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.
I am extremely nearsighted.
I easily pass the optometrist exam. At the DMV however,
I was passed but my side vision barely passed cause of my
thick thick glasses. In real life the eye dr. said to turn my head to see to the side.
You should have reported the Optometrist to his licensing board for failure to perform a thorough examination.
I would suggest you call the police department in your father’s city and see what they suggest. You should not have to wait until he harms himself or someone else to remove his license.
In addition, it is my understanding that if you do not meet certain criteria, doctors are actually supposed to report it to the DMV medical board in my state. Recently my FIL was declared legally blind by his eye doctor - meaning they can no longer correct his vision with glasses to the required level to drive (or pass the eye test at the DMV). When the doctor told him this the first words out of his mouth were "Please don't report that to the DMV." Her response back to him was "I don't have a choice, I'm required to report it." Now I don't know if she told him that to add to what we were already doing or because she is actually a mandated reporter because he hasn't received anything requiring him to surrender his license and he doesn't actually have to attempt to renew it until early next year - but she knew that we were not allowing him to drive and that he can't get to the car keys himself so anything is possible.
In many states you could submit an anonymous report that he is an unsafe driver and force an in person driving and eye test, you could ask the VA doctor to submit a report to the State DMV medical board for review. You could take away the keys yourself or disable the vehicle. It doesn't sound like your father is very open to the discussion of not driving. So it sounds like you or the doctor are going to have to be the ones that make this decision if you can't get a hard no from the DMV.
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.
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.
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.
I would also take the first doctor's medical report and wave it in the face of the Optometrist at Costco and send a letter to their admin. Then there's the good ole' Nextdoor.com forum where you can start an "awareness" rant about the eye dept at Costco to warn others of this dangerous practice.
Two separate Costco opto folks caught issues that DH and I had (several years apart). I have a nevus in the back of my eye that needs to be watched for development; DH had symptoms of narrow angle glaucoma that are worrisome. Each person sent us away with a stern directive to find a qualified Ophthalmologist right away.
I would certainly contact Costco Corporate. In my experience, they are very responsive, although it's not like they KNEW about the previous testing.
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.
I would go to Costco to check this out with manager, and with a copy of the materials you got from your Dad's doctor.
Is your Father suffering from dementia at all? Have you spoken to him.
Sometimes there is nothing you can do, and just three years ago on this very day my brother had a serious accident in which he injured himself badly and was in the arms of his neighbor saying "I knew something was wrong; I knew something was wrong". For him it represented a long, slow, sad 2 1/2 years until his death (not from the accident itself).
Sorry you are going through all this. If Dad has no dementia and you have no POA to act for him when he is unsafe to act for himself, this may be something there is no answer to.
To be honest, I would not trust Costco.
home, convinced him to get in their car and go out to lunch with them and then during the outing Steal his credit cards. Then they took him home and he got bills for credit card purchases he did not make, and I got to clean up the mess. Costco is to blame. Had he not been able to drive, he would have been safe at home.
I see he was pooping on the deck last month and could hardly walk on another post. So I am thinking you are remembering some of his past antics.
I sure hope you have some help with him and are taking care of yourself.
"This is the first year — and probably my dad’s last Christmas. He’s 92 now with vascular/Alzheimer’s — I have chosen family over my elderly father, who doesn’t appreciate anything I do for him. He’s a bully and a pathological narcissistic. I think he also has borderline personality disorder. In years past, I have always made beautiful dinners and Christmas parties for my family. Thanksgiving, Easter, et cetera, too. I pick my father up and he enjoys a wonderful meal on each holiday. He goes back home and gets in trouble and my whole family suffers. He’s always been this way. It’s an odd situation. I know he’s had a lifetime of undiagnosed mental illness. We grew up in a house where he drank, raged, bullied and criticized. I’m going to Hawaii this year and putting him in a memory care facility (respite care) for 30 days guilt free. Hoping he doesn’t bolt, as he can’t smoke there."
Is he 89 or 92? Does he have dementia?
Did you ask the VA to report your dad to DMV?
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.