Veterans Administration at-home sleep kit

[Sleepy Smurf]

Facts in brief

• I've been a FAA certificate holder for 10+ years. I have a Class 3 that expires in July. I'm 46.
• I started flight school about 5 years after I got out of the military
• I recently began and was approved for service-connected disability from VA. None of my conditions are FAA disqualifiers
• VA is currently evaluating me for sleep apnea that I possibly had while in-service
• VA sent sent me a WatchPAT One.

When it came in the mail, I had a bit of mild anxiety and called my AME. He had an opening for Friday morning. I took the appointment. I've never said anything to him about apnea. My rationale was that I didn't have a diagnosis, he's not my Primary Care doctor and he's not someone I would choose to socialize or make small-talk with, I've been burned by small-talk before.

I plan to do the sleep test over the weekend.

Questions
1- Are there any potential fraud or ethics issues here? Should I tell him they sent me the device?
2- Does this device meet FAA guidelines for a Class 2? I'm not sure. The VA knows I want to keep my FAA medical even at high costs, but I will prioritize my health.
3- If the test says I do have apnea do I need to do anything about my medical or do I just wait the 2 years for the next one and then start the SI process?

 

[idahoflier]

Why not just go BasicMed and not even worry about it?

You have to disclose your medical appointments, so I think you could run into some omission issues that could come back to bite you if you don't note them on the form. The good news is that if you do receive an OSA diagnosis, OSA is now a CACI condition so it shouldn't interfere with your medical, the AME should be able to issue one to you while you jump through the SI process. If the "device" is a CPAP, there shouldn't be any issues with it. From experience I can tell you to make sure you decide on which class you're going to go with for an SI. I learned the hard way that an SI for a second class doesn't cover a third class later. Also I would suggest you have a consult appt with your AME for guidance an how he/she will handle your situation...

Good Luck!

 

[SkyDog58]

Doing the basic math, you have been a certificate holder for 10 years and began training 5 years after you got out of the military, so you have been out for 15 years. But you just recently have a service related disability. Is that correct? And you possibly had sleep apnea way back then but never diagnosed? What is going on here? This makes little sense.

 

[Lindberg]

Free advice from SGOTI:

Cancel the Friday appointment or call the AME back and explain you just want a consult. You'll have to disclose the disability issues and the appointments leading up to the testing. That will result in questions. Questions you won't be able to answer because you haven't done the testing yet.

Sleep apnea is not a disqualifier, but there may be hoops to jump through. Take a breath, figure or what's going on, and even you have more information, figure out the best next step before July.

 

[Sleepy SMurf]

Doing the basic math, you have been a certificate holder for 10 years and began training 5 years after you got out of the military, so you have been out for 15 years. But you just recently have a service related disability. Is that correct? And you possibly had sleep apnea way back then but never diagnosed? What is going on here? This makes little sense.

It's often socially unacceptable to be at medical too often and could have career implications. It's not unheard of when Active to put one's health as a last priority. I didn't find out until my recent conversation with the VA doc that I may have had apnea all those years ago, undiagnosed. And I just recently, about 2 years ago got to a point where I felt like dealing with the red-tape associated with the VA system. I've heard nothing but horror stories, but mine has been actually pretty good. Make sense now?

 

[Sleepy Smurf]

Why not just go BasicMed and not even worry about it?

You have to disclose your medical appointments, so I think you could run into some omission issues that could come back to bite you if you don't note them on the form. The good news is that if you do receive an OSA diagnosis, OSA is now a CACI condition so it shouldn't interfere with your medical, the AME should be able to issue one to you while you jump through the SI process. If the "device" is a CPAP, there shouldn't be any issues with it. From experience I can tell you to make sure you decide on which class you're going to go with for an SI. I learned the hard way that an SI for a second class doesn't cover a third class later. Also I would suggest you have a consult appt with your AME for guidance an how he/she will handle your situation...

Good Luck!

I haven’t yet looked at the form, I was going to fill it out tomorrow.

I did have a look at CACI after reading your post. Apnea isn’t on the list https://www.faa.gov/about/office_or...s/avs/offices/aam/ame/guide/certification_ws/

I want to keep my 3rd Class. I’m aware that BM is an option but there are some rare-case limitations and I’d rather not deal with them.

Perhaps waiting until July is the right answer???

 

[idahoflier]

I haven’t yet looked at the form, I was going to fill it out tomorrow.

I did have a look at CACI after reading your post. Apnea isn’t on the list https://www.faa.gov/about/office_or...s/avs/offices/aam/ame/guide/certification_ws/

I want to keep my 3rd Class. I’m aware that BM is an option but there are some rare-case limitations and I’d rather not deal with them.

Perhaps waiting until July is the right answer???

Hmmm... I guess CACI is something else. That said, while I'm not an AME and haven't had to do this for 6+ years, I believe if you have been previously diagnosed and are following a prescribed treatment that the FAA feels is valid then you fall into Box 2 here: https://www.faa.gov/about/office_or...es/aam/ame/guide/media/FAA OSA Flow Chart.pdf and you will walk out with a medical. Page 316 seems to support this: https://www.faa.gov/about/office_or.../aam/ame/guide/media/AME_GUIDE_02-23-2022.pdf

If you are diagnosed with OSA I wouldn't wait until July, I would schedule a consultation with the AME you intend to work with so that you understand the process THEY will follow and you can make an informed decision. Not all AME's are the same and there are a LOT of cases where pilots get deferred when it wasn't necessary...