What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Oxygen prescription

Mike S

Senior Curmudgeon
Just ran into this article by Senior AME Dr. Brent Blue.

http://www.aeromedix.com/blog/2012/...-into-the-21st-century-kicking-and-screaming/

Last paragraph, he offers to send anyone a prescription of O2 free, just email him.

If his name sounds familiar, remember the big uproar when FAA tried to ban "Through the Fence" operations ????? he was a leading force in opposing the ban.

Prior discussion on O2 refills............ http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=104381&highlight=oxygen+prescription
 
Last edited:
Thank you for posting. My local shop has never asked for a prescription, but I worry about getting a refill while on a trip.
 
Medicinal oxygen is cheaper than aviator oxygen but is also lower grade.

The first part of that statement is true, the second not really anymore - all of the oxygen that you are likely to find - commercial, welding, medical, aviator - comes out of the same production equipment these days. It is far cheaper to produce and store one grade.
 
How can the two oxygen's be of different grade when they are produced in the same way?
 
just passing on some reading.....

funny how often this comes up. I'm not a user, just curious...and found this.

http://www.biopak240r.com/faq/oxygen.php

to save your reading glasses....appears the vast majority of 02 is 99.5 or 99.6% pure, but they run it thru a 'dryer' in order to meet aviation standards.
The rest is in how the filler handles the bottles, vis a vis possible contamination from other sources ( welding gases etc.).

...my summary, come to your own conclusions.
 
There is no difference between aviators o2 and medical o2. The dew point is minus 62 for both of them. Medical o2 has moisture added by the medical staff while administering it.
 
Yep, it all comes out of the same truck.

Brent is one of the good guys. Although he is an AME, he has previously written that class 3 medicals for private pilots are a complete waste of money.
 
Prescription

Does the prescription allow you to charge your insurance with bottle rental and o2 refills or just the ability to purchase the stuff from a medical supply house?
 
Does the prescription allow you to charge your insurance with bottle rental and o2 refills or just the ability to purchase the stuff from a medical supply house?

It would allow the purchase from a medical supply outlet. Insurance only covers what it deems to be medically necessary, which aviation oxygen is not.

As a pilot, consider your insurance claim record to be the same or worse than your medical record. The claims database is easily searched by the feds. While you might go to the doc for an upset stomach, the doc might bill for "palpitations." On a follow-up visit the doc can update the medical file to read "chile con carne syndrome," but the palpitations bell has been rung in the insurance database. As a pilot, consider the concept of paying cash for certain kinds of investigations with a separate provider (preferably with paper charts) and to review the results of such workups with a hired-gun aeromedical service before involving your insurance (if you can afford it).
 
+1 what AV8AZ said. For your insurance to even consider it, the prescription would need to be associated with a justifying diagnosis. What would you prefer on your record, heart disease or lung disease? As soon as your insurance company figures out what is going on (and they will) you and your doc are both subject to fraud charges, and you lose your insurance coverage. Still sound like a good idea?

Just do what Rocky suggested. Welders O2 is fine. This has been discussed in previous posts ad nauseum. Nothing has changed.

Jim Berry
RV-10
 
Good question. In my case the local welding gas supplier will not put welding oxygen into a "medical oxygen" bottle, without a prescription, so I went and got one. When I queried them as to what rule that was, they only would tell me that "Obama makes them do that"

.
With welding gas so cheap and available, why bother with a script from the doctor?
 
Has anyone ever had an FBO not fill up a tank when you are out of town without script? At home it is easy - get a big tank and fill your plane tank. Everyone is happy then.

The other option is to spray some paint, scratch, and put some rock band stickers on your small tank and tell the guy at the gas shop you got the tank cheap.
 
The welding o2 vs the aviation or medical 02 is the same with the exception of any breathing o2 having ran through a line heater to burn out any other impurities.
 
"Obama makes them do that"

For your information, prescriptions have been required under Regan, Bush, Clinton and Bush as well. That's three republican and two democratic administration. Let the read draw their own conclusions.
 
The welding o2 vs the aviation or medical 02 is the same with the exception of any breathing o2 having ran through a line heater to burn out any other impurities.

I am not familiar with a line heater to burn out impurities. In medicine we occasionally heat administered oxygen due in part to Gay-Lussac's Law. As oxygen (or any gas) leaves a compressed cylinder the temperature of the gas will drop. The heating we do is simply to raise the temperature of the oxygen to body temperature.
 
I read the most bizarre "facts" whenever oxygen is mentioned by aviators.
It is a wonder we are not all dead from breathing the "wrong stuff".
Just landed from a long 16,000 ft. trip.... and feel great. And I don't know diddly about welding.
 
I read the most bizarre "facts" whenever oxygen is mentioned by aviators.
It is a wonder we are not all dead from breathing the "wrong stuff".
Just landed from a long 16,000 ft. trip.... and feel great. And I don't know diddly about welding.

Feeling great, eh? Sounds like hyper-oxygenated euphoria to me. Obviously you're too brain damaged to self-diagnose. No doubt you're looking forward to breathing more of the wrong stuff...just proof of the damage done. ;-)
 
I did not intend to start a political war, just stating what they told me.
Your information seems incorrect, since most welding gas places seem to fill medical bottles with no questions - or a prescription! They would not show me the rule they claimed they were following either, I sort of doubt it exists.

"Obama makes them do that"

For your information, prescriptions have been required under Regan, Bush, Clinton and Bush as well. That's three republican and two democratic administration. Let the read draw their own conclusions.
 
Last paragraph, he offers to send anyone a prescription of O2 free, just email him.

I have a prescription from him that I keep in my flight bag, in case I'm out traveling and need a refill with no FBO O2 services. So far I haven't needed it as my tank seems to last me x-country and back but it's nice having it just in case.
 
Back
Top