Want to Know What the AME Organization Is Saying about the 3rd Class Exemption?

[Rob Murray]

I'm not opposed to some reasonable period of time for an evaluation by an AME however the
annoying Catch-22 is that many insurance companies insist on a Medical by an AME every year, along with an annual BFR (guess that should be an AFR) after age 75. This supersedes current FAA requirements, it is annoying, expensive and almost puts Priv. Pilots in the ATC category. We need to tell these guys to back-off. In my experience, one voice doesn't seem to impress them. Maybe a lot of voices will.

 

[WindOnHisNose]

Copied from a post by bigrock:

AMA Vote Reveals Dirty Secret of 3rd Class Medical
Read more at http://www.flyingmag.com/blogs/going...3Tx0hlVg01Y.99

Very embarassing moment for the AMA. Shame on them.

Randy

 

[WindOnHisNose]

Copied from a post by bigrock:

AMA Vote Reveals Dirty Secret of 3rd Class Medical
Read more at http://www.flyingmag.com/blogs/going...3Tx0hlVg01Y.99

Very embarassing moment for the AMA. Shame on them.

Randy

 

[WindOnHisNose]

A letter just sent to AOPA President Mark Baker:

Mark, I was just made aware of this endorsement by the AMA in support of defeating the General Aviation Pilot Protection Act, currently in consideration by Congress.

I am embarrassed and appalled by the position the AMA is taking. Their position is not supported by the medical literature and appears to be self-serving.

I was also dismayed to receive a directive from the Civil Aviation Medical Association (CAMA), an organization whose mission is to:



CAMA recently asked me to sign and send a letter to my Congressmen to encourage them to vote against the bills being considered by Congress. I contacted CAMA to ask them to defend their position, and was met with anecdotal examples that would support their position. When asked for more substantive data, they were unable to provide such information.

I am comforted with the knowledge that the vast majority of physicians do not belong to the AMA, and there are a substantial number of AME’s who are not members of CAMA. Why? For me, I have never felt that the AMA, and recently the CAMA, accurately reflected the opinions of the majority of physicians.

In looking at the position of CAMA I am struck by the self-serving nature of their position. Should the legislation pass, the AME’s would see a significant decrease in the their practices, and would need to go back to providing care for the sick, rather than the “wellness examinations” that they enjoy in taking care of pilots like you and me (and most pilots) who are in good health and wish to keep our medical certification.

It has not escaped either my attention, nor those of the subscribers to Supercub.org, nor the Minnesota Pilots Association, that one of the CAMA officers is non other than AOPA’s Warren Silberman, DO. We fail to see how a person who is an officer in CAMA, which strongly and actively opposes the General Aviation Pilot Protection Act, can be an effective leader in supporting the AOPA’s position in support of the legislation.




These developments are quite frustrating to me, personally, in light of the fact that we, as physicians, are trained to interpret scientific information and to make decisions based upon credible medical information. Both CAMA, and now the AMA, have clearly failed to do so.

Randle S. Corfman, PhD, MD, AME
President, Minnesota Pilots Association

 

[ER Upgrade]

CAMA Urges Caution in Considering Petition for Sport Pilot Category Expansion

http://www.civilavmed.com

 

[WindOnHisNose]

ER Upgrade, thanks for the post.

I continue to be amazed at the audacity of CAMA leadership to discount the extensive, prospective data collected with LSA over several years, which demonstrates not a single medically-related aviation accident (see the previous posts).

I must assume that sphincter tone is quite high in the AME circles, to go to such lengths as lobbying (and convincing the AMA) to come out so strongly against this legislation. Someone pointed out to me that anxiety contributes to copper wire production, and when I asked why I was told that people who are anxious and swallow pennies are prone to "shat" copper wire. The copper wire production must be high at CAMA

Randy

 

[wingnut]

A simple case of politics outweighing common sense and knowledge

 

[qsmx440]

I composed and sent this letter this morning:

"
Dr MillettThis letter will be as brief as I can make it out of respect for your time and I request "no response" from you rather than a "canned" response which would be disrespectful. If you have "actual data" to refute my position please send it and "I" will change my position. There is so much more than what I will say here but I will get right to the points:


1. The sport pilot license requiring the pilot to have a valid state drivers license to prove medical condition has been in effect for almost ten years. There is no statistical difference in accident rates due to medical problems between sport pilot operation and private pilot operation. None.



2. Using arguments that "cars don't fall out of the sky" etc. has no business being used to create legislation in a free society. Any time any group wishes to regulate any other group it should only do so with scientific facts backing that legislation. "Bad law" and tyranny come when someone decides to put their personal interests or prejudice above common sense. Common sense is actually decision making based on history and facts and not on "feelings".



3. Pilots have been dieing because they choose to "hide" their medical symptoms sometimes to avoid facing loss of flying privileges do to possible loss of medical. When we didn't know better was one thing but now that we have the evidence to prove that the medical is not needed this becomes almost criminal to continue making people feel they must remain in the shadows with their symptoms. (There is another side to this in that yes some conditions have been caught that have saved pilots lives during the medical but that is the exception rather than the rule. Even a routine EKG is something to avoid with today's lack of privacy in the medical field.)


Thank you for your time in this matter. Reversing course on something like this can be difficult and I understand that. While I believe there should be no compromise with bad law perhaps CAMA could propose an implementation time table with yearly increase in "gross weight" and number of passengers carried over say 5 years. Year one raises gross weight to 2320 (+1000 lbs from present sport pilot 1320) and 3 passengers (one more than current sport pilot). At the end of each year the FAA does a study of accidents to make sure there are no "problems" statistically. At the end of five years the program is completely implemented as originally written.



I will add one last thing. Pilots are still required to take a bi annual flight review (about two hours dual training) which actually weeds out the problems (dementia, nerve problems,skill etc.) by people actually able to measure the decision making ability in the flying environment and that is the real reason there is no difference in statistics between the two groups. Pilots will still take off in bad weather and make bad decisions but addressing that is a different problem than a doctor can solve. Self certification is still a personal decision.
"
I didn't like the "implementing over five" years part of my letter but if I get through at all to these people being who they are they would need a face saving position and we would have a real advantage with them backing this in some way. My personal belief is we will lose this battle and maybe later I will write as to why I believe we will. Based on what I think I know about "modern" times and thinking this has no chance.

 

[WindOnHisNose]

I just received an email from CAMA, with a summary of their annual board meeting in May. One of the entries in the newsletter is as follows:

Self-Certification of the Recreational Pilot
CAMA does not support the expansion of the sport pilot self-certification process and feels it would be a detriment
to flying safety and possibly endanger the public. There are no uniform driving license requirements
across the U.S. and this poses as a certification problem. Medical issues such as seizures, brittle diabetes,
chronic pain with the use of narcotics, drug/alcohol abuse, and significant psychiatric illnesses are among a
few potentially high risk disorders that applicants suffer and are now allowed to drive with and therefore could
self-certify to fly. Again, CAMA feels that medically high risk pilots, in the air, pose a threat to public safety.
CAMA supports the 3 Class certification process now in place with the FAA, however, may be open to a less
restrictive medical requirements for pilots who fly mostly recreational, daytime, VFR low risk flights. As an example,
a Class III R (Class III Restrictive) medical may be considered. This would at least allow medical
oversight for those pilots, avoiding lengthy delays in certification while avoiding risk to aviation safety.

I send this fyi.

Randy

 

[WindOnHisNose]

I just received the (unsolicited) CAMA Newsletter, August 2014 edition.

Her is an excerpt from page 2/14:



In the fourth paragraph..."Regarding, the third-class medical rulemaking issue, the administrator explained that the proposed rule is being reviewed by the Department of Transportation before it goes out for comment. When asked if the process will take six months or three years, he said "yes and yes," because it is hard to predict with many factors in play."

This confirms my impression with regard to the approach that is being used, and which the AME organization is happy to go along with.

On another page was a listing of the program for Thursday, October 9, at the CAMA Annual Meeting. Please note the emphasis on obstructive sleep apnea. As I mentioned in other posts, this subject "just ain't goin' away." (see http://www.supercub.org/forum/showt...om-my-FAA-Recertification-FAA-Approach-to-BMI). AOPA's very own Warren Silberman, DO, will be participating on the panel (yes, the same Dr. Silberman who led the FAA medical certification for many years, who is now an officer in CAMA, the AME organization which wanted each of us AME's to sign letter which states that the proposed legislation eliminating the 3rd Class medical would place the public in a "clear and present danger"...please look at my June 11, 2014 post on this thread)

Be ready for BMI calculations, folks. If your BMI is approaching 40, you best be working on lowering your BMI before October, lest you receive a form letter from the Federal Air Surgeon instructing you to comply with testing for sleep apnea and sleep disorders, with 90 days to respond. It is my guess that this BMI number will be lowered in the future, as they work more diligently to stamp out sleep apnea.

Randy