This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

A Review and Reappraisal

Allan Krumholz, MD; Robert S. Fisher, MD, PhD; Ronald P. Lesser, MD; W. Allen Hauser, MD

JAMA. 1991;265(5):622-626.

Abstract
Driving and epilepsy is a problem that involves physicians as both care providers to patients and consultants to regulatory authorities. Driving restrictions for people with seizure disorders are intended to ensure the public's safety, but such restrictions may unduly harm the welfare of many people with seizures. In the United States, all states now permit some people with epilepsy to drive. In general, only people whose seizures are adequately controlled are licensed to drive. Adequate control has been judged principally by the seizure-free interval, but individual state standards widely vary. There is a trend toward greater liberalization of driving standards for people with seizure disorders, but the appropriateness and application of these standards continue to raise questions, as does the role physicians should have in the licensing process. Our responsibilities to persons with disabilities and advances in our understanding of seizures and the nature of driving risks warrant a reappraisal of the current medical, legal, and social implications of driving and epilepsy.

(JAMA. 1991;265:622-626)

Author Affiliations
From the Maryland Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, the University of Maryland School of Medicine (Dr Krumholz) and The Johns Hopkins Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Drs Fisher and Lesser), Baltimore, Md; and the G. H. Sergievsky Center and the Department of Neurology, Columbia University, New York, NY (Dr Hauser).

Footnotes
Reprint requests to Department of Neurology, University of Maryland Medical System, 22 S Greene St, Baltimore, MD 21201 (Dr Krumholz).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Mortality in epilepsy: Driving fatalities vs other causes of death in patients with epilepsy
Sheth et al.
Neurology 2004;63:1002-1007.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

To Drive or Not to Drive: The 3-Month Seizure-Free Interval for People With Epilepsy
Krumholz
Mayo Clin Proc. 2003;78:817-818.
 

Seizure-Related Motor Vehicle Crashes in Arizona Before and After Reducing the Driving Restriction From 12 to 3 Months
Drazkowski et al.
Mayo Clin Proc. 2003;78:819-825.
ABSTRACT  

Individual state driving restrictions for people with epilepsy in the US
Krauss et al.
Neurology 2001;57:1780-1785.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Resumption of Driving after Life-Threatening Ventricular Tachyarrhythmia
Akiyama et al.
NEJM 2001;345:391-397.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Risk factors for seizure-related motor vehicle crashes in patients with epilepsy
Krauss et al.
Neurology 1999;52:1324-1324.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Confidentiality and Health Insurance Fraud
Farber et al.
Arch Intern Med 1997;157:501-504.
ABSTRACT  

Benzodiazepines and the Risk of Falling Leading to Femur Fractures: Dosage More Important Than Elimination Half-life
Herings et al.
Arch Intern Med 1995;155:1801-1807.
ABSTRACT  

Epilepsy and driving
Shorvon
BMJ 1995;310:885-886.
FULL TEXT  

Neurology
Joynt
JAMA 1992;268:380-382.
ABSTRACT  

Driving and Epilepsy: The Effects of Medication
Novak
JAMA 1991;265:2961-2961.
ABSTRACT