I lost my medical, what do I do?

On Wed, 15 Feb 2006 16:34:37 -0600, Rachel wrote:

Jim wrote:
On Wed, 15 Feb 2006 08:15:13 -0600, "Gig 601XL Builder"
wrDOTgiaconaATcox.net wrote:


"Roger" wrote in message
...


As do many over-the-counter meds. You take them for a while to see if
there is any adverse side effects and if none, you fly.

Quite some time back I took an antibiotic which killed all the good
critters as well as the bad. I didn't fly, of course part of that was
because I didn't dare get more than about a 100 feet from the can for
a while.

Many people have some reaction to specific foods and probably most
haven't even made the connection. I don't know the numbers, but my
understanding is, it's quite a large number. Just because a bunch
of people have a reaction to ... say tomatoes, they are not a banned
substance and if you have an allergy or reaction to them you report
it, and stay away from tomatoes.

I agree with Ron, if the person has no adverse effects from the drugs
and does not have physiological problems then why ban them when the
purpose for the prescription is not a problem.




There is a wide difference from the effects of a food allergy and that of a
psychoactive drug. The psychoactive drug effect can be very slow onset and
not outwardly visible. Add to that the fact the effect may be that you want
to kill yourself or someone else I think the FAA has a pretty good set of
rules in effect on this one.



In my view, this attitude is tragic and uninformed. It ignores the
living experiences of many who benefit from these medications and who
function better with them than without them in all aspects of their
lives.

So what happens when someone forgets to take their medicine or slips and
ends up in a major depressive episode and *won't* take it?

I confess I don't know how to seriously answer this question. One
answer, I guess the one you are looking for, is that the person in
question will thereby become unsafe as a pilot if the reason for the
medication also renders the person unsafe as a pilot, or if there is
an effect to the lapse in taking the medication that renders the
individual unsafe as a pilot. This seems simple. I suppose that if a
"major depressive episode" does result suddenly, a very unlikely
sudden outcome, the individual may find just getting out of bed too
much of a challenge to face. Flying may not be in the cards for the
individual at that time.

These medications must be considered with caution and with careful
attention to the circumstances that have led to an individual being
prescribed these medications and to the effects the medications may
have on the individual.

It is easy to think of circumstances, real circumstances, that render
an individual unsafe as a pilot. This CAN be one of them, but it is
not the case that it MUST be one of them.

There are other medical conditions requiring on-going medication that
may not be disqualifying.

These medications are prescribed for many situations other than "major
depressive episodes". It is a sad and unjust attitude to ignore the
individual's circumstances. As it would be for the other medical
conditions that may allow for wavers after individual evaluation.