Looking for Basicmed Dr. in DFW

[MedGuest]

My 3rd class special issuance has expired and I would like to go to Basicmed. My primary care doctor won’t perform anything for Basicmed and the local DOT physical person won’t either. DFW isn’t too far so I am looking for a doctor that doesn’t have an issue performing the Basicmed physical in that area.

On a side note I had to jump through a lot of unneeded hoops and expense for the SI. Are there doctors that are more catering to the SI group for Basicmed? I’m not sure if I can get thrown under the bus going for Basicmed or even if anything is reported to the FAA. Do they just look at the form, perform the physical and move on? I didn’t know if they are reviewing everything that I sent to the FAA plus more. Just to be clear my medical issue for the SI was resolved and documented with the FAA. There has been no change in medical since the 3rd class was issued.

The previous AME that guided me through the SI is no longer doing Basicmed so I am searching for someone new. I’m probably being a little too cautious, but after the expense and testing for the SI I don’t want any surprises. I appreciate any input from those who have been in the same situation. Thank you.

 

[Half Fast]

https://www.aopa.org/advocacy/pilots/medical/basicmed/doctor-finder

I’m not sure if I can get thrown under the bus going for Basicmed or even if anything is reported to the FAA.

Nope. No medical info goes to the FAA with Basic Med.

Do they just look at the form, perform the physical and move on?

Pretty much. A doctor may want some more info before he'll sign, but that's up to him (and to you). There is no FAA involvement. If you disagree with one doctor, or if one refuses to sign, you are free to find another doctor. There is no such thing as a denial with Basic Med.

Bear in mind that Basic Med is not a sort of 4th class FAA medical. It is not an FAA medical at all. It is an alternative, a way to fly without holding an FAA medical.

 

[MedGuest]

https://www.aopa.org/advocacy/pilots/medical/basicmed/doctor-finder




Nope. No medical info goes to the FAA with Basic Med.




Pretty much. A doctor may want some more info before he'll sign, but that's up to him (and to you). There is no FAA involvement. If you disagree with one doctor, or if one refuses to sign, you are free to find another doctor. There is no such thing as a denial with Basic Med.

Bear in mind that Basic Med is not a sort of 4th class FAA medical. It is not an FAA medical at all. It is an alternative, a way to fly without holding an FAA medical.

Thank you for this response.

 

[Jim Schilling]

I concur with Half Fast. I went basic med a few years ago. I don’t plan to go to an airlines and I can’t do everything I want under basic med.

Do the online slides through AOPA, print the certificate, and find your doc for the physical and forms. I’m fortunate to have a good primary doc who is comfortable signing.

Parts of the FAA medicals are old, antiquated, and create either false info in the process, or failure to receive appropriate care. There is some research that suggest large numbers of pilots forego medical care to not mess with their medical.

I’ll step off my soap box now.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AggieMike88]

When it first appeared, I went to a local doc in the box that did physicals for trick drivers, schools, sports programs, etc. Brought printouts of the AOPA FAAs.

Once the doctor had his questions answered, he did the physical and all was good.

 

[MedGuest]

It’s good to know that I don’t need to make a consultation appointment with an AME to get all the documents in order before the actual physical appointment like I did with the 3rd class. The plan as of now is to go to an AME that does Basicmed physicals. Hopefully some people will chime in of who to use or who not to use.

 

[AggieMike88]

The plan as of now is to go to an AME that does Basicmed physicals

Dr. Andrew Sambell is an AME who is BasicMed friendly

 

[Plano Pilot]

Dr. Martin McElya, Neighborhood Medical Center, 5917 Belt Line Rd, Dallas, TX 75254, 972-726-6464 - From AOPA.

He is our family doctor, and we are happy with him. He is also a pilot, but I do not think he is active.

 

[Lindberg]

Dr. Andrew Sambell is an AME who is BasicMed friendly

Recently, his website says he's not doing Basic Med. I don't know why. But he's very responsive and helpful, so it might be worth the OP's time to shoot him an email and inquire.

https://sambellpilotphysical.com/about

 

[MedGuest]

Dr. Sambell and Dr. Krass have stopped doing Basicmed. Not sure why. Dr. Stephen Kramer has good reviews online and I made an appointment with his office. He is six weeks out for Basicmed so I’m going to continue researching.

 

[SCCutler]

Dr. Martin McElya, Neighborhood Medical Center, 5917 Belt Line Rd, Dallas, TX 75254, 972-726-6464 - From AOPA.

He is our family doctor, and we are happy with him. He is also a pilot, but I do not think he is active.

I was going to recommend Dr. McElya as well - great guy, runs a very friendly practice. If you drive up expecting typical “Doc-in-the-Box” service, you’ll be very pleasantly surprised. Good outfit.

But be forewarned: Dr. Mac never walks anywhere - he runs. So, look out!

 

[MedGuest]

I just got a call from Dr. Kramer and he said starting today he is also out of the Basicmed game. He said that there have been a couple of accidents(one with a death) and the doctors are being sued. So for the DFW people Dr. Krass, Dr. Sambell, and Dr. Kramer will no longer do Basicmed. I verified with all of them.

I would like to read the reports on the accidents that he mentioned. I didn’t get any info from him on those.

 

[Palmpilot]

I just got a call from Dr. Kramer and he said starting today he is also out of the Basicmed game. He said that there have been a couple of accidents(one with a death) and the doctors are being sued. So for the DFW people Dr. Krass, Dr. Sambell, and Dr. Kramer will no longer do Basicmed. I verified with all of them.

I would like to read the reports on the accidents that he mentioned. I didn’t get any info from him on those.

This is the first report of such lawsuits that I have seen. I remember that some people on the old AOPA board were predicting that this would happen.

 

[write-stuff]

Just go to your local doc-in-a-box and see if they'll do it.

 

[AggieMike88]

Local doc in box is what I did year ago.

I took all the AOPA FAQ material with me to help answer his questions. He read that, saw it wasn’t anything more than this DOT and sports physicals he was doing, and did my exam.

 

[Half Fast]

I just got a call from Dr. Kramer and he said starting today he is also out of the Basicmed game. He said that there have been a couple of accidents(one with a death) and the doctors are being sued. So for the DFW people Dr. Krass, Dr. Sambell, and Dr. Kramer will no longer do Basicmed. I verified with all of them.

@Brad Z
Brad, are you and the FAA aware of any Basic Med lawsuits? Any insight you can share?

 

[Chip Sylverne]

I just got a call from Dr. Kramer and he said starting today he is also out of the Basicmed game. He said that there have been a couple of accidents(one with a death) and the doctors are being sued. So for the DFW people Dr. Krass, Dr. Sambell, and Dr. Kramer will no longer do Basicmed. I verified with all of them.

I would like to read the reports on the accidents that he mentioned. I didn’t get any info from him on those.

Are being sued, or actually got a judgement?

I had a conversation with AOPA medical yesterday regarding the difficulties I'm having in finding a willing doc in their own backyard. They have little to no resources dedicated to promoting this in the occupational health medical community. Liability actions surely won't help get docs on board. If the risk is so minimal, I could envision an opportunity for an aviation undereriter, who should understand the risk, to step in and provide coverage for docs who's policies may exclude basic med liability.

 

[Brad Z]

@Brad Z
Brad, are you and the FAA aware of any Basic Med lawsuits? Any insight you can share?

I'm not aware of any. That doesn't mean they're not out there. With BasicMed, the FAA is even farther removed from civil litigation aspects since the FAA doesn't make medical assessments.

 

[NoHeat]

How would a plaintiff know which doctor signed a BasicMed form?

It would just be the pilot who has that info and the signed form, right?

 

[Palmpilot]

Local doc in box is what I did year ago.

I took all the AOPA FAQ material with me to help answer his questions. He read that, saw it wasn’t anything more than this DOT and sports physicals he was doing, and did my exam.

I wonder if doctors are getting sued as a result of doing DOT and sports physicals. If not, it could be useful to find out what makes the difference.

 

[Chip Sylverne]

How would a plaintiff know which doctor signed a BasicMed form?

It would just be the pilot who has that info and the signed form, right?

I would think that would be requested in discovery.

 

[Chip Sylverne]

I wonder if doctors are getting sued as a result of doing DOT and sports physicals. If not, it could be useful to find out what makes the difference.

Sure, they could be sued under a theory of general negligence, not necessarily malpractice. All four of the following element would need to be present: (1) the existence of a duty of care, (2) a breach of that duty, (3) that the breach was the incident's proximate cause, and (4) that the plaintiff was damaged or injured. So if the examiner passes a candidate who clearly doesn't meet the standard (i.e. blind in one eye and can't see out of the other) and someone was injured because the driver in the course of his employment hit a vehicle stopped on the highway be cause he didn't see it, the examiner could be held negligent.

The best defense in the case of Basic Med is for the examiner to scrupulously follow the standards set out on the exam document.

 

[Palmpilot]

I assume that they COULD get sued. I'm asking whether they ARE getting sued.

 

[MedGuest]

The doctor only told me that other doctors were being sued. He didn’t elaborate past that. I would think the liability would still fall on the pilot and not the doctor. I hate to see AME’s not helping Basicmed pilots, but regardless of that I found a doctor and now flying with Basicmed. I appreciate everyone’s responses.

 

[TCABM]

I expect AMEs face a different liability challenge than the average doc considering, especially if that AME is not also your PCM/PCP.

 

[Half Fast]

The best defense in the case of Basic Med is for the examiner to scrupulously follow the standards set out on the exam document.

There are no "standards" on the Basic Med form. For example, it just says to check blood pressure but it does not give an acceptable range.

 

[Chip Sylverne]

I assume that they COULD get sued. I'm asking whether they ARE getting sued.

The above fact pattern is based on an actual case, 20/95 vision in one eye and cloudiness from cataracts in the other, so yes, they getting named in liability actions. Rarely, but it happens.

 

[TCABM]

The above fact pattern is based on an actual case, 20/95 vision in one eye and cloudiness from cataracts in the other, so yes, they getting named in liability actions. Rarely, but it happens.

Sounds like the doc did not follow the CMEC then.
Section 3, Q4. Eyes (general), ophthalmoscopic, pupils, (equality and reaction), and ocular motility (associated parallel movement, nystagmus)

Also, the patient may have been untruthful in Section 2, q18.d, eye or vision trouble.

 

[Dry Creek]

Where exactly in the DFW area?
Dr. Paul Schmidt (Lakeside Physicians) in Glen Rose did mine. He had also performed my Industrial Fire Brigade physicals for over 20 years before I moved to a more sedentary position at the power plant. Since I had also just finished my initial 3rd class less than a month prior to my CMEC physical (with his help for a hypothyroidism CACI) he had no problems signing the form. It could be that since I have an established relationship things went more smoothly.

 

[kell490]

Probably has happened doctor's insurance settled out of court and the settlement is kept secret. Malpractice insurance send out a letter to other doctors asking if they are doing basic medical exams if so their rates will go up accordingly. They stop doing basic medical exams to keep rates from going up.