WASHINGTON – More than 6,000 commercial motor vehicle drivers who received medical certificates from an Atlanta doctor will have to retake their Department of Transportation physicals.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration confirmed that drivers who received their medical certificate from Dr. Anthony Lefteris within the past two years will need to be medically recertified by a medical practitioner on the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners website.
The drivers will have 30 days after they are notified by FMCSA to get recertified.
Lefteris, who served as a certified medical examiner operating out of the Petro Stopping Center in Atlanta, faces multiple counts of submitt ing false information and making false statements to the DOT.
During an undercover operation in September, the DOT said Lefteris failed to conduct urine, vision and hearing tests during examinations but still submitted results and granted medical certificates.
A federal complaint against Lefteris, 71, was filed Dec. 1 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. He was indicted by a federal grand jury on Dec. 20.
FMCSA said Lefteris granted about 6,600 medical certificates. Drivers affected are from 48 states, including Hawaii and Alaska. Most of the drivers are residents of Georgia.
FMCSA spokesman Duane DeBruyne said the agency planned to send letters to affected drivers to formally notify them of the situation. Drivers who received medical certificates from Lefteris will have 30 days from the date posted on the letter to be recertified by a medical examiner on the national registry.
DeBruyne said affected drivers who failed to receive medical recertification within the 30-day time frame would have their commercial driver’s license downgraded and would be medically disqualified from operating a commercial motor vehicle in interstate commerce. He said drivers who believe they were medically screened by Lefteris should check on their medical examiner’s certificate. If verified, they should seek a new test by a certified medical examiner as soon as possible.
