Psychiatrist May Lose Medical License Over Alleged Threat to Pilot

Palmpilot

Palmpilot

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A psychiatrist who has evaluated pilots at Delta's request now faces the possibility of revocation or suspension of his medical license for allegedly threatening one of the pilots with a disqualifying diagnosis if the pilot took legal action or complained about him.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/12/politics/psychiatrist-pilots-faa-nominee/

Excerpt:

The Illinois regulator says that Delta referred a pilot to Altman for a psychiatric review, and after Altman interviewed him in 2014, he wrote a preliminary report and stated that if the pilot took legal action against or complained about Altman (among other things), then that could affect his diagnosis of the pilot and potentially stop him from flying.

Altman "used threat of the possibility of a diagnosis that would result in permanently baring" that pilot "to discourage" him from reporting Altman to the Illinois Medical Disciplinary Board, the complaint alleges.​

This is in the news now because the case of another pilot, who claims that she was referred to the same psychiatrist in retaliation for raising safety concerns, came up during confirmation hearings for the current nominee for FAA Administrator.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/faa-no...andling-of-pilot-safety-complaint-11562682876

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/jul/10/stephen-dickson-trump-faa-nominee-approved-senate-/
 
Palmpilot said:
This is in the news now because the case of another pilot, who claims that she was referred to the same psychiatrist in retaliation for raising safety concerns
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Wow, sounds like higher ups have a system of dealing with whistle blowers. Corruption like this is sickening.
 
Sounds like a hired gun to silence the squeaky wheels...... if true, let that mofo pick grapes for the rest of his working life.
 
Unit74 said:
Sounds like a hired gun to silence the squeaky wheels...... if true, let that mofo pick grapes for the rest of his working life.
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Assuming that he keeps his license, his next job probably will be diagnosing school kids with ADHD when directed to do so by any staff member at the school (including the janitorial staff), no question asked, and without bothering with all those fancy tests.

Rich
 
Rebel Lord said:
Wow, sounds like higher ups have a system of dealing with whistle blowers. Corruption like this is sickening.
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Organized crime at its finest. I lost a job once, due to corruption. Luckily, the "higher ups" got what was coming to them, courtesy of Club Fed.
 
RJM62 said:
Assuming that he keeps his license, his next job probably will be diagnosing school kids with ADHD when directed to do so by any staff member at the school (including the janitorial staff), no question asked, and without bothering with all those fancy tests.
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And he'll have plenty of company in that industry.
 
I wouldn't be so fast to condemn. The sorts of cases he ahs to deal with are doozies. He is the most thorough psychiatrists I have ever met- his reports are 500 pages with transcripts and commentary on "what each choice of word implees". We'll see how this plays out. Even wondered why a HIMS psychiatiry evaluation (basic) can run $3,000?. This is why.

In psychiatry inappropriate assailment of the doc, can be a personal disorder act.... and that is why I don't work "for" any airline company. That motivation is therby taken off the table....

I have had requests for assessment by aviation companies, and I always tell them: I need you (company) to reimburse the candidate for his fees, which I will bill clearly. If they wont' do that, "no dice".
 
Thanks for providing "the rest of the story."
 
Palmpilot said:
Thanks for providing "the rest of the story."
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The rest of the story is that he made up false diagnosis for airline employees that airline management wanted to fire, marginalize, or both. Psychiatry/psychology is basically hack science to begin with and this guy is the hack of hacks. And one of the folks who empowered him might be the next administrator. Yikes!!
 
Just reading this makes me pretty sure this doc is, well, our of the mainstream at best.

It actually sounds impressive to me.

"During a nine-day trial before an administrative law judge earlier this year, the doctor who determined that Ms. Petitt was unfit to fly cited her behavior years earlier as part of his reasoning. The psychiatrist testified that her decision to have three children under the age of three, earn a 3.7 GPA in night school and help her husband’s business were signs of her mania."
 
jbarrass said:
Just reading this makes me pretty sure this doc is, well, our of the mainstream at best.

It actually sounds impressive to me.

"During a nine-day trial before an administrative law judge earlier this year, the doctor who determined that Ms. Petitt was unfit to fly cited her behavior years earlier as part of his reasoning. The psychiatrist testified that her decision to have three children under the age of three, earn a 3.7 GPA in night school and help her husband’s business were signs of her mania."
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That is impressive and shows dedication and perseverance which both are highly sought after qualities. She must have pi$$ed off the wrong person......
 
SkyDog58 said:
The rest of the story is that he made up false diagnosis for airline employees that airline management wanted to fire, marginalize, or both. Psychiatry/psychology is basically hack science to begin with and this guy is the hack of hacks. And one of the folks who empowered him might be the next administrator. Yikes!!
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Actually, it would be better to say that "in Western medicine, there are some hacks in any given specialty". But calling those branches "basically hack science" is flat-earthy, at best. Disclaimer: my past personal relationships have been with MDs, PhDs [molecular biology], etc. Current is with a psychologist, for 16 years.
 
I had a close relationship for a few years with someone who is bipolar, and based on what she told me, some psychiatrists are better than others, to put it mildly.
 
TedR3 said:
The transcript of Dr. Altman's testimony is available to read:

https://www.ssmplaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/PETITT3.pdf
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For the sake of context, this is Volume III of a transcript of a 2019 Department of Labor case in which a pilot who has been reinstated to flying status has filed a claim for compensation from Delta. She is not the pilot whose case led to the Illinois licensing board proceeding referred to in my opening post (although the above transcript states that she too has complained to that board).

There are five volumes in this transcript. I found that the other volumes can be viewed by changing the "3" that appears just before the ".pdf" in the URL.
 
...tough to go thru life with a mental defect tag.
 
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Kenny Phillips said:
Actually (and it does make a difference), "Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men..." from Lord Acton.
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Thanks for that; I was wondering about the original source of that quotation the other day.
 
Kenny Phillips said:
Actually, it would be better to say that "in Western medicine, there are some hacks in any given specialty". But calling those branches "basically hack science" is flat-earthy, at best. Disclaimer: my past personal relationships have been with MDs, PhDs [molecular biology], etc. Current is with a psychologist, for 16 years.
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Meh. I know the earth is round. I also have a high degree of faith and confidence in the hard sciences such as physics, chemistry, biology, medical science, etc. I also believe in climate science and the belief that mankind is contributing to climate change. Still I have little trust or belief in pseudoscience which I think that a great deal of social sciences and psychology falls into. These hacks and quacks love to label people based on the latest and greatest models of human behavior that was concocted inside the ivy covered walls of academia by folks who have spent little to no time in the real world and who have never walked in the shoes of the people they want to judge.
 
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