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Requirement for Ontario
Doctors to Report Patients With Certain Medical Conditions to the Ontario
Ministry of Transport
(CONT'D) It is not, however, the role of your family doctor or of your specialist to decide whether you may or may not drive – that is the responsibility of a special committee of the Ministry of Transport which meets regularly in Toronto – but it is a legal requirement for your family doctor and for your specialist that they notify the Ministry of Transport that the Ministry’s committee needs to review your situation. At that point the Ministry officials usually will contact the patient asking for further information, test results and possibly reports from the specialists you have seen to help the committee come to a decision as to whether or not you may drive. Your family doctor will be able to help provide the information you will need to send to the Ministry. The members of the Ministry’s committee which include a number of physician advisors representing different fields such as cardiology, endocrinology, neurology and so on are very much aware of the importance in this era of a person being allowed to drive but if they have serious concerns that your condition might present a hazard to yourself or to others their concerns for safety may require them to recommend a suspension of your driver’s permit, subject to further re-review if your condition improves. For example, a patient who was taking blackouts because of a failing heartbeat would probably be allowed to drive again if the problem were cured with a pacemaker. A Bulletin on Mandatory Reporting by physicians was published by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario to remind physicians of those situations for which reporting is a legal requirement. The full Bulletin includes a number of other situations besides driving (such as the reporting of child abuse, reporting patients with certain communicable diseases and so on) and it can be accessed on-line at the College website at: http://www.cpso.on.ca/policies/mandatory.htm From that Bulletin here is a brief excerpt specifically regarding specifically the requirement for doctors to notify the Ministry of Transport concerning any patients with conditions that might possibly affect their driving: “Physicians have a legal, ethical and professional duty to keep information about their patients confidential (see CPSO policy on Confidentiality and Access to Patient Information). However, under certain circumstances, physicians are required by law to report particular events or conditions to the appropriate government or regulatory agency. The purpose of this policy statement is to clarify under which circumstances federal or provincial law requires that a physician make a mandatory report and to whom. All mandatory reporting constitutes an exemption to normal physician-patient confidentiality requirements. Breach of physician-patient confidentiality in these circumstances does not constitute professional misconduct. Conversely, not reporting something that is required by law to be reported can result in the imposition of fines and/or charges of professional misconduct. This policy affects all practising physicians who, in the course of their professional duties, become aware of the existence of specific conditions that require reporting. Health conditions that make it dangerous for an individual to drive Under the Highway Traffic Act, "every legally qualified medical practitioner shall report to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles the name, address and clinical condition of every person sixteen years of age or over attending upon the medical practitioner for medical services, who, in the opinion of the medical practitioner, is suffering from a condition that may make it dangerous for the person to operate a motor vehicle." It is important to note that this reporting requirement pertains not only to on-going patients of the physician, but also to anyone "attending upon the medical practitioner for medical services," which includes those individuals seeing a physician for industrial or third-party exams/assessments. The report must be made in writing and sent to the Medical Review Section of the provincial Ministry of Transportation. Although the Act does not specify a time period in which the report must be made, it should be done as soon as possible.” A publication of the Canadian Medical Association called “Determining Medical Fitness to Drive: A Guide for Physicians” (Sixth edition - Approved by the CMA Board of Directors, May 2000) may also be of interest to patients and their families. This is a set of guidelines published by the Canadian Medical Association to help physicians understand their responsibilities with respect to advising patients with a variety of medical conditions about driving and this can be accessed on-line at: Cover and table of contents [PDF] Copyright, reproduction and ordering information. aussi en français: Neurologists and other physicians recognize that dealing with a restriction in one’s driving privilege in addition to dealing with one’s disease may present a considerable degree of additional stress to the patient and to their family. Indeed this aspect also presents an additional element of stress to the physician in trying to maintain a healthy doctor-patient relationship. We hope that the references above may be of some assistance to you in understanding the Ontario Government’s requirements.
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