49 U.S.C. § 31149 — Medical program

(a) Medical Review Board — The Secretary of Transportation must set up a Medical Review Board to give the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration medical advice on standards for driver physical fitness, on training medical examiners, and on medical research. The Secretary appoints the five board members from medical institutions and private practice, choosing people whose specialties cover the medical issues that matter for driver fitness. (b) Chief Medical Examiner — The Secretary must appoint a chief medical examiner, who works for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. This person holds a special "specially qualified scientific and professional" position under section 3104 of title 5, and is paid under the senior-level pay rules in section 5376 of title 5. (c) Medical Standards and Requirements — (1) In general: With advice from the Board and the chief medical examiner, the Secretary must: set and update medical standards making sure drivers are physically fit to drive safely, and requirements for periodic physical exams, done by examiners who have at least self-certified they finished the required training and who are on a national registry; require every driver to hold a current, valid medical certificate; periodically check a sample of registry examiners to make sure they are examining drivers properly; and, within a year of the 2012 Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Enhancement Act, set the rules an examiner must meet to join the registry — completing specific courses, being certified (at least by self-certifying, if that's needed to get enough examiners registered) that they finished required training including refresher courses, passing an exam, and agreeing to meet the reporting rules. Examiners must also send the chief medical examiner, electronically, once a month, the name, an ID number, and other details from every completed medical exam report; the Secretary must periodically review a sample of those reports for errors or improper certification; and the Secretary must check, every year, at least 10 states' handling of commercial driver's license medical paperwork, to see whether they submit and process exam reports and certificates accurately and on time. (2) Monitoring performance: The Secretary must investigate patterns of mistakes or improper certification by an examiner. If an examiner certified a driver who didn't actually meet the medical standards, or lied about completing the required training, the Secretary may drop that examiner from the registry and cancel the driver's certificate. (d) National Registry of Medical Examiners — Through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the Secretary must keep a current national registry of qualified examiners; remove any examiner who no longer meets the qualifications or the rules of this section; treat as valid only medical certificates from examiners on that registry; and may make joining the registry voluntary if doing so would make driving safer. (e) Regulations — The Secretary must issue whatever regulations are needed to carry out this section.