Text of the Bill being sent to the President
- Thread starter bbchien
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RJM62
Touchdown! Greaser!
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Geek on the Hill
I felt pretty much the same way after I listened to it. I swear I never heard it before today, but my thinking was along the same lines as Doc Bruce's. I still find it hard to believe that PCPs will just sign off on something like this. Maybe my cynicism and skepticism are the products of having lived too long in New York City and its Metro Area, which has way too many lawyers trying to eke out a living. People will sue for anything there.
I know two doctors who left medicine altogether because they got tired of paying almost as much for malpractice insurance as they were making in profit. I also know a third doctor who sold his practice and took a job doing some sort of research for a drug company, and a fourth who sold his practice and took a job with the VA. Those two are still practicing medicine, but made major career moves based largely on the insurance costs in their previous private practices. And then there's a former girlfriend of mine who's a DO who left her practice and was stomping through the jungles somewhere looking for cures the last I heard. She used to ***** a lot about her malpractice premiums, too.
The costs of defending against even a bogus lawsuit are phenomenal -- I think Doc Bruce said $250,000.00 during the interview -- which to me would seem a powerful disincentive to doctors with no aeromedical expertise signing off on pilot medicals. Even if the pilot would never think of suing his or her doc for the favor of signing off on their flying, the same might not be true of the pilot's estate and/or anyone else who suffers actionable losses when the pilot augers.
But again, my skepticism is based on what I observed in the NYC Metro Area, where lawyers often arrive at accident scenes before the ambulances do. Maybe dubious lawsuits are not as big a problem in areas with lower lawyer-densities, where attorneys tend to require that cases actually have actionable bases before they agree to take them on.
Rich
Well, for starters, a cynic might imagine more campaigns asking for money.
True, but in order for those appeals to succeed, they're going to need to come up with a plausible plan!
denverpilot
Tied Down
Those haven't stopped in three decades of my flying, so one doesn't even need to be a cynic.
They haven't had one of those in three decades either.
midcap
Pattern Altitude
I don't see the big issue, couldn't you just go to an AME pay them their money and have them sign off? I mean they are already set up for this type of stuff.
DaleB
Final Approach
There, fixed that for you.
MassPilot
Cleared for Takeoff
That was my backup plan if my PCP didn't say he would have no problem signing the checklist.
Maybe the reply would be, "Before I sign that, I want to make sure you're really medically qualified to fly an airplane. I have just the thing to check for sure. Here, can you fill out this form marked 8500-8?"
midcap
Pattern Altitude
I don't think it would go like that since you aren't there for a 3rd class.
paflyer
Final Approach
I'm a product of the same environment and had the exact same thought the first time I saw the "signoff" language. Desperate guys on SI's pooped all over my concerns saying the new MEDICAL (and that's what it is) is a godsend. Maybe for them, but it is a horse of a different color to me with its own landmines,to mix metaphors. Anything less than a DL approval to fly is a fail.
azure
Final Approach
Strictly speaking that's true, you wouldn't need the entire 8500-8. But the checklist the pilot is expected to fill out includes a large chunk of the 8500-8, certainly the boxes that cause pilots with a "history" the most grief with the FAA under the current system, so effectively, it amounts to the same thing anyway.