Thanks Eric, I'll look further into it, but I thought that maybe one of the people who was following the issue very closely (perhaps with more at stake than me) could provide a quick answer. The medication I am looking at taking is nothing that would be on a "heavy machinery" list, no Oxycontin or Dilaudid. It does make me fart however; perhaps the FAA would see a flight safety issue for any passengers I was carrying. Or requite a "lighter than air" add-on rating

EZFlap wrote:Now that May 1st has passed and supposedly this is in effect, can anyone answer a simple question:

If I DID have a current medical within the last 4 years, and if I NOW start taking a doctor prescribed medication for a common health issue (a condition that would previously have required a special issuance), can I now skip the special issuance and just take the medication and fly without the special issuance?

Or are there still a bunch of gray areas that have not been sorted out yet?

No gray areas really in that regard. Look at the list of prohibited mess on the FAA and/or AOPA site. Better yet, call the AOPA aeromedical folks, and ask about the med. if it's a prohibited med, then it's prohibited both with a medical and Basic Med.

As o the condition and a special issuance, look at the Basic Med checklist, and the instructions. There are only a few conditions which require a one time special issuance, including cardiac and psychological issues, etc. Again a quick call to AOPA will give you all you need. Here's a link with more info: https://www.aopa.org/advocacy/pilots/me ... 1464398016

I did the deed on May 1, and it was a breeze.

MTV

Thank you Mike, I looked at the AOPA resource you posted and it basically created a question (or interpretation) that there was no visible answer to.

The AOPA BasicMed Pilot and Physician Guide document says "While there is no list of specific medications that are prohibited for pilots flying under BasicMed rules, certain medications are not safe to be used at all while flying and others require a
reasonable waiting period after use."

Fantastic, this can be taken to mean that the particular medicine is not a deal breaker for the basic med. But this medication also can be looked at as having the (unlikely) possibility to cause mild drowsiness (lowers blood sugar), which is certainly still a factor for the self-test or any doctor's visit. So someone could make a case against this. The medication is something that is taken daily, so a "Waiting period" after use will not allow me to fly. And the medical condition in question was indeed previously on the FAA's list of parameters requiring a Special Issuance medical.

The big deal breaker medical problem categories which would prevent a pilot from using BasicMed (mental health, cardiac) are not related to my situation. So if I start using the BasicMed option today, I can probably make a case that I was acting in the "good faith" attempt to comply with BasicMed, and have a reasonable leg to stand on.

But having spent years tip-toeing around this at medical time, and having seen the heartbreak that others have gone through with medicals, special issuances, etc.... I'm still really suspicious and distrustful about the whole f***ing ball of wax.

If you really want to be sure, give your local aerospace medicine office a call.

In your case in California info below:

Stephen W. Griswold, M.D., Regional Flight Surgeon
Federal Aviation Administration
Aerospace Medicine Division
15000 Aviation Blvd
Lawndale, CA 90261
(310) 725-3750
Fax: (310) 725-6835

EZFlap wrote:Thank you Mike, I looked at the AOPA resource you posted and it basically created a question (or interpretation) that there was no visible answer to.

The AOPA BasicMed Pilot and Physician Guide document says "While there is no list of specific medications that are prohibited for pilots flying under BasicMed rules, certain medications are not safe to be used at all while flying and others require a
reasonable waiting period after use."

Fantastic, this can be taken to mean that the particular medicine is not a deal breaker for the basic med. But this medication also can be looked at as having the (unlikely) possibility to cause mild drowsiness (lowers blood sugar), which is certainly still a factor for the self-test or any doctor's visit. So someone could make a case against this. The medication is something that is taken daily, so a "Waiting period" after use will not allow me to fly. And the medical condition in question was indeed previously on the FAA's list of parameters requiring a Special Issuance medical.

The big deal breaker medical problem categories which would prevent a pilot from using BasicMed (mental health, cardiac) are not related to my situation. So if I start using the BasicMed option today, I can probably make a case that I was acting in the "good faith" attempt to comply with BasicMed, and have a reasonable leg to stand on.

But having spent years tip-toeing around this at medical time, and having seen the heartbreak that others have gone through with medicals, special issuances, etc.... I'm still really suspicious and distrustful about the whole f***ing ball of wax.

What I said was "look at the FAAs list of prohibited mess", NOT any such list on the Basic Med site. If it's a PROHIBITED med for flying, you can bet it's probably not going to work under Basic Med. BUT there are few meds that are flat out prohibited. Look at that list.

Heres AOPAs list of meds: https://www.aopa.org/go-fly/medical-res ... s-database

And here's a list from the FAA: https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/he ... m/dni_dnf/

But the Basic Med site specifically lists those CONDITIONS which require a special issuance under Basic Med, and there are only three categories of them. ANY other condition, whether it may require an SI under the 3rd class or not, does NOT require a special issuance under Basic Med. So, if your condition is not one of the three types of condition which requires a special issuance under Basic Med, then you're good to go under Basic Med.

Look, if you really, really want Basic Med to not work for you, fine. But it is really quite straightforward, and fairly clear. Read the information provided by AOPA, or as I suggested, CALL AOPA medical (you are an AOPA member, right?) and ask them with specifics. I totally understand a reluctance to post medical issues on the internet, but those folks can quickly and privately clarify any questions you may have.

Or just independently decide it won't work for you......makes no difference to me, but there's a LOT of information readily available.

MTV

EZ I think you are reading too much in to it. I am treated for hypertension with an approved medication I take daily. The AOPA on line course makes it clear that if that medication were to change it would be reasonable to take a waiting period before flying to see if there were any side effects which would make me unfit to fly, typically a two week waiting period since starting the medication, That is the same waiting period that was required for medication or dosage changes when I held a 1 st Class Medical. If you have been on the medication for sometime without side effects (drowsiness) you have meet the waiting period. I also did the BasicMed on May 1, my primary care Doc did not want to do it for malpractice insurance issues so I used an AME I had never meet before. It went well though was actually a more thorough physical than any 1st Class I ever had. As MTV said the AOPA folks are very helpful if you have any questions.

Tim

Thank you all again for the replies. I was genuinely not trying to find a way that BasicMed wouldn't work, I would be pretty happy if it did work for my specific issue. It would make stress-free something that I have been doing the stressful way, looking over my shoulder, for a little while now.

Of course I will verify this with AOPA or EAA, and thank you for posting the FAA local contact. As I mentioned, I know some people were following this issue much more closely than I had, so I figured that someone might have already gone through this and separated the wheat from the chaff dispenser.

bat443 wrote: If you have been on the medication for sometime without side effects (drowsiness) you have meet the waiting period.

Well, I managed to spend some quality time becoming familiar with this medication before officially being diagnosed or prescribed with anything. I'm not sure they'd give me credit for that

Parents, don't let your kids develop a taste for candy bars at a young age. Not good for them long-term.

NIL. As long as I want to fly to Canada and Mexico in the 206, I'm stuck with continuing the Class III medical, under special issuance. So, nothing will change for me, even if Canada grants class IV privileges to Basic Med pilots from the U.S. Oh well. Wish I hadn't spent all that time reading the news on medical reform. My bad.

CAVU

CAVU, Canada is more likely to accept US BasicMed in return for US accepting Canadian Class IV. I do not expect Canada to further restrict the US BasicMed rules for use in Canada. I believe you will soon be able to fly your 206 to Canada on BasicMed.

Hmm. I read that Canada's reciprocity would be limited to 4 seat aircraft. Hope I'm wrong about that.

CAVU

volzalum wrote:CAVU, Canada is more likely to accept US BasicMed in return for US accepting Canadian Class IV. I do not expect Canada to further restrict the US BasicMed rules for use in Canada. I believe you will soon be able to fly your 206 to Canada on BasicMed.

I agree, but I think they will keep it limited to 4 seat aircraft. I do really wish the US would accept our homeowner maintained aircraft in... and also wish we could get LS licenses here.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

Nothing happens fast with Transport Canada. IMHO it will take at least 1-2 years before anything happens in this regard if they decide so. ICAO is the standard between countries and as the US BasicMed is not to ICAO standard I would think Canada has to negotiate with the USA a bilateral agreement to get something in return for Canadian pilots flying in US airspace.

It would only make sense, both for the financial advantage of free passage as well as just plain old convenience.
I don't know about Canada, but that just about guarantees it won't happen from the US side.

FWIW.

I went to an AOPA Rusty Pilots Seminar in Frederick, MD yesterday at AOPA Headquarters. Several folks in the audience had very positive things to say about their Basic Med experiences. The AOPA guy giving the seminar likewise said that reports back so far all seem to be good.

Apparently there is at least one national "Doc in the Box" operation, ie. walk in clinic chain, that does these Basic Med physicals. I can't remember if they mentioned the name. I think the one guy was on an SI.

Anyway, just some anecdotal info from a seminar with about 50 people.