Deadly Tolls: Sick Truckers Causing Fatal Wrecks

[Guest guest]

Dear Associated Press:

 

Reading this article, you should know that

aspartame used by 70% of the population is a

seizure triggering drug, causes an irregular

heart rhythm damages the cardiac conduction

system and causes sudden death, and is notorious

for causing heart attacks and black outs. In

fact, this is our Pilot Alert for Mission

Possible

Aviation:

http://www.mpwhi.com/pilot_aspartame_alert.htm

This information has been given to not only the

FAA who says they can't do anything because FDA

approved it, but also the transportation hotline.

 

There are text books on the subject that go over all these problems:

 

Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic,

www.sunsentpress.com by H. J. Roberts, M.D.

Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills,

www.russellblaylockmd.com by Russell Blaylock, M.D.

 

There is even a movie on how this deadly

addictive excitoneurotoxic carcinogenic drug,

masquerading as an additive, is poisoning the

world. It's called Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World, www.soundandfury.tv

 

These inhalers mentioned to control breathing

many times have aspartame in them. Also,

diabetics usually are on it even though aspartame

(NutraSweet/Equal/Canderel/E961) can not

precipitate diabetes, but aggravates and

simulates diabetic retinopathy and neuropathy,

destroys the optic nerve, causes diabetics to go

into convulsions and interacts with insulin. The

man who was driving the ferry that crashed was

also a diabetic and had a black out. These are common with aspartame.

 

We've been trying to get it banned for years but

the FDA won't even answer a petition which is

required by law, even though they tried to have

the manufacturer indicted for fraud, and revoked

the petition for approval. It was Don Rumsfeld

that got this poison marketed as told in the

movie, and has caused a worldwide epidemic of

diseases. The FDA list of 92 symptoms includes

blindness, memory loss, stroke, coma and

dizziness for starters. Read some of the reports on web.

 

Dr. Betty Martini, D.Hum, Founder

Mission Possible International

9270 River Club Parkway

Duluth, Georgia 30097

770 242-2599

www.mpwhi.com, www.dorway.com, www.wnho.net

Aspartame Toxicity Center, www.holisticmed.com/aspartame

 

 

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Deadly Tolls: Sick truckers causing fatal wrecks

 

By HOPE YEN and FRANK BASS, Associated Press Writers 33 minutes ago

 

Tractor-trailer and bus drivers in the United

States have suffered seizures, heart attacks or

unconscious spells behind the wheel that led to

deadly crashes on highways. Hundreds of thousands

of drivers carry commercial licenses even though

they also qualify for full federal disability

payments, according to a new U.S. safety study

obtained by The Associated Press.

 

The problems threatening highway travelers

persist despite years of government warnings and

hundreds of deaths and injuries blamed on

commercial truck and bus drivers who blacked out,

collapsed or suffered major health problems

behind the wheels of vehicles that can weigh 40 tons or more.

 

The U.S. agency responsible for cracking down on

unfit truckers, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety

Administration, acknowledges it hasn't completed

any of eight recommendations that U.S. safety

regulators have proposed since 2001. One would

set minimum standards for officials who determine

whether truckers are medically safe to drive.

Another would prevent truckers from " doctor

shopping " to find a physician who might overlook

a risky health condition. It's unclear whether

any of the eight recommendations will be done

before President Bush leaves office.

 

" We have a major public safety problem, and we

haven't corrected it, " said Gerald Donaldson,

senior research director at the Washington-based

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, whose

members include consumer, health and safety

groups and insurance companies. " You have an

agency that is favorably disposed to maintaining

the integrity of the industry's economic situation. "

 

Truckers violating federal medical rules have

been caught in every state, according to a review

by the AP of 7.3 million commercial driver

violations compiled by the Transportation

Department in 2006, the latest data available.

Texas, Maryland, Georgia, Florida, Indiana,

Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Alabama, New

Jersey, Minnesota and Ohio were states where

drivers were sanctioned most frequently for

breaking medical rules, such as failing to carry

a valid medical certificate. Those 12 states

accounted for half of all such violations in the United States.

 

Consider these cases:

 

_A Florida bus driver who suffers from lung

disease and uses three daily inhalers to control

breathing told congressional investigators that

he " occasionally blacks out and forgets things. "

He works as a substitute driver despite not

having a medical certificate, and his commercial

license expires in 2010. The driver, who was not

identified but will figure prominently in a

congressional hearing this week, has collected

Social Security benefits since 1994. He confided

to investigators that he " gets winded " walking to

his mailbox but has no problem driving a passenger bus.

 

_A Virginia trucker with a prosthetic leg from a

farm accident more than 10 years ago is permitted

to drive tanker trucks until at least 2012, even

though he doesn't have the proper federal

paperwork required for amputees. Virginia revoked

the medical license for the official who approved

him to drive over charges the official was caught

illegally distributing controlled substances.

 

_George Albright Jr., 61, smashed his

70,000-pound tractor-trailer into congested

traffic on Interstate 70 in June 2006, killing

four women in a Ford sedan about 30 miles east of

Columbia, Mo. Albright's employer agreed earlier

this year to pay $18 million in a settlement. A

Missouri jury acquitted Albright this month on

four counts of second-degree involuntary

manslaughter, after his lawyers argued in court

that a diabetic episode " put him in an altered

state of consciousness. " Albright wasn't injured.

 

_A gasoline tanker plunged from an overpass and

exploded in flames on Interstate 95 near

Baltimore in January 2004, killing four people.

Witnesses reported the driver slumped over the

wheel. Maryland investigators concluded the

driver, Jackie M. Frost, had suffered a heart

attack or other medical emergency, but his family disputed that.

 

_The driver of a 15-passenger " Tippy Toes "

day-care bus traveling 63 mph on Interstate 240

in Memphis, Tenn., in April 2002 crashed into a

bridge, killing the driver and four of the six

children aboard. The National Transportation

Safety Board said the driver, Wesley B. Hudson,

27, fell asleep, " quite likely due to an

undiagnosed sleep disorder. " Investigators said

children sometimes had to wake up Hudson, whom

the NTSB described as obese and a marijuana user.

 

_A 55-passenger bus rolled off Interstate 610 in

New Orleans in May 1999, killing 22 passengers.

The NTSB said the bus driver, Frank Bedell, 46,

suffered life-threatening kidney and heart

conditions but held a valid license and medical

certificate. Moments before the crash, a

passenger recounted seeing the driver slumped in

his seat. Bedell died three months later of an

apparent heart-related illness. Investigators

said he was treated at least 20 times in the 21

months before the accident for various ailments.

 

Some truckers said the government should enforce

existing rules, not make new ones.

 

" Do you enjoy your clothing and house? Without

the truck driver you would have none of it, " said

Gary Hull, 52, a trucker for a Louisiana company,

as he drove from Edinburg, Texas, to Mansfield,

La. " Our economy is based on the truck. People

don't understand the ramifications of making it

more restrictive for truck drivers to drive. "

 

Hull said most drivers are hard workers who earn

a modest salary and cope with rising diesel

prices. New regulations could add to costs and

force truckers to evade the rules, he said.

 

" There are enough government regulations as it

is, " agreed Ken Cornell, interviewed at a truck

stop. " The medical profession should be able to

take care of it. If they have a condition where

they shouldn't be driving, they should be able to catch them. "

 

The Transportation Department said 5,300 people

died in crashes involving large commercial trucks

or buses in 2006, the latest year for which

figures are available, and about 126,000 more

were injured. A federal safety study last summer

found that cases where drivers fell asleep,

suffered heart attacks or seizures or otherwise

were physically impaired were a leading cause of

serious crashes involving large trucks. But those

cases included healthy drivers who fell asleep.

 

" The problem is major, " said Dr. Kurt Hegmann,

chairman of the federal motor carrier

administration's medical oversight board, which

is urging more doctor visits in many cases for

truckers with serious medical conditions. " It's

one of the biggest causes of occupational death in the United States today. "

 

Congress may take action soon. The House

Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, led

by Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., will conduct

oversight hearings Thursday. One proposal would

create a clearinghouse for drug test results for

commercial truck drivers to make it easier for

employers to conduct checks. Oberstar's committee

asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate unfit truck drivers.

 

The 30-page GAO study, obtained by the AP in

advance of its release later this week, said

563,000 commercial drivers were determined by the

Veterans Affairs Department, Labor Department or

Social Security Administration to also be

eligible for full disability benefits over health

issues. It said disability doesn't necessarily

mean a driver is unfit to operate a commercial

vehicle, but its investigators found alarming

examples that raised doubts about the safety of

the nation's highways. They identified more than

1,000 drivers with vision, hearing or seizure

disorders, which generally would prohibit a

trucker from obtaining a valid commercial license.

 

The chief safety officer for the Federal Motor

Carrier Safety Administration, Rose McMurray,

acknowledged problems that could lead to unfit

truck drivers on the roads. She blamed delays in

reforms on a lack of federal money and difficulty

coordinating with 50 states. McMurray said

changes to strengthen the medical oversight

program may not be done for months or even years.

 

" We have done a lot to recognize the deficiencies

in our medical oversight program, and the

building blocks we're establishing are very smart

and very strong, " McMurray said.

 

Families of crash victims said stronger safety rules can't happen soon enough.

 

William Hieronymus II of Salina, Kan., said he

remembers eating cereal each morning with his

10-month-old son. His son William and wife,

Amanda, died in May 2005 when a truck crossed a median and struck their SUV.

 

The driver, Scott A. Wegrzyn, pleaded guilty to

two counts of vehicular homicide. Prosecutors

said Wegrzyn knew he suffered from sleep apnea

and went to a second doctor without disclosing

the condition to obtain the medical certification he needed to drive.

 

" I try to go through a day without crying, "

Hieronymus said during Wegrzyn's trial. " I wonder

every day what (Will) would have grown up to be,

what he would have stood for. "

 

___

 

On the Net:

 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/

 

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety: http://www.saferoads.org/

 

Government Accountability Office: http://www.gao.gov/

 

The Associated Press. All rights

reserved. The information contained in the AP

News report may not be published, broadcast,

rewritten or redistributed without the prior

written authority of The Associated Press.

Inc. All rights reserved.

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