Crucified for legal drug use

msgrappling · October 7, 2007

I'm about to take my FAA med exam and just recovered from spinal cord surgery. I can walk, run, drive now but was prescribed oxycodone for pain. I will be going into the doc's office in a week and don't want to get blacklisted before i even get started. Does anyone know if that will happen?

rick1128 · October 7, 2007

I had surgery a couple of years ago and went through much the same thing. I had my doctor check with a AME on what was acceptable. The doctor community is small enough that most doctors will know at least one AME. If your prescription is a problem, your doctor can change it to something that is more acceptable. There is a possibility it might not be as effective as your present prescription. If that is a problem, you might have to consider the possibility of staying on the ground until your medical condition improves.

clay · October 8, 2007

on the 6th was 1 year since i got burnt over 60% of my body 3rd degree, i had lots of pain medicine. but i've went back to flying, did my 2nd class medical, finished my commercial and getting close on the CFI rating. when i did my medical, i explained everything that i had done , everything i was taking, and everything i would have to still do in the future. he said no problem, just no more pain medicine. any kind of pain medicine, especially that strong is an absolute no no if your flying. if the pain is to a tolerable level, give up the pills, go get the medical and have fun!

Edited October 8, 2007 by clay

Collective Down! · October 8, 2007

Call the aircraft owners and pilots association (AOPA), they are really good at answering medical questions... 1-800-USA-AOPA. You might need to have a membership to get them to answer your questions. If that's the case, you can get a free 6-month membership to AOPA through a flight instructor who has an AOPA membership... If you can't find one, PM me and I'll sign you up.

You can also complete the "turbomedical" on AOPA which is designed to find any red flags in your medical application and can give you good guidance to find the answers to your medical questions. No one ever sees your turbomedical info other than AOPA... you're not applying for a medical by completing it.

Alot of pilots will tell you to never bring it up, but I wouldn't bet 50K worth of training and a career on it. Be up front about it, but don't apply for the medical if you know you will fail it. I know of a great AME in the Daytona Beach area that won't even let you put pen to paper on the application if he thinks you'll fail it... You can essentially consult with him before you commit to handing him the paperwork. Again, PM me if you want specifics.

http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/regulatory/turbomedical.html

https://www.aopa.org/members/medical/medform/

BOATFIXERGUY · October 8, 2007

Alot of pilots will tell you to never bring it up, but I wouldn't bet 50K worth of training and a career on it. Be up front about it, but don't apply for the medical if you know you will fail it. I know of a great AME in the Daytona Beach area that won't even let you put pen to paper on the application if he thinks you'll fail it... You can essentially consult with him before you commit to handing him the paperwork. Again, PM me if you want specifics.

http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/regulatory/turbomedical.html

https://www.aopa.org/members/medical/medform/

Good avdice. The FAA will eventually find out, and it won't matter how long ago you made the omission. They will fine and revoke you for lying on the medical application.

Call the AOPA and get good legal advice!

john

FUSE · October 8, 2007

Alot of pilots will tell you to never bring it up, but I wouldn't bet 50K worth of training and a career on it. Be up front about it, but don't apply for the medical if you know you will fail it. I know of a great AME in the Daytona Beach area that won't even let you put pen to paper on the application if he thinks you'll fail it... You can essentially consult with him before you commit to handing him the paperwork. Again, PM me if you want specifics.

I agree with BOATFIXERGUY, excellent advice. In my former, pre-pilot life I did some illegal drug stuff. I didn't want to lie and have it come back to bite me in my butt later in life so I came clean with absolutely everything. Yes I had to jump through some hoops that the person that never did what I did would have to do but IMO it was all worth it. I had a delay of about 3 months in getting my medical while I dealt with the main FAA office and did what ever they wanted. But I can now rest assured that I did everything the proper way and it is not something that the FAA can hold against me. I can sleep well every night knowing that I am not hiding anything and there is nothing new that they will ever find out about me that I didn't tell them already. This is possibly your future career your talking about here. It is not anything that will prevent you from getting your medical, it may delay it but shouldn't prevent it. But not telling them and lie about it, yeah that could possibly have your medical yanked from you if they find out.

Gomer Pylot · October 9, 2007

You are required to report all visits to all health care professionals during the past year, and you certainly need to answer all questions on the form completely and accurately. You can't fly while taking oxycodone, but past prescribed use shouldn't be a problem. Never, ever lie on an FAA form, because the consequences are serious, and will result in the revocation of your medical and/or your pilot's certificate, and either means you can't fly.