Weird Situation with the FAA

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ConfusedAviator

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Greetings,

I am a part 121 airmen and I wanted to post this here as my employer does not offer medical assistance in anyway.

Long story short about 2 years ago I was evaluated for Ocular Hypertension and had an MRI done to rule out IIH as I am 27 and did not have a history of this. During the referral for the MRI the physician who ordered the MRI mixed my paperwork with another elderly patient and I was inadvertently diagnosed with with Cognitive Impairment and Simple Focal Seizures which was meant to go into their chart.

This created a whirlwind of problems for me as I was sadly required to prove I had neither condition. I was out of work for a while and spent $10,000 on AME fees and testing to get this sorted out + am currently engaged in a lawsuit against the physician for negligence.

Anyhow I found a wonderful AME that fought for me and was able to issue my medical after loads of testing to prove this was false. 2 Neurologists, A CogScreen, and Visual Field Testing. (The original physician even admitted that they messed up.)

My medical was issued last June 2024 and today in the mail I received a letter stating the FAA cannot establish my eligibility for a medical. They are asking for everything the AME gave them and updated notes from my physician and a neurologist about tension headaches not anything else. Just those.

My dilemma is that my medical is up for renewal next month. Does that mean I cannot get a new first class medical until they can verify the one I hold is valid? I am fearful I’ll be out of work again while this is sorted out and just wanted to see what options I have.
 
Seems like this might be a good example of when being able to go in to the Regional FAA Branch (like a DMV which administers far more applications) and explain the situation might be helpful vs snail mail back and forth with 2-4 weeks between communication.

Sorry again.
 
ConfusedAviator said:
…. They are asking for everything the AME gave them and updated notes from my physician and a neurologist about tension headaches not anything else. Just those...
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Talk to your AME. Provide the FAA exactly and only everything they requested.

Do NOT apply for the renewal without discussing the path ahead with your AME.

@bbchien, if he can support in a consulting role, is who I (and my AME) would be working with.
 
bbchien said:
I'd be ordering up your FAA Blue Ribbon Medical record (the testimonial AME version) and see if it's in there still.....
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Sorry, for the layman, is that just meaning ask for your complete records and AME and FAA notes or something?
 
So does this mean that I am going to have to wait to reapply until they can confirm that the 1st class I currently hold that expires next month is valid? I am wondering if they for some reason think I am suffering from an ocular migraines when I have no history of anything beyond tension headaches…
 
Racerx said:
I'm not one for lawsuits....but I hope win yours and never need to work again.
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It would be nice. Although this has nothing to do with the FAA. This is purely to recover my money I lost being out of work during that time and the amount in testing I spent.
 
Salty said:
This is why the founders saw the importance of the concept of innocent until proven guilty. Travesty.
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That seems a tad melodramatic. I don’t see mention by the OP of a crime, let alone being presumed guilty of one. And remember: their inability to renew just yet is in the context of apparently a bunch of (fellow) vets falsifying their FAA medical applications by hiding their conditions which entitled them to VA benefits - a no-kidding crime. The FAA is there to protect the public - not us. There are WAY more non-pilots than pilots.
 
Here's the CACI information for chronic headaches: https://www.faa.gov/ame_guide/media/Headache_Migraine.pdf

Work with your kickass AME to get them what they asked for. Your current medical is still valid. Hopefully your AME can work with them to get your new one issued when it expires.



ateamer said:
It defies common sense that the FAA can’t take a look at the files, confirm they were mixed up, issue and move on.
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How does common sense tell you the FAA could get its hands on some random third party's medical records or a doctor's files?
 
Lindberg said:
Here's the CACI information for chronic headaches: https://www.faa.gov/ame_guide/media/Headache_Migraine.pdf

Work with your kickass AME to get them what they asked for. Your current medical is still valid. Hopefully your AME can work with them to get your new one issued when it expires.




How does common sense tell you the FAA could get its hands on some random third party's medical records or a doctor's files?
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the Faa has no issue using info from some random third party to deny a medical.
 
bbchien said:
No. An AME has to order it. The version the pilot gets is pretty sanitized w.r.t psychiatry and "sensitive" data warranted to potentially cause harm.
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How is that legal? A patient has a right to see their medical records.
 
Pugs said:
How is that legal? A patient has a right to see their medical records.
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I was wondering the same thing. In my experience so far, there is very little transparency when dealing with the FAA. You can't get the results of your Cog screen test either. When you ask why or question the methods of things I feel like the response is just, "you have a problem with authority." Kind of a cop-out.
 
Salty said:
Even more so.
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Or less so, legally. We'll see. I'm being treated at the NIH for cancer, and I actually have access to all doctor notes (which detail patient behavior, compliance, and attitude, etc.), but not so much with my PCP and local oncology people.
 
UTLonghorn_1979 said:
Anonymous, third party pilot reporting hotline. Someone was discussing that on this forum recently...anonymous complaint, FAA pulled certificate until proven otherwise. I.e. guilty until proven innocent.
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First, if it was submitted in good faith, then it seems appropriate for the FAA to investigate and for them to “limit the harm” by suspending their privileges (not “rights”) until it’s clarified. Happens every day in the police world, HR at every big company when there’s an accusation of wrongdoing, even in hospitals for physicians, nurses, and others.

If it was submitted in bad faith, that’s on the submitter - and definitely should be prosecuted.

I suspect the irony is lost on those here who seem to assume the FAA is guilty of a variety of “sins” (and simply can’t be proven innocent, so no bother trying) while thinking the FAA should not only assume innocence until proven guilty but should assume anything against a pilot is wrong until the evidence is overwhelming.

The FAA is not perfect. It’s also charged with protecting the public and, as for pretty much all licensing agencies, tends to err on the side of the protected more than the licensed. Overall I think that’s what the public wants of the agencies that license pilots, physicians, nurses, drivers, hair stylists, etc.
 
Llewtrah381 said:
First, if it was submitted in good faith, then it seems appropriate for the FAA to investigate and for them to “limit the harm” by suspending their privileges (not “rights”) until it’s clarified. Happens every day in the police world, HR at every big company when there’s an accusation of wrongdoing, even in hospitals for physicians, nurses, and others.

If it was submitted in bad faith, that’s on the submitter - and definitely should be prosecuted.

I suspect the irony is lost on those here who seem to assume the FAA is guilty of a variety of “sins” (and simply can’t be proven innocent, so no bother trying) while thinking the FAA should not only assume innocence until proven guilty but should assume anything against a pilot is wrong until the evidence is overwhelming.

The FAA is not perfect. It’s also charged with protecting the public and, as for pretty much all licensing agencies, tends to err on the side of the protected more than the licensed. Overall I think that’s what the public wants of the agencies that license pilots, physicians, nurses, drivers, hair stylists, etc.
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You asked for an example, I gave it to you.

This thread is another one.

If someone on this forum was somehow able to determine your identity and called in a tip to the hotline and you got grounded, I’m certain you would be singing a different tune about the fairness of things.

The FAA is far from perfect. The assertions here (or mine at least) is that the FAA seems to be resistant to almost everything that would make them better AND safer.
 
Never ascribe to malice that which can be readily explained through bureaucratic incompetence.

As Dr. Chien urges, get your AME to secure *everything*, and review it all with a jaundiced eye - there may well still be false data or faulty analyses in there, and the sooner you know, the better you can address it. You have to be detailed, diligent and pragmatic.
 
UTLonghorn_1979 said:
You asked for an example, I gave it to you.

This thread is another one.

If someone on this forum was somehow able to determine your identity and called in a tip to the hotline and you got grounded, I’m certain you would be singing a different tune about the fairness of things.

The FAA is far from perfect. The assertions here (or mine at least) is that the FAA seems to be resistant to almost everything that would make them better AND safer.
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We agree the FAA isn’t perfect.

We agree I wouldn’t like it at all if someone maliciously called in a false tip that got me grounded.

Hopefully we agree that’s not what the OP was about. It concerned an erroneous submission of medical information that had bad consequences. Hopefully we agree there was no crime on anyone’s part and therefore no “guilty until proven innocent” and therefore the Constitution hyperbole was, well, just hyperbole.
 
Llewtrah381 said:
We agree the FAA isn’t perfect.

We agree I wouldn’t like it at all if someone maliciously called in a false tip that got me grounded.

Hopefully we agree that’s not what the OP was about. It concerned an erroneous submission of medical information that had bad consequences. Hopefully we agree there was no crime on anyone’s part and therefore no “guilty until proven innocent” and therefore the Constitution hyperbole was, well, just hyperbole.
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Actually, an allegation of crime WAS committed. Medical malpractice.

The FAA is treating the mess up diagnosis as fact, as true, when any other medical professional would say, yep, that’s wrong. Let’s me fix that.

The FAA says, no, prove it again and this time with people we want that will cost $10k. And even if proven inaccurate and you don’t have the misdiagnosis, we reserve the right to check again, just for fun.
 
Pretty sure the FAA doesn’t actually practice medicine and therefore can’t be guilty of medical malpractice.
 
UTLonghorn_1979 said:
Actually, an allegation of crime WAS committed. Medical malpractice.

The FAA is treating the mess up diagnosis as fact, as true, when any other medical professional would say, yep, that’s wrong. Let’s me fix that.

The FAA says, no, prove it again and this time with people we want that will cost $10k. And even if proven inaccurate and you don’t have the misdiagnosis, we reserve the right to check again, just for fun.
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Medical malpractice is not a crime. A crime is an act prohibited by law for which one can be jailed or fined. Malpractice is a civil matter; the aggrieved party can seek compensation from the doctor, but the government cannot jail the doctor for it.
 
Llewtrah381 said:
Pretty sure the FAA doesn’t actually practice medicine and therefore can’t be guilty of medical malpractice.
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That’s the issue, they ARE practicing medicine. Otherwise they wouldn’t have a medical division reviewing things at the regional or federal level. The AME/HIMS AMEs would be doing everything…and there wouldn’t be a need for 90% of the treads here.
 
ateamer said:
Medical malpractice is not a crime. A crime is an act prohibited by law for which one can be jailed or fined. Malpractice is a civil matter; the aggrieved party can seek compensation from the doctor, but the government cannot jail the doctor for it.
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True, it is mainly civil. I should have said an allegation of negligence was made. That negligence has put the OP into thr position of “defending” himself to prove it’s not accurate.

The FAA said, you need to prove it’s wrong by taking more test, even though the offending Dr said they were wrong.

It should have ended there, but the FAA didn’t act with common sense of reasonableness.

I’m ending my part to this threat.

Wishing all a safe and happy Sunday!
 
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