Fatal crash not first time epileptic man had seizure while driving

EDINBURG -- An epileptic driver killed in a car crash Tuesday after having a seizure had continued to drive despite a similar brush with death a few years ago.

Jesus Campos, 33, of Edinburg, lost control of the van he was driving Tuesday afternoon along U.S. Highway 281, killing him and injuring his three daughters as the vehicle flipped over and struck an oak tree.

It was at least the second time Campos had crashed after losing consciousness due to his epilepsy, a chronic neurological disorder marked by recurring, unprovoked seizures. Nearly four years ago, he almost died in a similar crash in Houston, his wife said Wednesday.

"He was not supposed to (drive)," said Stephanie Campos, 33, of Garden City, Kan. "He was a stubborn person. He doesn't like to depend on nobody."

While Jesus Campos' crash highlights the high risk of driving for the more than 2.7 million Americans with epilepsy, his refusal to stop getting behind the wheel isn't unusual, even though it's a violation of the law.

Texas, along with almost every state, has strict laws regulating whether people with epilepsy are permitted to drive.

Before obtaining a driver's license, a Medical Advisory Board - a panel of doctors appointed by the Texas Department of State and Health Services - must approve an epileptic's application, said Johnny Hernandez, a local spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, the agency that issues the licenses.

While each case is decided individually, the board's published guidelines suggest a doctor must certify that an epileptic patient has been seizure-free for at least six months before the license can be issued.

People who are newly diagnosed with the disease must inform DPS, said Bruce Mayes, an assistant professor of neurology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and director of its Neurodiagnostic Center.

"If a patient has had no seizure for six months, you would say they probably have ... a 70 percent chance of not having seizures in the next six months," Mayes said.

Still, the absence of any seizures is no guarantee there won't be more, Mayes said.

Some epileptics, such as Campos, continue to drive despite recurring seizures. A 2006 study by researchers at the University of Florida found that of the more than 300 epileptic patients surveyed, nearly 25 percent of those with daily seizures reported driving occasionally.

But there's also a certain degree of public paranoia concerning epileptics behind the wheel, Mayes noted.

A 2004 study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the University of Maryland found that while more than 44,000 Americans die in vehicle accidents each year, only 86 die in a given year as a result of epileptic seizures while driving. More people die as a result of drunken driving and road hazards, the researchers concluded.

"If a person is having one seizure a year or one seizure every six months, and if the seizure lasts for two or three minutes, what are the odds that person (will have a seizure) while driving?" Mayes asked rhetorically.

The statistics are no comfort for Stephanie Campos, who separated from her husband about three years ago. The couple's three daughters injured in Tuesday's fatal crash still didn't know Wednesday their father had been killed.

"Everybody was telling them that he's real sick, he's not doing well, that nobody seems to know where he's at," Campos said late Wednesday morning. "I don't want to (tell them)."

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Sean Gaffney covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4434. Jared Taylor covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4439.