Letter from FAA for Poison Ivy treatment

4CornerFlyer said:
You can go to Mexico and The Bahamas and back with Basic Med. Not Canada at this time, but maybe someday. And the border is essentially closed to Canada from the US for the foreseeable future.

Unless you anticipate an imminent trip to Canada or some Central American Country, why not do the Basic Med and get a Class III when you actually need it?

Jon
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If he doesn't fix this he will get a denial, so no basic med.
 
Why is prednisone a concern at all for the FAA?

I just looked at the list of side effects, and they didn’t look to be incapacitating. So I’m just wondering.
 
Pugs said:
Has anyone ever been asked by the Canadians to produce a copy of their medical on entry?
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More to the point might be, "Would your insurance cover you for an accident in Canada if you have the required medical?"
 
Do you guys remember’The Beverly Hillbilly’s’? Granny had a homemade cure for just about anything, most came with some ‘shine’ as a chaser. Just Google up the cure on the web & have at it.

If it’s not in the system, didn’t happen. I just went past the 3 years on the colonoscopy, so nothing to report again. The problem is, now I have to mentally prepare for the next, that may take a while.
 
Dana said:
More to the point might be, "Would your insurance cover you for an accident in Canada if you have the required medical?"
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A fine question too but mine stands. It really is a question.
 
NoHeat said:
Why is prednisone a concern at all for the FAA?

I just looked at the list of side effects, and they didn’t look to be incapacitating. So I’m just wondering.
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Frank psychotic episodes are a pretty serious side effect.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
FTFY.

Laws are for losers. Or, so it would seem lately.
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See the obscure laws thread for reference. One can strive to obey all the laws (as I do) and still be in violation. I'll bet I violate a couple a day without knowing it and you do to. We live in a grossly over-regulated society where many, heck most, laws exist simply to give prosecutors something to use to pile on when someone violates a serious law.

My question was legit. We're a couple years, or less, from retiring to NH and that will mean I can easily access some neat destinations in Canada. If Canada doesn't accept Basic Med by then I'll go back to a class III but since I've never flown GA into Canada I was curious.

Not every question here needs to be read into deeper than the question.
 
I was on Prednisone for 10 months for PMR, starting at 15mg a day a year and a half ago and slowly tapered to 1mg ending last April.
I talked to my AME first and he said less than 20 mg is allowed. Self reported on my last two medicals, and I have a 1st class for work. I've had no issues from the FAA at all.
 
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I had a surgery about a year and a half ago. One of the medications they prescribed me was an anti-nausea medication. When the FAA was questioning my medical, they asked me for a prescription history going back three years. This prescription medication was on the list I gave them.

The FAA followed up the documentation with a request for all the medical records surrounding why I was prescribed that particular medication.It’s not an unreasonable request. Since some medications can we use for multiple items, they just want to make sure that the reason you’re using that medication isn’t for a disqualified condition.

If it was for poison ivy, find the records and submit them. That will be the end of it.


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Next time you see a doc, your name is John Doe and pay with cash.
 
Two pages of utter drivel. Gotta love POA.

To the OP, this is astoundingly simple. Go to your doctor. If you don't have one, get one. They can come in handy. Have him examine the affected area. Have him write a letter like the follow:

Dear FAA,

John Q. presents no evidence of inflammation or abnormality in the area affected (insert date of poison ivy). John Q. hasn't used prednisone since (again insert date) and hasn't been prescribed since that event. John Q. exhibits no difficulty in locomotor activity and is not at this time exhibiting any acute reactions to any substances.

Signed,

John Q.'s Physician.

The FAA will put this in some sort of file and that will be the end of it.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
FTFY.

Laws are for losers. Or, so it would seem lately.
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I agree. Some of the recent posts kinda boggles my mind ... anytime a question comes up that is clearly illegal, some one jumps in and says but but but ... whose gonna know? I don’t even want to speculate on their ADM
 
Perhaps folks read this as “ I reported on my medical that i got poison ivy “ , while the FAA from what they were given thought “this pilot just told us he was taking a banned prescription, he didn’t say he wasn’t taking it all the time”.

So yes - if I get my medical questioned for just having poison Ivy or a stubbed toe, I’d be unhappy. But if from what I told them I could have given them the impression of unlimited steroid use then I’d have to learn from that.

If it gets cleared up - no pun intended - with just that letter from the doc then all good.

I do wonder if the FAA couldn’t have thought through this more with what they were given and realized it was just a one time dose for poison ivy and not a life long use.
 
About had it said:
I was able to find the walk-in clinic that I first was treated at, BUT I contacted them and they are refusing to write the letter.
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Can you at least get the records from your visit to show that the use of Prednisone was for a specific acute issue, for a limited period of time?
 
WDD said:
Perhaps folks read this as “ I reported on my medical that i got poison ivy “ , while the FAA from what they were given thought “this pilot just told us he was taking a banned prescription, he didn’t say he wasn’t taking it all the time”.
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Not only that, but it appears that the OP wasn't actually taking the drug by the time he went for his medical, so needn't have disclosed it at all. Lying or omitting required information is bad. Overdisclosing can be bad as well.
 
Lindberg said:
Not only that, but it appears that the OP wasn't actually taking the drug by the time he went for his medical, so needn't have disclosed it at all. Lying or omitting required information is bad. Overdisclosing can be bad as well.
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I contacted my ME and got a copy of my application. I was wrong when I had said I was done with the script (sorry my memory was soft, it was several months ago). I actually had 1 day left of the script. On the day before my script ran out I wrote that I was taking 40 mg prednisone daily. Under the "Medical History" explanation area I wrote that the prednisone script was recent for poison ivy rash, and that the script was issued on xxxxxx (date, 8 days prior) for twenty 20mg pills, no refills, and will run out xxxxxx (date day after application date).
So the walk-in clinic refuses to write a letter, but the doctor there has agreed to send me my summary chart for my visit. It states I was treated for acute poison ivy with a 10 day script. Unfortunately, this is much better now than my regular doctor. I sent my regular doctor the FAA letter, and over the phone they agreed to write what was asked by the FAA. Today I got the "letter", if you want to call it that, and it is one sentence that states on such and such date I was prescribed 20 prednisone 20 mg for an allergic reaction. I called the office, and spoke with the doctor (my new doctor of 2 months) and she is not budging, saying she wasn't the one to write the script, my old doctor (of the same office) did, blah blah blah.
 
About had it said:
I contacted my ME and got a copy of my application. I was wrong when I had said I was done with the script (sorry my memory was soft, it was several months ago). I actually had 1 day left of the script. On the day before my script ran out I wrote that I was taking 40 mg prednisone daily. Under the "Medical History" explanation area I wrote that the prednisone script was recent for poison ivy rash, and that the script was issued on xxxxxx (date, 8 days prior) for twenty 20mg pills, no refills, and will run out xxxxxx (date day after application date).
So the walk-in clinic refuses to write a letter, but the doctor there has agreed to send me my summary chart for my visit. It states I was treated for acute poison ivy with a 10 day script. Unfortunately, this is much better now than my regular doctor. I sent my regular doctor the FAA letter, and over the phone they agreed to write what was asked by the FAA. Today I got the "letter", if you want to call it that, and it is one sentence that states on such and such date I was prescribed 20 prednisone 20 mg for an allergic reaction. I called the office, and spoke with the doctor (my new doctor of 2 months) and she is not budging, saying she wasn't the one to write the script, my old doctor (of the same office) did, blah blah blah.
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Total PITA, but this should be surmountable once the feds get your letters since you have and had no intention of flying while on it. Maybe one of the AMEs here can answer how much of your notes when you fill out the medxpress make it to the FAA. I know that the doc can send notes to the FAA because on my last medical, the AME typed in substantial explanations for their benefit about why he felt comfortable issue with a certain condition. So possible that like Bruce suggested, your AME could have handled this better in the first instance. And while this is no help or comfort to you, perhaps your tale will remind some other airman that it might be better to just put the exam off to a different day or week...
 
About had it said:
I contacted my ME and got a copy of my application. I was wrong when I had said I was done with the script (sorry my memory was soft, it was several months ago). I actually had 1 day left of the script. On the day before my script ran out I wrote that I was taking 40 mg prednisone daily. Under the "Medical History" explanation area I wrote that the prednisone script was recent for poison ivy rash, and that the script was issued on xxxxxx (date, 8 days prior) for twenty 20mg pills, no refills, and will run out xxxxxx (date day after application date).
So the walk-in clinic refuses to write a letter, but the doctor there has agreed to send me my summary chart for my visit. It states I was treated for acute poison ivy with a 10 day script. Unfortunately, this is much better now than my regular doctor. I sent my regular doctor the FAA letter, and over the phone they agreed to write what was asked by the FAA. Today I got the "letter", if you want to call it that, and it is one sentence that states on such and such date I was prescribed 20 prednisone 20 mg for an allergic reaction. I called the office, and spoke with the doctor (my new doctor of 2 months) and she is not budging, saying she wasn't the one to write the script, my old doctor (of the same office) did, blah blah blah.
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Funny how the FAA will happily accept your statement that you were taking the medication, but demand a doctor to say you've stopped.
 
You should never go for a medical if you have a current (even if ultimately temporary) disqualifying condition. The AME doesn't have much choice. You don't meet the requirements.
 
Resolved: I sent in the summary chart from the walk-in clinic, the one sentence "letter" from my doctor, along with a one page "statement" written by me, explaining the situation. Yesterday I received a letter from the Office of Aerospace Medicine. The letter states I'm eligible for a third class medical, and my current medical is good until it expires. Then it states something that maybe is just part of a form letter, but I find it completely effin ridiculous, considering what I was being treated for: "Because of your history of rash, operation of aircraft is prohibited at any time new symptoms occur."
So they are saying I can't fly an aircraft when I have a rash???? Basic med, here I come!
 
Yeah, it's typical CAMI weaseling. After spending two years convincing them I didn't have a condition they finally said, ok, so you don't but if you ever get it (no more likely than anybody else at this point), be sure to tell us.
 
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