New ADHD pathway

is there a link to what the Fast Track FAA ADHD Summary is? And how it compares to the Standard Track FAA ADHD Evaluation Report and Testing Specifications?
 
Well, it certainly looks like a step in the right direction and hopefully indicates that there may be similar improvements in authorizations for other conditions as well.

It's particularly relevant to all those unfortunate kids who got picked out in school, referred to a psychologist and got needlessly diagnosed with a condition that they may or may not have even had.
 
It actually appears to be a formalization of what USED to be the policy before they decided to needlessly route everybody who ever had the letters ADHD written in their history through a pointless neuropsych/COGSCREEN evaluation. If someone is coping in adult life without meds, they might indeed have been misdiagnosed initially.
 
flyingron said:
If someone is coping in adult life without meds, they might indeed have been misdiagnosed initially.
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When I was teaching at Vermont Tech in the Professional Pilot Program we had one or two kids every year who fit this category. Most of them were put on meds to satisfy their misguided caregivers then very willingly and beneficially gave them up as soon as they were adults. For a young adult wanting to go into aviation with all of the anticipated expenses, the added cost of thousands of dollars just to get a medical was a deal breaker. Sad.
 
(in r.e kickbacks per the first poster):

Ummm. For those of you who believe the "inflation reduction act" has anything to do with "inflation reduction".....I can' t help you. This is in the same category of "rearrangements" and renaming.

Look at the attachments. The Neuropsychologist is still necessary. He/She is not going to testify to the times on the "Fast Track Summary" without all the items required in the current pathway and at least some testing.

What it does is allows the Neuropscyhologist to "stick his or her neck out". The battery is NOT specified. But I can't imagine any neuropsychologist makeing these statements NOT backed up by a WCST and maybe a WAIS, given that.

1693415288843.png

....in the "ADHD_fast_track_info_psy_np" file.

What you get, in exchange for 4 years off meds and a documented successful life test, is the opportunity to invite a neuropscyhologist (who knows better) to create a liability for himself/herself with the above text warning on the second handout. It may lessen the extent of testing but isn't going to eliminate it.
 

Attachments

  • ADHD_document_checklist.pdf
    153 KB · Views: 70
  • ADHD_fast_track_info_psy_np.pdf
    99.1 KB · Views: 70
  • ADHD_fast_track_report_requirements.pdf
    106.2 KB · Views: 61
  • ADHD_fast_track_summary.pdf
    184.2 KB · Views: 63
  • ADHD_pathway_chart.pdf
    74.2 KB · Views: 61
  • ADHD_personal_statement.pdf
    159.3 KB · Views: 74
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bbchien said:
(in r.e kickbacks per the first poster):

Ummm. For those of you who believe the "inflation reduction act" has anything to do with "inflation reduction".....I can' t help you. This is in the same category of "rearrangements" and renaming.

Look at the attachments. The Neuropsychologist is still necessary. He/She is not going to testify to the times on the "Fast Track Summary" without all the items required in the current pathway and at least some testing.

What it does is allows the Neuropscyhologist to "stick his or her neck out". The battery is NOT specified. But I can't imagine any neuropsychologist makeing these statements NOT backed up by a WCST and maybe a WAIS, given that.

View attachment 120171
....in the "ADHD_fast_track_info_psy_np" file.

What you get, in exchange for 4 years off meds and a documented successful life test, is the opportunity to invite a neuropscyhologist (who knows better) to create a liability for himself/herself with the above text warning on the second handout. It may lessen the extent of testing but isn't going to eliminate it.
Click to expand...
Granted, but doesn't the possibility of the doc issuing the medical rather than the materials going through the FAA gauntlet for months and months add up to an improvement? I'm not a pilot and not in training, just an interested follower.
 
"National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) investigations (2000-2015) have concluded that fatal aircraft accidents have been associated with pilots diagnosed with ADHD."
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That made me curious, so I searched the NTSB database for "ADHD". I found only three accidents (out of a total of 174624 accidents in the database) listing ADHD as a possible contributing cause (one was a night VFR takeoff into IMC in a PA28, one engine failure during go-around on a windy day in an experimental, and one dumb kid showing off in an ultralight). That's .001%, which I suspect is far lower than the number of pilots with unreported ADHD. Is this really a problem?

Granted, there are people out there who have it really bad who shouldn't fly, but they probably wouldn't make it through to get their certificate anyway.
 
it’s literally the same thing. You still have to pay thousands of dollars to a neuropsychologist for a pointless evaluation that takes 2 days. I bet it took the moronic doctors at the faa years to come up with this new adhd chart and millions of dollars. What a joke.
 
George S said:
it’s literally the same thing. You still have to pay thousands of dollars to a neuropsychologist for a pointless evaluation that takes 2 days. I bet it took the moronic doctors at the faa years to come up with this new adhd chart and millions of dollars. What a joke.
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Yes, but isn't it worth it if it will avoid that 0.001 @Dana mentioned? :rolleyes2:
 
George S said:
it’s literally the same thing. You still have to pay thousands of dollars to a neuropsychologist for a pointless evaluation that takes 2 days. I bet it took the moronic doctors at the faa years to come up with this new adhd chart and millions of dollars. What a joke.
Click to expand...
Maybe I'm wrong (I am, see edit), but isn't the important distinction that you can now go to ANY PhD-level psychologist?
Meaning... you can use your insurance now. It's not entirely out of pocket anymore. That in and of itself is a huge improvement.

Edit: I spoke with my neuropsychologist and no, it's not likely that you could bill something like an FAA compliance ADHD assessment to insurance. It would still be out of pocket.

Still cheaper than the cogscreen, but you probably can't use your insurance.
 
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I'm still learning. Can anyone help explain why the fast-track approval process as written is limited to a psychologist and not a psychiatrist? I'd think anything med-related would benefit from the expertise of an MD. In my case, I only ever visited a psychiatrist and was prescribed ADHD meds. It was 10 years ago and I'm a likely candidate for fast-track but I'd have to establish a relationship with a psychologist to proceed. (Not a problem, just curious if a psychiatrist could perform the same function.)
 
The FAA proposal for expanding LSA cites the surprising good safety record for the LS category as part of the reason to expand. I suspect the proportion of ADHD and SSRI patients in that category are likely higher than in the aeromed classes. The new proposed rules will open the door for those patients to avoid the oppressive FAA aeromed rules completely. FAA aeromed needs to be scrapped.
 
"National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) investigations (2000-2015) have concluded that fatal aircraft accidents have been associated with pilots diagnosed with ADHD."

With CAROL Search, there were 5943 fatal accidents between 2000-2015 with only ONE where the probable cause mentions ADHD (ERA14LA057).

An 18 year old private pilot bought a plane 25 days prior with an engine that had reached its TBO over 9 years earlier. The engine failed at low altitude due to a stuck valve and the pilot had to force a landing in "confined terrain". Then the probable cause states "Contributing to the pilot's poor aeronautical decision-making was his underlying attention deficit hyperactivity disorder." Except there is zero factual evidence from the investigation that supports this conclusion other than that the NTSB listed the symptoms of ADHD and the side effects of the medication and asserted that it must have had something to do with it.
flyingron said:
Looks like it's going to eat into the COGSCREEN kickbacks a bit.
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I agree - follow the money here because otherwise it doesn't make much sense.

**Edit** Egg on my face! I notice that Dana did a similar search. My search was a bit more restrictive. TIFWIW.
 
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