So I've read a lot of posts on here about the issues surrounding SSRIs and medical deferrals and have a timeline question. I went to my AME for a second class medical on December 9th (starting flight school next week) and shame on me for not doing more research on FAA medicals! Things I wish my flight school would have told me! I was on Sertraline (SSRI) and Buspar for a little less than 2 years due to a situational depression. The medicines had no adverse effects on me, so I just continued them. Needless to say I was deferred. I immediately contacted my primary and discontinued the medications, but now understand I have to wait 60 days after discontinuing SSRIs before re-visiting him for the all-clear. My deferral as of 1/3/20 was still "being reviewed" at OKC. I would assume it will be denied because Buspar is a "no fly" medication? Am I better waiting for denial and re-applying, or wait the 60 days and submit new info to my AME or FAA at that time? At the current rate, I dont even know that I will get a response from the FAA on my initial deferral by then. I'm TRYING to make things as fast and painless as possible, which doesn't seem probable.
SSRIs and deferral timeline?
- Thread starter RussS
- Start date
Yes, talk to Dr. Chien. He is the expert. He will likely get back to you soon. Sign up on his get started page.
From what I understand, whether this can ultimately be issued will likely depend on some details of the history.
From what I understand, whether this can ultimately be issued will likely depend on some details of the history.
Good idea particularly for the 3rd class medical since there is no good evidence that having a requirement for a 3rd class medical actually improves the safety of flight. Some weak arguments by the FAA but nothing substantial and some reasonable evidence that there is no improvement.DFH65 said:
Certainly that is the stated goal; however, there is no good evidence that it works to achieve that goal.mryan75 said:
True, but what principles do you think should apply when making decisions about what aviation regulations to have in place to balance people’s desire for freedom and the rights of others to not be injured by falling aircraft?mryan75 said:
That is the critical issue here.
Is that correct with the timing? I thought the US also implemented the 2 person rule after the GermanWings disaster.jstone said:
Yes, there are a whole variety of factors other than aeromedical certification which might account for that. A bit of post-hoc ergo propter gov fallacy there.mryan75 said:
The records need to go directly to the HIMS AME for an SI in any case - they cannot go through you to them.
Figure $5-10k for a pathway 2 special issuance for a full psychological and psychiatric exam and test set. Yes, it will be 6-12 months if you work with one of the specialists and everything is done right the first time.
In the meantime, how about learning to fly in gliders? They don’t require an FAA issued medical (but do require the ability to self certify). This pathway can get you to a private glider in a few months and then the power training can be a shorter add-on.
Learning to fly gliders really teaches you how a set of wings and controls handles in the air. You might even learn to enjoy soaring for its own sake. Generally people feel it makes them a better powered pilot.
Fastest is a commercial glider operation. Many may be closed now due to Covid-19, but hopefully that resolves within a month or so. In many locations, May and June will still have excellent soaring weather.
Figure $5-10k for a pathway 2 special issuance for a full psychological and psychiatric exam and test set. Yes, it will be 6-12 months if you work with one of the specialists and everything is done right the first time.
In the meantime, how about learning to fly in gliders? They don’t require an FAA issued medical (but do require the ability to self certify). This pathway can get you to a private glider in a few months and then the power training can be a shorter add-on.
Learning to fly gliders really teaches you how a set of wings and controls handles in the air. You might even learn to enjoy soaring for its own sake. Generally people feel it makes them a better powered pilot.
Fastest is a commercial glider operation. Many may be closed now due to Covid-19, but hopefully that resolves within a month or so. In many locations, May and June will still have excellent soaring weather.
Yes, we have had many long discussions here about whether the FAA requirement for a 3rd class medical improves the safety of flight on average in any way. One of the main concerns is people avoiding treatment and testing because they don’t want it to come up on their medical. That may offset any possible gains from occasionally preventing someone with a medical issue from flying.Gatorj31 said:
Likely a different situation for commercial pilots since the airlines and employers and insurers will want fairly strict requirements, whether the FAA does or not.
Sounds about right. Depending on your goals in flying, once you have the SI, you may be able to drop back to BasicMed, but that won’t work for a professional pilot.Gatorj31 said:
Same advice as usual for these cases. There are only two approved pathways involving the SSRIs.Cameron2020 said:I’m a student pilot in training, and new to POA but grateful to have found this forum.
My story is similar to gatorj31 and russS .
I have been on SSRI’s for approx the last 8 years, fluoxetine then was switched to Zoloft along with buspar in 2018 for a Generalized anxiety disorder.
I naïvely went to get my medical class 2 from the AME at my flight school, I was told to fill out the form online prior to my appointment 
My medication was flagged by the FAA of course and currently as of yesterday got a letter stating I need to get a current psychiatric evaluation.
Do either of you have any updates to headway that you’ve made with your medical ?
From what I understand, my next step would be to get an appointment with An HIMS AME prior to seeing a aeromedical Psychiatrist?
I came off the buspar about a month ago now, I’ve also requested To my physician to no longer continue my prescription as needed for lorazepam. [ my AME I seen told me she contacted the FAA after my appointment and was informed that Occasional use
Was ok, this sounds unlikely!!]
I contacted AOPA, they also suggested I wait 60days from being prescribed those medications before going to a Psychiatric evaluation.
Any thoughts/ experiences on this would be much appreciated
Cheers
Yours sounds like it may be a difficult case but may be possible. The use of multiple agents is usually going to prevent issuance but it depends on the details. I would advise consulting with one of the two senior HIMS AMEs that frequent this board to really know. Suggest contacting one of them pronto. They are quite responsive normally.
Post #72 above has the URL for Dr. Chien. Here’s the URL for Dr. Fowler - http://flightphysical.com/dr-fowler.
You can also PM them here as members but I think their contact pages work better.
You can also PM them here as members but I think their contact pages work better.
Some more details needed here. First - did you give the confirmation number of the FAA application to an AME or their office staff?GoldenHero92 said:
If not - STOP - do not proceed with this application until you have consulted with an AME and they confirm that they can issue you in the office based on the available information in hand. (If not, this application form will die a quiet death in the system in several months and that is an option you may wish to exercise depending on the details.)
See http://tinyurl.com/ame-consult for how to do a consult.
People do not realize that the present day FAA medical process is a minefield of snafus and gotchas which can either cost you thousands of dollars and years of delays or even prevent you from flying other types of aircraft in the future.
Proceed with caution under the advice of a knowledgeable AME.
Best to put these issues with SSRIs in the hands on HIMS AMEs, not just any AME. They can seriously mess it up. Do NOT under any circumstances give the staff or the AME the form with the confirmation number or the number before they do the consult.GoldenHero92 said:
Once they enter that number into the computer system to look at your application, it goes “live” per the FAA. Once that happens, you will either be issued or denied eventually, and the latter will end some other options to fly (or at least make them vastly more difficult and expensive).
The instructions at the link talk about how to do the consult and the need for it. Good luck, I hope it works out well for you. My suspicion is that since the prescription was written, you will need to follow SSRI pathway 1, which may involve more waiting with stability documented off the med (https://www.faa.gov/about/office_or...am/ame/guide/media/ssri decision path - i.pdf). It looks from your earlier post that you have the 60 day wait, but the language in the letters needs to be correct.
See what the doc at the consult says. I believe a normal AME can do the pathway 1, provided the documentation states the proper things. Hopefully it will be that simple in this case.GoldenHero92 said:
