PennDOT invaded privacy, Lebanon man testifies (Penna)

LEBANON - Keith Emerich will spend at least the next two weeks hitching rides from friends while a judge decides whether he can get back his driver's license.

Emerich, of Lebanon, had his license taken away April 1 after telling a doctor that he drank at least six beers a day. He would have had his driving privileges reinstated weeks ago if he had proven he does not have a substance abuse problem.

But Emerich, 44, said he's trying to prove a point. He said the state Department of Transportation should never have invaded his privacy by using medical records to indefinitely recall his license.

"This is more about my privacy than my license," he said after a hearing yesterday. "They had no right to take my license away for drinking at my house. I wasn't driving."

Before making a decision, Lebanon County Court Judge Bradford Charles is waiting to read briefs to be filed by Emerich's attorney, Horace Ehrgood, and PennDOT attorney Francis P. Bach. The judge gave them 15 days to file.

Ehrgood and Bach previewed their positions for Charles yesterday during the hearing, at which Ehrgood presented a signed document from Emerich's doctor stating that "he's competent as long as he's not under the influence while driving."

Bach argued that Emerich's doctor has no way of knowing whether Emerich curbed his drinking unless the doctor runs tests, something Emerich said his doctor didn't do before signing the document.

Bach also said PennDOT was right to recall Emerich's license, because a substance abuse problem can interfere with one's ability to drive even if they don't drive drunk.

Emerich's problems with PennDOT began with an emergency trip to a hospital in February.

An ambulance transported Emerich, of the 400 block of Fifth Street, from his doctor's office to the hospital because of an irregular heartbeat. While at the hospital, as he was "laying there with needles and wires all over" him, doctors asked Emerich if he drinks and how much, Emerich testified at the hearing.

Emerich readily admitted to consuming at least six and as many as 12 beers a day, according to his medical records. That admission was enough to prompt an unidentified doctor to report Emerich to PennDOT as having a substance abuse problem.

Doctors diagnosed Emerich with atrial fibrillation, a rapid, irregular heartbeat that affects 2 million Americans. Heart disease, lung disease, smoking and excessive alcohol and caffeine use are among the causes of the condition.

According to his medical records, Emerich's irregular heartbeat could be "possibly related to his heavy alcohol use. ... He needs to decrease his alcohol consumption."

Emerich said he drastically reduced his alcohol consumption after the hospital visit. Now, he said, he drinks a six-pack on the weekends.

He admitted to driving after drinking, but said he was well within the state's 0.08 percent blood-alcohol limit at which a driver may be charged.

Ehrgood made the point that the doctors never referred Emerich to an alcohol rehabilitation clinic or even asked detailed questions, like whether he ever had blackouts or alcohol-related seizures.

Ehrgood also submitted the results of a test taken when Emerich was admitted to the hospital. It showed that Emerich didn't have a drop of alcohol in his system.

But it doesn't matter what the test showed, Bach said. The agency relies on doctors to know whether their patients have medical conditions that interfere with their ability to drive safely.

Bach said the same process would apply to people who suffer from Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy or another condition. Even old age falls under the criteria PennDOT uses to recall licenses.

"The law says, when doctors feel from a medical standpoint that you're not a safe driver, they must report that," Bach said after the hearing. "We're not here to give people a hard time. We're here to protect people. It's the law."

The law is wrong, Emerich said. "This is a crazy law. Not all cases are black and white."

This man, with the work of a competent and professional lawyer, will win enough money from this hospital, through a clear and direct violation of HIPAA, as well as damages from PennaDOT, for another direct violation of HIPAA, that he should have enough money to retire comfortably.

Further, if the ER worker who anonymously called this in won't step forward and take the fall, this man should move toward having a federal prosecution of this hospital for HIPAA violations. Without this man's formal written consent, the release of such information toa goverment agency is expressly illegal in all matters, a "public safety" exception will not fly here Bach also said PennDOT was right to recall Emerich's license, because a substance abuse problem can interfere with one's ability to drive even if they don't drive drunk. Nice try, no cigar. By using this line, this bach guy knows he's lost this case, and is trying to set his employer up for a HIPAA exception on the appeal.

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