ability to drive. It is only depending upon the doctor for the doctor's expertise in performing the vision tests.
If your father performed so poorly on the tests for the VA doctor, then the question is, why didn't he sign the form and enter onto it the results of those tests? Which presumably, are below the minimum set by your state's DMV?
Unless they WEREN'T below the minimums. I'm purely speculating here, but perhaps the VA doctor, actually knowing your father, has chosen not to cooperate by signing the form, because he believes your father is unfit to drive based on factors other than just purely visual fitness, yet he met the minimums of the tests. Or maybe the VA has policies against Dr.s signing such a form.
In any event, the Costco doctor of optometry doesn't know your dad, and even if he did, his opinion doesn't matter. Just the test results. I do know that the docs at Costco don't work for and aren't supervised by Costco. They're independent contractors. We don't know if your dad passed or failed the minimums when the VA tested, because the doc there refused to record and certify them on the form.
What can be known is that recording false patient test results, on any medium is probably grounds for any kind of doctor to lose their license. And recording them falsely on a state form under penalty of perjury is probably a misdemeanor / felony wobbler. And there's no lack of patients / business in this country for any doctor of any kind of healthcare, so it would be a stretch to imagine the Costco doc falsified the results of the tests on that form just to make a $60 exam fee, even if your dad offered to slip him another fast $50, $100, or even $1000.
I don't doubt you when you say your dad shouldn't be driving. I can easily, fully believe that. You know the man, and I can safely assume you've been in the car with him. There's a real big "?" as to why the VA doc wouldn't sign the form. Your message leaves me assuming he also believes your dad shouldn't be driving. So if your dad passed all the tests on the form, the only role in that context the doctor has to keep him from getting a license is to refuse to participate with the form - and he's under no obligation to do so.
The Costco optometrist doesn't know your dad, so he can't be faulted for not considering extra-optometric factors that effect your dad's driving, or even know them in order to bring him to a personal moral dilemma that would cause him to consider withdrawing his participation with the form; he certainly can't be faulted for certifying true test results on it.
So the fault would lie in the laws and regulations of your state for not mandating the needed vision (or otherwise) tests, if they exist, for your dad to fail. He does sound like a bit of a prick and not at all easy to deal with - and you, a very good son or daughter, and person, for none the less doing so.
You should have reported the Optometrist to his licensing board for failure to perform a thorough examination.
Depending on your state, you may be able to send a request to the DMV to have your father's license reviewed in light of his medical conditions.
Have you spoken to your local police department?
Are you your dad's power of attorney for health and/or finances? If you have POA for health, I would take the results of his VA eye exam to Costco and ask that they revoke the previous approval.
I would also disable the car, consequences be damned.
As for MEDICAL CARE.....no, no and NO. The pharmacy is fine, as it is actually not a Costco entity.
Yep, Costco is responsible. I doubt they get paid as much per patient if they refuse to pass the eye exam.
YES--go to the news with this. I cannot imagine you are the only person dealing with this same situation. IF your dad causes an accident, it could conceivably come down on COstco as they overrode an Opthomolgist's opinion and it looks shady that dad then went to COstco to do just that.
For people with younger, healthier eyes, a Costco checkup would probably be fine. We get older and stuff starts to happen with our eyes and we need to take that very seriously. Optomestrists are great--(My BIL is one) but they can only prescribe a very limited type of drug--not even sure they can handle Macular degeneration.
Good luck--I know this was a few years back, but you post a good warning.
If he's just telling you this, I think he's selling you some BS to get you off the trail. The DMV has their own eye test protocol and I'm not sure "paperwork" from another source will cut it for them. Even if it does, then why don't you ask the VA to send their results to his DMV? I didn't see what state you are in, but you can search or call your father's home state DMV and ask what the actual requirement is for someone his age.
It states in the record that he signed my dad’s DMV paperwork. The records show that the doctor knew nothing of my father’s medical conditions. The doctor also states that my father needs to be re-evaluated bi-annually. If the optometrist is not a medical doctor, I’m confused why he can sign DMV paperwork for my very old dad and then have the right to restrict to bi-annual evaluation. If he felt that my father needs to be re-evaluated every 6 months, he certainly should have said “no signature.” Something is not right. I am going to write letters to the appropriate people to get this changed. I am also going to speak to the doctor at Costco personally and tell him the ramifications of his decision. I have video and photos of my dad’s appt at the VA, so he can see how abysmal my father did on the eye exam and driver evaluation. This doc was wrong and there needs to be a law. The law should mandate that any MD who declines signature for renewal of license needs to complete a DMV form (by law) that states they have declined signature based on medical expertise.
My mom was mailed a form that her eye doctor had to fill out. The results are what they are. That's all that was requested, can she see with corrective lenses or not.
Costco nor the eye doctor did anything wrong. Your dad had an eye exam and I guarantee that the doctor knew what was going on and dad passed the eye exam.
You can go to war over this but, you are not going to win. The VA doctors weren't even in agreement with your stance or they would have signed off on the POA requirements.
Your dad's personality is what put him at risk to be victimized. My dad was the same way, flashing money and running his mouth. Use to scare me for him.
You are going to have a stroke if you don't let things go. Three years is to long to still be upset about a perceived wrong.
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