PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (WINK) \u2014 An Arcadia man with Parkinson\u2019s disease says he has been wrongly barred from getting a Florida driver license, even after his doctor cleared him to drive and the state sent a letter appearing to confirm his eligibility.<\/p>\n
James Smith says the months-long struggle began in August at the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles office in Port Charlotte, where he said he waited hours to replace his license only to be told he could receive a state ID \u2014 but not a driver license \u2014 because of his medical condition.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the quality of life,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI can\u2019t do anything but sit at home. Your mind messes with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith, who takes medication to control his Parkinson\u2019s symptoms, says he does not view himself as disabled and has no history of seizures, loss of consciousness or serious driving infractions. His wife, Samantha Smith, said the loss of his license has forced her to work long hours while also trying to drive him to medical appointments.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe shouldn\u2019t be killing herself to make sure I get what I need,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n
In November, Smith received a medical review form from FLHSMV, which his doctor completed and signed, stating Smith was safe to drive despite Parkinson\u2019s disease, anxiety and a past brain injury. The form indicated the state\u2019s Medical Advisory Board would review the case.<\/p>\n
Smith said he attempted to submit the paperwork to the board seven times and received little information in return.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll they were doing was going in circles, not giving him any real answers,\u201d his wife, Samantha Smith said.<\/p>\n
After WINK Investigates began making inquiries at the beginning of December, FLHSMV declined to discuss the case, citing federal health privacy laws. Smith also contacted his state representative, Vanessa Oliver, who made her own inquiries on his behalf.<\/p>\n
WINK Investigates reached out to request an interview with Oliver but an assistant with her office told us to speak with James Smith about their interactions.<\/p>\n
Within two weeks of Chief WINK Investigates Reporter Chorus Nylander getting involved, Smith received a letter from FLHSMV stating his driving privileges were valid in Florida and instructing him to present the letter within 30 days. But when he returned to the Port Charlotte office this week, he again left without a license.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey told him there\u2019s a medical hold on his license,\u201d Samantha Smith said.<\/p>\n
Jeffrey Roberts, a Fort Myers-based legal consultant with All American Social Security Disability Representation LLC, who reviewed Smith\u2019s medical report but isn’t involved with his case said the state has broad authority in licensing decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cA driver license is a privilege; it is not a right,\u201d Roberts said, adding that FLHSMV can request additional information if it believes the medical documentation lacks clarity.<\/p>\n
Dr. Brett Mercer, a neurologist with Lee Health who is not connected to Smith\u2019s case, said many people with Parkinson\u2019s disease are capable of driving safely.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people with Parkinson\u2019s you can hardly tell; others can be significantly impacted,\u201d Mercer said. \u201cI have many patients who are still driving on medication.\u201d<\/p>\n
FLHSMV later emailed Smith clarifying that he is currently allowed to drive under a temporary permit, but that a permanent license will not be issued until the Medical Advisory Board completes its review. The agency did not say how long that process could take.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is craziness,\u201d Samantha Smith said. \u201cNobody should have to go through this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith said he does not understand why the state would allow him to drive temporarily if it truly believes he poses a risk to public safety. The timeline for a final decision remains unclear.<\/p>\n
WINK Investigates will update you as we receive more information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (WINK) \u2014 An Arcadia man with Parkinson\u2019s disease says he has been wrongly barred from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":89945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210,2675],"class_list":{"0":"post-89944","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cape-coral","8":"tag-cape-coral","9":"tag-cape-coral-headlines","10":"tag-cape-coral-news","11":"tag-driver"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}