Senator Portantino Bill Protecting Drivers with Epilepsy Approved by Assembly Judiciary Committee

For Immediate Release: July 6, 2023

Contact: Lerna Shirinian, (818) 409-0400

Senator Portantino Bill Protecting Drivers with Epilepsy Approved by Assembly Judiciary Committee

Sacramento, California – Senate Bill 357, authored by Senator Anthony J. Portantino (D – Burbank) was approved by the Assembly Judiciary Committee. The bill gives doctors the discretion to report personal conditions they believe will impair a patient’s ability to drive and removes language that discriminates against specific conditions, including epilepsy.

“Mandatory reporting in California is a discriminatory practice that jeopardizes access to appropriate care,” stated Senator Portantino. “SB 357 protects drivers with epilepsy by improving the patient-physician relationship and allows individuals affected by epilepsy to seek the care they need without fear of losing their driving licenses.”

Epilepsy is the fourth-most common neurological disorder in the US, affecting more than 3.4 million Americans and more than 425,000 Californians. Yet in California, a 1957 state law discriminates against drivers with epilepsy and other conditions by requiring physicians to automatically report these drivers to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Research has shown that these requirements often result in patients withholding crucial information from their physicians and not seeking the care they need. This is due to fear of losing their right to drive. When a person with epilepsy withholds critical information from their doctor, they jeopardize their access to appropriate care, risking an increase of seizure activity or even a loss of seizure control.

SB 357 will:

• Give doctors the discretion to report conditions they believe will impair a patient’s ability to drive, by removing language that discriminates against specific conditions, including epilepsy;
• Allow but not require doctors to make such reports;
• Protect the doctor-patient relationship by providing immunity for physician for either reporting or not reporting patients.
• SB 357 also requires the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to publish a report by 2027 on the differences in patterns of reporting and crash rates under a voluntary reporting system. The bill adds a sunset on the voluntary reporting system for 2029.

“Senator Portantino’s bill will improve access to care and end decades of discrimination against the more than 425,000 Californians living with epilepsy." said Rebekkah Halliwell, Executive Director of Epilepsy Foundation Los Angeles. “Based on an outdated law from 1957, California requires doctors to report all patients with epilepsy to the DMV, but research has shown that mandatory reporting requirements may lead people with epilepsy to withhold crucial information from their doctors, risking an increase in seizures, which can lead to injury and even death. We are grateful that the Assembly Judiciary Committee approved SB 357 and we look forward to getting this important measure on the Governor’s desk.”

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