Deferred medical stalled at FAA

[brian257]

Hoping someone here who has been through this can offer some advice and possibly my experience can help someone else.

Went to renew my medical three months ago and put on my history that I was seeing a doctor for rheumatoid arthritis. No big deal, meds already checked to make sure they are not on FAA bad list and symptoms mild, but turns out that for an initial diagnosis of RA that the AME needs a status report from the treating doctor showing range of motion, no side effects from meds, etc. AME said that since he already had my medical started in FAA system he had to finish it and defer decision to FAA who would send letter asking for report from treating doctor.

Anyway, my dilema is that was 3 months ago now and at least a dozen calls to FAA with them telling me it is still in review. Spoke to a supervisor today and she tells me they can't do anything to speed it up and can't even tell me if one of their doctors that review it has looked at it yet, where I am in their que, or how long it will take. I have been busy finishing another plane so was not a big deal before, but now it is ready to fly so it is becoming a big deal. I asked if there was anything preventing me from getting a BasicMec since my medical was not denied, but she told me that with the current medical holding in their system I can not even get a BasicMed.

Anyone have any advice on if there is any way to get somewhere with the FAA on this? I do have a call in to the AME, but not sure he will be able to do anything and almost impossible just to get a call back from him.

[Flying again!]

You can get a Basic Med medical. I had a similar situation and since my Class III was not denied, suspended or revoked I could apply for BaicMed and had it done in 2 days. 3-4 weeks later I finally got my Class III from the FAA under a Special Issuance. It was good for 1 year after my application which actually gave me less than 9 months. I do not plan on doing another Class III.

The only potential problem is if you are denied the Class IIImyour Basic Med is not valid and you will have to go through the FAA hoops to eventually get the Class III issued.

[Mike S]

AOPA medical folks should be your next phone call.

[Flyin'Bryan]

Originally Posted by Mike S

AOPA medical folks should be your next phone call.

Or EAA's medical assistance/pilot advocate/medical advisory council members. They have been most helpful to me in recent years.

https://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/aviation-...visory-program

[jcarne]

I agree with post two. The Basicmed requirements state that it can't be used if FAA has revoked, denied, or suspended a past medical. Since none of those apply to your situation I don't see any reason why you can't use Basicmed until the FAA comes back with their response.

[Thermos]

I was in the same situation a few months ago. No one could tell me where my medical was at, except that it wasn't at Oklahoma City any more.

I called the FAA Regional Flight Surgeon's office and was very surprised when they advised me to call one of my Congressional reps - which I did. Two weeks later I had a call from the Federal Air Surgeon's office in DC asking which class of medical I wanted.

This wasn't my first choice to deal with this situation, but when the FAA's medical review process is so constipated that their own employees can't find status information, there really isn't another choice - and we deserve better from the organization we fund.

Dave S

[rv7boy]

I agree with Mike S. Call the AOPA medical folks, assuming you are a member. If not, why not? 👍
They can ping the FAA every week if you add your name to the list. They have helped me on more than one occasion.
BasicMed might be available but you need a favorable result on your medical certificate in work.

[az_gila]

Originally Posted by brian257

..... AME said that since he already had my medical started in FAA system he had to finish it and defer decision to FAA ....

For this exact reason, it's always good to contact your AME ahead of the visit and tell him/her any special conditions and to ask for any reports he may need.
It helped in my case when pre-cancerous stuff was found in my a**l borescope test...

This is one of the things BasicMed makes redundant.

[brian257]

I also thought I could get a BasicMed, but the supervisor I spoke to today said I couldn't. Not sure if she was correct on that since mine was not suspended, denied, or revoked. She said that in checking the date of my last medical per the rules it would pull up this half way done medical and stop things in their tracks.

Anyway, it pays to know people. I called a DPE I know to see if he had any FAA contacts and he gave me the number of one of the FAA doctors. That doctor pulled up my info and said they did an initial review or my application a month and a half ago, but had not assigned it to a doctor for review yet. He said he would review it today and push the paperwork along so I should have my medical in about a week. I wish I had thought of this route a few months ago.

[Flying again!]

Originally Posted by brian257

I also thought I could get a BasicMed, but the supervisor I spoke to today said I couldn't. Not sure if she was correct on that since mine was not suspended, denied, or revoked. She said that in checking the date of my last medical per the rules it would pull up this half way done medical and stop things in their tracks.

Anyway, it pays to know people. I called a DPE I know to see if he had any FAA contacts and he gave me the number of one of the FAA doctors. That doctor pulled up my info and said they did an initial review or my application a month and a half ago, but had not assigned it to a doctor for review yet. He said he would review it today and push the paperwork along so I should have my medical in about a week. I wish I had thought of this route a few months ago.

Glad it is going to work out for you. However, the supervisor is wrong. My Medical was also in work, unless they revoke, suspend or deny it, you can use BasicMed which is what I did.