My Dad was given a diagnosis of moderate dementia after a PANIC event that resulted in me having to drive from South San Diego California, near the US/Mexico border, to Dateland Arizona and pick him up. He had called my Mom from the side of the freeway after he ran out of gas, didn’t know where he was, and couldn’t remember he could’ve called AAA (neither did my Mom I guess!) he still didn’t know where he was once I got there some 12 hours later and thought he was going to drive back home from there once I put gas in the car. I had done an internship for Alzheimer’s Orange County a couple years before and knew how to deal with his desire to keep driving despite not remembering where he was and noticed his decline in his driving ability before that day. So he went to a doctor who gave the diagnosis of moderate dementia but never reported it to the DMV and it has been over 9 months. My Dad still thinks he can drive but I took his keys the night I picked him up and explained to my Mom that he can’t drive and that I was keeping his key; she should get his spare and hide it too. Nevertheless, his continued thought of wanting to drive cross country back to where he grew up is a daily ritual for him. He has bags packed by the front door waiting for me to bring a car back over. He’s been told by a different doctor that it’s best he doesn’t because of his cognitive decline and he hasn’t reported it to the DMV either. So here are two doctors who have failed to report a mandatory medical condition to the DMV. By doing so, at least then maybe my Dad would stop calling me to bring a car over multiple times a day because it has taken an extreme toll on me, his only child, as if it is not hard enough dealing with the fact I’m losing my Father every day but to be reminded of that each time he calls me asking the same question and me either not answering it and listening to his voicemail or answering it and then having to lie to him because that’s what I was something I learned during my internship as one way to deal with a situation as such. So, does anyone know if I could sue the doctors for personal pain and suffering via medical malpractice for failure to report to the DMV for a diagnosis/condition they have given? Or on behalf of Father who has moderate dementia/Alzheimer’s?? thanks
7 Answers
Helpful Newest
First Oldest
First
He/she would say "Why did YOU not report your father to the DMV"?
I cannot fathom why you are wasting time thinking about lawsuits when you have no POA and your father has become helpless with dementia. It IS time for an attorney, but that is to get guardianship. Please get the medical records if you are able WITHOUT guardianship/POA and begin the process. If you cannot get the records (and that's likely without being POA) then you start in the Elder Law Attorney office.
Feel free to go to DMV, but clearly disable the car or have it removed.
Do know that as far as I can tell online AZ is not a mandatory reporting State while California is.
(Mandatory-Physician-Reporting States & Drivers' Licensing - Alzheimer's Proof (alzheimersproof.com).
That's neither here nor there. YOU ARE AWARE and YOU can report to DMV at once.
I think you have your carts and horses in confusion. I think you are not concentrating on what needs to be done. First thing is a diagnosis. Second is guardianship. It's too bad a POA wasn't in place when it could be done, as it would have been so much easier.
Off you go to an Elder Law Attorney (who, by the way, can talk you down from thinking your next step is a suit against a doctor). It is natural to want to blame others in times of great shock and grief. I surely don't blame you for that. But it is crucial now that you get protection and help for your father in place.
Its a long story but my GFs father, suffering from ALZ, lost his wallet and car keys. Her mother told him you can drive without ur license and keys. He excepted that. She eventually found both and hid them. She sold the car, they only had one, and bought a new one. He never asked to drive.
ADVERTISEMENT
If he’s licensed in Arizona, it doesn’t seem like there is mandated reporting by physicians. There is however a way for regular citizens report an unsafe driver.
Seems like in either case *you* filing a report to whichever DMV, would be a good next step.
As for suing, it is a waste of time and I doubt that any good attorney would even consider taking the case. Failure to report to the DMV is very common with doctors as they do not want to get involved, you or your mother need to do it.
Being an only child has no bearing on this, make sure either you or your mother has the DPOA, will in place and so on.
Don't answer his calls more than once a day no need to listen to his VM either.
Good Luck!
Why don't you send a report to DMV?
Do you think having his license revoked, will take away his desire to drive?
Have you talked to his doctor about meds for agitation and anxiety?
Your Father wanting to drive to his childhood home every day is not a ritual, it's called Sundowning and it's a feature behavior of dementia. Stop answering his daily calls because there is no "cure" for sundowning. Dementia robs people of their reason and logic and empathy so there won't be any talking him out of it, or him remembering the conversation the next day.
Are you your Father's PoA? If not, you might want to consider having this conversation with him and your Mom. I'm also a PoA only child to a single Mom. I was PoA for an Aunt that recently passed and another who is still alive in another state.
No one can force you to be your parents' PoA but you need to understand that your Father's dementia is only going to get worse, and really really stress out your Mom. He may need more care than she can provide. He may be a candidate for facility care. If I were in your shoes, I'd go stay with them for a week to see just how bad it is and to assess what you want to be involved with managing, if anything. Even if you don't want to be involved, this is still a decision and there will be fall-out. Hopefully your parents have all their legal ducks in a row. If they don't have PoAs then you (or someone) will just be calling APS and waiting for the county judge to assign them a legal guardian who will then manage all their affairs and make all their decisions on their behalf.
And no, you have no grounds to sue any doctor for not reporting if it isn't required AZ. Call their DMV to find out or go online to their website.