pain killers?

[mense]

Hello

I was wondering what types of medication a guy can take and still fly. My boss is on many types of painkillers for bad knees. He also takes Stacker diet pills, and I just found out he also takes heart pills . I cannot believe he does this and still fly’s. Can anyone help me?
Thanks
mense

 

[InHot]

I don't believe you're going to find a list of medications that are blanket approved/disapproved. Any medication an individual takes should be prescribed by a physcian and OK'd by an AME.

If you suspect this individual is taking medications without proper oversight you should confront him with your concerns.

But realize there could be many circumstances where indivduals can retain their medical certificate with multiple prescriptions. So, be careful of accusing him of any underhandness.

Maybe you should approach him by saying something like this: "Gee, I didn't realize you could take so many medications and still retain a medical... how's you get your Doc to approve all these pills."

You'll have to decide if what he tells you rings true. But, be careful about becoming a "pill nazi." A very dicey subject - challenging someone's medical.

Good Luck.

 

[A Squared]

This site has a list of approved and unapproved medications

http://www.aviationmedicine.com/meds.htm

regards

 

[InHot]

Be careful

A Squared: from the first sentence of the page you referenced:

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration does not publish a list of "approved" medications.

 

[A Squared]

>>>>>The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration does not publish a list of "approved" medications.


ooooooookkkkaayyyy, yes you are right, but I don't recall having said that the FAA *did* publish a list. If you want to pick nits and play semantics I can do that too....

The link I provided is for a site which gives information about the FAA's history of approving and disaproving many medications. For example, you may discover by reading the site that the FAA will not approve narcotic painkillers or anti-depressants. You may infer from this information that if the FAA *did* publish a list, than Darvocet, Oxycontin, morphine, zolof, prozac, and such would be on the "not approved" list. The site also gives information on many medications which are routinely approved by the FAA.

So, perhaps instaead of writing:

"This site has a list of approved and unapproved medications"

I should have written:

This site has information on the which medications the FAA will and will not approve. The FAA does not publish a list of approved and non-approved medications, nor does this site have a list, per se, but the information provided would allow the perceptive reader to determine which medications would be on the FAAs list of approved and non approved medications, if the FAA were to publish such a list.


would that have made you happier?

 

[InHot]

Bubba,

I was not trying to flame you, just to ensure accruacy.

I was attempting to convince the original poster to be careful when looking for drugs that were "approved," as there are too many variables for novices to consider.

The whole topic of medicals and prescription drugs is one that should be left to the "experts."

For the uniformed (such as myself and many others) to make a determination that a fellow aviator is flying illegally based upon dugs I think he may be using and I think may not be apporved by the FAA is, I think reckless.

Bottom line I would urge anyone concerned about this issue to tread lighty, think long and hard before you act.

The original poster has a legititmate concern, that I believe he should pursue, but only with the asistance of someone qualified.

A liitle knowledge can be very harnful when taken out of context.

Sorry if I ofended, not my intention.

 

[flight-crew]

Some common pain killers- Vicatin, codeine, and hydrocodone which are narcotics, are similiar in chemical structure to morphine. I'd be very careful with respect to drug tests if you were taking any of those. A few months ago, I was taking hydrocodone after a minor surgery and gave myself time to be completely off them before returning to work.

 

[bobbysamd]

Pain meds

The FAA does not really have a list of "approved" medications. To be perfectly dogmatic about it, the FAA believes that if you are taking any sort of medication, you probably have a health condition that disqualifies you from exercising the privileges of your medical certificate (the FAR, paraphrased). Therefore, the FAA believes that if that is you, you should not be flying.

However, in reality, the FAA Aeromedical Certification Branch approves meds on a case-by-case basis. It starts at the grassroots level, by your own AME. Sometimes, an AME will bounce your app for a medical upstairs to the FAA, who will issue your medical.

Pain meds like Vicodin or Oxycontin are narcotics or have narcotics in them. You list them on your app and it's a sure bet the FAA will pend your medical for further review. There are other meds, though, that will be approved. We've read stories about pilots who are flying with high blood pressure and who use medications.

www.leftseat.com is a good website on FAA medical certificate issuance. It lists the FAA's position on common prescription meds.

Hope that helps.