On Dec 27, 12:33 pm, Ian wrote:
On 26 Dec, 19:36, Wayne Hoover wrote:

Scopolamine not only causes tiredness it can also cause blurred vision
and dilates the the pupils which are also reasons not to use it while
flying.

Indeed - if one is so affected. If one is not so affected, no problem.


As a physician and aviation medical examiner I wish to demur as
clearly as possible from any recommendation to use scopalamine for
motion sickness while flying.

1: Users of perfomance-decreasing drugs are almost never aware of mild
impairments that are nevertheless easily measured in formal testing.
Therefore to say, 'try it and if you don't feel it affects you' is to
perpetuate personal cluelessness.
2: scopalamine is a prohibited medication per FAA aeromedical rules,
so if you have an incident and are found to have been using it, be
aware that your insurance may not cover you, and you may face
enforcement action on your licence if you survive. The non-requirement
of medical certification for glider pilots is not permission to fly
impaired. Every pilot is required by FARs to refrain from flying with
any unsafe condition.
3: scopalamine has an incredibly long persistence in the body. For
example, years ago, I put a patch on my teenage daughter before an
airplane trip because she feared motion sickness. She became drowsy
after a couple of hours, and I peeled it off promptly. She spent most
of the next two days sleeping off and on. She said she 'felt
fine' (see point 1).
4: I would no more fly with a pilot using scopalamine than I would fly
with a pilot who just had a glass of wine.
5: Air force and astronaut use of scopalamine is done because of the
nature of the mission, and the fact that motion sickness can be
literally incapacitating - when the choice is between incapacitation
and decreased function, and one can't abort the mission, the choice is
no choice at all. But the fact that it's used in severe situations
does not mean it's a good idea in recreation!
6: If I knew that a physician colleague had actually recommended
scopalamine for a pilot, and an incident had occurred, I would be
unhappily willing to serve as an expert witness against that
colleague. (It is a standard of medical practice to do no harm.)

Dan Johnson md