Westend Weekly
By Marlene Deschamps
Feb 23, 2000

Wayne Lax from Kenora is a psychiatric survivor. He spent from the mid 1960s until 1992 in and out of hospitals in Kenora, Thunder Bay and Winnipeg. During those hospital stays he was subject to about 80 shock treatments. He was prescribed various medications at various times without any monitoring of the results of those medications. At one point he was on 17 different medications that were supposed to overcome his depression. He was also consuming alcohol on a regular basis.

During this period Wayne held a taxi license and this was his occupation between hospital stays. At no time during the 25 years of treatment did his occupation change because no one made any steps to get his license revoked.

Despite file notations during his stay at the Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital in 1992 that he suffered memory loss and confusion after a series of electric shock treatments he was discharged and no efforts were made to regain his license. Ten days after he discharged himself from LPH he was involved in a single vehicle car accident in which he was injured. He was charged with impaired driving and convicted.

When Wayne finally was free of medications and alcohol for a two year period he got his driver’s license back. This was in 1998. He is thankful that no one was injured as a result of his ³impaired driving² during the years he was driving taxi cabs.

Since this is public transportation he maintains that for public safety there should be mechanisms in place to take drivers off the road who are impaired because of medication. This has been one of the crusades Wayne has been on over the past two years.

Current legislation makes it mandatory for physicians to report to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles any individual over the age of 16 who has been treated for a medical condition which may impair their ability to drive. The point at which a physician believes that a medical condition may impair an individual’s ability to drive depends on the condition and the person’s response to prescribed treatment.

Wayne did not respond well to his medication and as file notes indicated he was confused and did not even know where he was. Yet the doctor responsible for his medical care never once over the years notified MTO that his license should be revoked.

Wayne feels that a better system of monitoring the requirement needs to be developed. He has been in touch over the past two years with Howard Hampton MPP, Tony Clement MPP, Frank Miclash, former MPP, Robert Runerman, MPP and more recently David Turnbull, MPP and Minster of Transportation. Wayne gets thanks for bringing the issue to the various Ministers’ attention but he would like to see a more timely response.

The latest letter was from David Turnbull sent on September 13, 1999 in which he acknowledges Wayne’s concerns, mentions the legislation covering his concerns and states the issue will be studied further. Turnbull adds that the requirement for physicians is very broad and relates to all medical conditions. HE also writes that Wayne’s comments will be taken into consideration when the medical reporting requirements are reviewed. Such a process would include extensive consultations with the medical community and would cover a wide range of medical conditions.

Wayne feels that this is an issue that should be pushed because there is no request to change anything in regard to the legislation. He just wants it adhered to. If the responsibility lays in the medical profession to notify MTO of persons that should have their license revoked then they should do that. They are being lax in their responsibilities and should be taken to task. The legislation is to provide safety to the public but does not do so if it is not adhered to.

Wayne feels that there should be better communication between the hospitals, the doctor’s office and MTO. He continues to meet with people, to write letters and to ask the public to support him on his crusade for more accountability from doctors to comply with legislation that is there to protect the public from impaired drivers.

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