There was an episode of "M*A*S*H" in which Hawkeye was mistakenly listed as dead, and the Army maddeningly insisted on treating him as dead until all the paperwork was properly filled in and properly filed. A Morristown, Ind., man is going through something similar. When he got divorced, his wife was mad at him, so she told the BMV he had narcolepsy. Despite numerous notes from his doctor that he does not have the chronic sleep disorder, the BMV keeps making him take more tests and taking his license away from him.
Since the allegations, Allen has participated in several sleep studies and said he's getting tired of them.
"I'm on Medicaid, so the taxpayers are paying for it," Allen said.
Despite doctors' notes that said Allen does not have narcolepsy, the BMV keeps suspending his license.
Allen said he has never received a ticket. Still, the BMV suspends his license when he doesn't get his medical paperwork in on time.
"I provide all documentation that they ask for, and they come back again and ask for more," Allen said.
Last year, Allen couldn't register to vote because he did not have a valid license.
"They kind of violate peoples' lives," he said.
Yeah, no kidding. The whole thing has a Monty Pythonesque quality. Scary part of the story: Snyone can report another person's medical condition to the BMV, and there will then be at least a preliminary investigation. Funny part of the story: Allen and his vengeful wife are now back together.
Comments
I always figured that M*A*S*H episode was borrowed from "Catch-22." You remember, when Doc was incorrectly listed among the crew members of a plane that crashed. Even though everyone could see that Doc was just fine, they kept muttering "Poor Doc..."