medication

[rasperin]

Hey Guys,
Long term pain patient and I'm looking at taking the physical. Is my need for narcotic medication going to bar me?

[Greg Amy]

Potentially, yes.

All competitors must submit a medical evaluation form; on that form is a requirement to list all medications. It also requires that the doctor sign the form stating that either they recommend approval, or recommend the application be reviewed by SCCA's Medical Review Board (MR. I suggest any doctor worth their salt would refer the issue to the MRB.

From the GCR:

Many medical conditions affect a competitor’s fitness. Certain conditions will be automatically reviewed by the Club Racing Medical Director and the Medical Review Board to determine whether a competitor should be issued a license. Specific medical conditions that preclude issuing a license are varied and change with improving medical treatments. The medical reasons for denying a license will be explained to the applicant. Actions of the Medical Review Board are final and are not subject to protest.

I am not a doctor, nor do I have direct experience with this process. But I recommend you contact the SCCA directly prior to going through all the trouble of application/medical. You'll want to submit a query to the MRB and ask them if the specific drug you're taking is automatically disqualifying. If it is, you've saved wasting your time. However, if it is not automatically disqualifying then I recommend going through the process, see what happens...

GA

[JohnRW]

SCCA does have a "National Adminitrator of Medical & Safety" -

Dr. James Butler, MD [email protected]

Suggest you run your question by him and whatever medical review process that the club uses.

You're likely to get an answer here at IT.com. You're MUCH MORE LIKELY To get an informed, accurate answer from Dr. Butler.

[rasperin]

Thank you to both of you, I have contacted the doctor and I hope he approves me .

Edit: For anyone else who comes here looking, there seems to be a strict no narcotic (or narcotic-like such as tramadol) regulation.

[BruceG]

Thank you to both of you, I have contacted the doctor and I hope he approves me .

Edit: For anyone else who comes here looking, there seems to be a strict no narcotic (or narcotic-like such as tramadol) regulation.

If the narcotic in question contributes to either/or drowsiness or a reduction in reflexes, either are so important for a racer(alertness and quick reflexes)

[Greg Amy]

Edit: For anyone else who comes here looking, there seems to be a strict no narcotic (or narcotic-like such as tramadol) regulation.

Have you already received an answer from him/them?

[JamesL]

Given how differently narcotic analgesics affect long term/tolerant users as opposed to those "naive" to their effects, ideally they wouldnt prohibit such a patient from competing. The rules banning meds such as these seem to be in place to prevent a driver with a sore back from downing a few Vicodin and succumbing to the somnolence on track.

But in this day and age I can only imagine the repercussions if someone got injured and it was brought to the light that one of the offending parties was under the influence of narcotics.

An interesting question to the drivers on this site would be, would you feel comfortable competing on track with a driver whom you knew was a long term pain management patient??

[JamesL]

If the narcotic in question contributes to either/or drowsiness or a reduction in reflexes, either are so important for a racer(alertness and quick reflexes)

That is the problem. Narcotic pain killers of the opioid variety can very much contribute to drowsiness and inhibit reflexes... in non tolerant individuals.

Tolerant patients that use such medication on a daily basis can actually have the exact opposite reaction. I would much rather be on track with a pain management patient/opioid user who had taken his medication than one who had not.

[MMiskoe]

That is the problem. Narcotic pain killers of the opioid variety can very much contribute to drowsiness and inhibit reflexes... in non tolerant individuals.

Well, you have to pick your poisons. We've found that a few lines of coke before a 2 hour stint in the enduro car just doesn't produce the results that it does in a 20 lap sprint.

An interesting question to the drivers on this site would be, would you feel comfortable competing on track with a driver whom you knew was a long term pain management patient??

Anyone thoughtful enough to publicly ask the question is better in my book than the guy who takes his medical form to the ER gets it signed and never tells the Dr or SCCA that they are trying to be Hunter Thompon's understudy.

[JamesL]

Well, you have to pick your poisons. We've found that a few lines of coke before a 2 hour stint in the enduro car just doesn't produce the results that it does in a 20 lap sprint.

Anyone thoughtful enough to publicly ask the question is better in my book than the guy who takes his medical form to the ER gets it signed and never tells the Dr or SCCA that they are trying to be Hunter Thompon's understudy.

While I can appreciate the humor in your response, we are not exactly talking about recreational drug use/abuse. The threadstarter has a(seemingly) real ailment that requires the use of a drug that happens to be commonly abused.

I guess my question would be, where do you draw the line? Does someone who is being treated for diabetes get a comp license witheld from them as well? What about a person with bad allergies? All those antihistamines can certainly make a person drowsy enough...

If the response is that one needs to be in perfect physical health to race cars then I can understand(and to a certain extent, appreciate) that. But if we are allowing those with various health issues to race, how are the effects of those issues(and the meds they take for the symptoms) quantified?