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> Physician health programs are designed to address the myth that illness automatically means impairment, says Chris Bundy, the executive medical director of th
by sneak 3y ago
> Physician health programs are designed to address the myth that illness automatically means impairment, says Chris Bundy, the executive medical director of the Washington Physicians Health Program and the immediate past president of the national federation that oversees the state programs. An addiction or mental illness may require a physician to take time off, but does not justify an automatic revoking of someone’s license.
Imagine if we took this same approach to airline pilots, another job that the performance of which decides whether people live or die.
It seems to me that even sleep disturbances should be disqualifying for medical practitioners (and pilots too).
- sokoloff 3y agoWe do pretty much take that approach with pilots (airline, corporate, and private). Any new addiction (or an untreated old one) or sleep apnea is cause for revocation (or non-issuance) of the medical certificate. You need a medical and a pilot certificate to fly. You can lose the medical temporarily and regain it once the underlying issue is addressed. Temporary illness or fatigue means you’re supposed to ground yourself voluntarily. That doesn’t happen as often as perhaps it should. Is the system perfect? Not for physicians nor for pilots.
- sneak 3y agoMy point is that the system for doctors should be more like that for pilots: any substance abuse should render them unfit for practice until the situation changes. It doesn't sound like that is the situation today.
- cjbprime 3y agoI don't see the system for pilots as being praiseworthy. European airlines do not allow pilots to take prescribed antidepressants. It leads to outcomes like a severely psychotic pilot refusing to get appropriate help because they will lose their license and job. These policies are likely the root cause of the 150 deaths on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanwings_Flight_9525 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanwings_Flight_9525.
- sneak 3y agoHaving depression and needing antidepressants is probably sufficient grounds to deny people the ability to fly passenger planes in the first place.
- cjbprime 3y agoThat attitude is how you get a double digit percentage of pilots suffering from untreated mental illness while attempting to continue to fly passenger planes, yes.