Some pilots taking medication for mild or moderate depression will be
able to fly as soon as next week under a new government rule aimed
partly at getting those taking antidepressants to disclose the
treatment.
The new policy, which takes effect Monday, reverses a
ban on flying for pilots taking medications like Prozac. Federal Aviation Administration
officials said the old rule was based on outdated versions of
antidepressants that could cause drowsiness and other side effects.
The medications have been updated and do not pose
that risk with everyone, FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt told reporters
Friday. But there was a side effect to the policy that has now been
abrogated, Babbitt said. That rule had resulted in pilots taking those
medications to keep their depression and treatment a secret, under the
threat of losing their certification to fly.
"Our concern is that they haven't necessarily been
candid," Babbitt said.
"We need to change the culture and remove the stigma
associated with depression," Babbitt said. "Pilots should be able to get
the medical treatment they need so they can safely perform their
duties."
Under the new policy, pilots who take one of four
antidepressants — Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa or Lexapro or their generic
equivalents — will be allowed to fly if they have been successfully
treated by those medications for a year without side effects that could
pose a safety hazard in the cockpit. The antidepressants are classified
as SSRIs, which help regulate mood.
In addition, the FAA will grant a sort of amnesty for
pilots who have kept their treatment for depression a secret. The
agency will not take civil enforcement action against pilots who, within
six months, disclose their diagnoses of depression and treatment.
FAA officials said they changed the policy in part to
encourage disclosure, but also because their own research by a team of
psychiatrists over the past two years showed that the antidepressants
have advanced to the point where side effects don't affect everyone and
often subside in time. The risk of safety hazard, therefore, has
subsided, the agency concluded.
Several labor unions representing aircraft owners,
pilots and crews had urged the government to lift the ban. The Army, the
Civil Aviation Authority
of Australia and Transport
Canada already allow some pilots to fly who are using
antidepressant medications.
A team of psychiatrists and aviation medical examiners will help the
agency monitor pilots under the new policy under a program established
40 years ago to assess and treat pilots suffering from alcohol and drug abuse issues, the
FAA said.
David Mikael Taclino
Inyu Web Development and Design
Creative Writer
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