3rd Class Medical update/setback?

[flyingriki]

The final AMA vote, which took place just hours ago, was based on testimony from a variety of experts. Flying reader, pilot, physician and AMA delegate Dr. Dan McCoy, who participated in the process, told Flying there were just two experts who supported the adoption of the driver's license medical, himself and one other pilot, and that both the military and aerospace groups of the AMA strongly opposed the FAA's proposed rule.

The AMA vote is disturbing but not shocking. The association represents physicians, and many AMA members are also medical examiners. The income these physicians earn from giving FAA medical exams can represent a sizable percentage of their income, a situation they understandably don't want that to change. If they were acting in the best interests of their patients, however, they would ask such questions as these: (Flying's views are in parentheses.)


Read more at http://www.flyingmag.com/blogs/goin...-secret-3rd-class-medical#13zZ8G2iK0p0sT3u.99

 

[Jim Logajan]

Money seems an unlikely motivation for their vote - this looks like a mix of extreme paternalism and irrational fear. It sounds like the AMA members weren't interested in reviewing, or disregarded, the medical impairment history and statistics of U.S. ultralight, glider, balloon, and sport pilots or the recent Australian Driver License Medical.