EAA's Chairman Jack Pelton, along with EAA Aeromedical
Advisory Council Chairman Dr. Stephen Leonard, today sent a
strongly worded letter to FAA Administrator
Michael Huerta detailing EAA's strenuous objection to the sleep apnea testing policy announced in the
current Federal Air Surgeon's Medical Bulletin.
The policy outlined by Dr. Fred Tilton, the federal air
surgeon, mandates testing for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) for all FAA medical
certificate applicants with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 40 and a neck
size greater than 17 inches. However, the air surgeon made it clear that those
mandate minimums were only a starting point, noting, "Once we have
appropriately dealt with every airman examinee who has a BMI of 40 or greater,
we will gradually expand the testing pool by going to lower BMI measurements
until we have identified and assured treatment for every airman with OSA."
A letter to FAA by AOPA warns the cost of the new policy could be astronomical in terms of both money and time. Sleep apnea testing for the 124,973 airmen identified as obese by the FAA in 2011 could cost as much as $374 million. Affected pilots would also have to apply for a special issuance medical certificate at a time when the FAA already has a backlog of 55,000 cases.
AOPA's position received support from Congress on Nov. 21, when a group of House General Aviation Caucus members introduced legislation to require the FAA to go through the rulemaking process before implementing policy changes related to sleep disorders.
Pelton and Leonard, with concurrence from the entire EAA
Aeromedical Advisory Council composed of experienced aviation medical
examiners, wrote that the policy announcement was "most surprising and
distressing because there is little or no evidence of aviation safety having
been compromised by sleep apnea" and that EAA strongly objects to
speculative testing that would "subject every airman who might be at risk
of having sleep apnea, even in the complete absence of clinical evidence, to a
minimum $3,500 worth of testing and evaluation."
"FAA's charge is to protect the flying public, not to practice predictive medicine or further public health policy," EAA's letter stated. - FMI: EAA, AOPA