Medical renewal - war story

The AOPA members section has a ton of info on just what is
required to allow issuance in cases like yours, what
documents you need to take in, etc. They also have staff
doctors to talk to for help. They have a list of acceptable
to the FAA medications.
www.aopa.org

They can provide a list of doctors to you.



"joel williams" wrote in message
...
|I have been a private pilot for about 20 years.
| My usual practice is to go for a medical in the
| beginning of the month in which my current medical
expires.
| That way I get the full 24 months of coverage (class 2).
| Bad idea.
| This time, my AME decided that he needed to send
| my case to the FAA for review (an arguable choice).
| This started a chain of delays and requests for additional
| info that went on for months.
|
| Lesson1: Don't wait until your medical is almost up
| before renewing. Hence a 24 month medical should more
| realistically be 22 months, if you want un-interrupted
flying.
|
| It does not take much to trigger this process and it
| is hard to predict, as the rules seem to be a moving
target
| and un-evenly enforced.
| In my case, I started taking a medication for a very
| marginal case of high blood pressure.
| Neither my primary doctor or myself thought this was
| a big deal, mostly precautionary. Apparently this sets
| off alarm bells at FAA. They wanted an EKG, a plethora
| of lab tests, repeated blood pressure readings, etc.
| (I eventually was issued a medical, but only for 12
months.)
|
| Lession2: I also learned that you need to find an AME who
| understands the FAA polices and procedures.
| This makes a huge difference if any issues arise.
| Mine turned out to be surprising clueless and handled the
| matter in an inappropriate manner, which caused some extra
delay.
| I would still be going around in circles if another
MD/pilot
| friend of mine stepped in and wrote a medical report that
| properly addressed the FAA requests.
|
| We need a way to identify the better AMEs.
|
| For more details, contact me off-list
|
|
| Joel Williams