Passenger Safety In Harm's Way

FAA Approved, Non Controlled, Medical Malpractice

FAA third party contractors are running quite the profitable business and at pilot's expense, and to the degradation of passenger safety. Any pilot in the claws of one of these criminal doctors, you might have legal options. But the challenges are many as a result of the FAA's awareness and lack of response. 

Dr. John Mathew Fabian mugshot

DUI on drugs arrest in Oklahoma in 2016

Dr. John Matthew Fabian PSY.D., J.D., ABPP

Board Certified Forensic & Clinical Psychologist

Forensic & Clinical Neuropsychologist

And FAA Evaluator

Dr. Fabian has a national practice specializing in criminal and civil forensic psychological and neuropsychological evaluations. And he is also conducting FAA evaluations! But he doesn't work for the FAA and the FAA has no control over his actions. 

"Doctors can be bought" admits AME Dr. Chien and "This is a dirty business." 

Yes it is, and pilots lives are being destroyed for money. The FAA knows this is ongoing and yet the agency is doing nothing to stop it. Delta paid Dr. Altman $74,000 for providing a false mental health diagnosis. I tried to get the FAA to do something about Altman at the time, but I was told by the FAA that they had no power over Altman because he was not an FAA AME. Yet he was conducting FAA evaluations! What? How is that possible?  

Dr. David B. Altman

These third party contracted doctors are determining if your pilots fly or not, but they are not working for the FAA unless they are an AME. Altman wasn't. Yet, during trial Altman testified, "Dr. Charles Chisnow, who is the chief psychiatrist at the FAA, told me that I've done more evaluations of pilots than anyone else at this point in time." Yet the FAA does not have any control or regulatory compliance requirements for this doctor or others like him. How is that possible?

Passengers worldwide should fear!

It is extremely dangerous and contradicts aviation safety for doctors to be allowed to sell a false diagnosis. The FAA is aware this is ongoing. And yet nothing is done. I was told by a representative in the FAA that I had to take action with the Illinois medical board regarding Altman. That took me three years to have action taken. Yet, he walked a free man, simply forfeiting his license. Word is, he is still doing work with AMAS. A year after his removal I listened to a phone recording that indicated as much. 

I told a woman at the Illinois Medical Department, after years of calling and pushing for an investigation, of which finally lead to Dr. David B. Altman forfeiting his medical license, that her board would be found criminally negligent if an accident occurred because they had so many complaints against Altman.

I explained to this woman, "If a doctor is willing to take money for a false diagnosis, they would be willing to take money from the highest bidder. If the rich pilot, who legitimately has a problem and is planning to fly his plane into the ground like the Germanwings pilot, who has nothing to live for then he doesn't need his money. Pay it to Dr. Altman or one of the dirty doctors who are in this for financial gain. The dirty doctor would put him in the sky despite any problems noted. If you're a crook you will always go for the highest payoff." 

That was the statement that prodded the Illinois medical department to pursue Altman. 

How can you tell if a doctor is dirty? Follow your gut and avoid those who do not appear on the up and up. For example, I knew nothing of Dr. Brousseau, other than word from an American pilot that she worked closely with Altman, and there was ALPA trying to get me to see her as my doctor, after my Altman diagnosis. I did a little research and wondered how this woman was qualified for bipolar disorder evaluation or for a pilot evaluation. Dr. Kristin Brousseau was a podiatrist that worked in the VA hospital and decided to get into the game of evaluating pilots. 

Dr. Kristin Brousseau, DO

AMAS doctor, Jon Riccitello, worked hard to convince me to go to Brousseau as my neutral doctor, even asserting she would read the three hundred plus page report for "FREE." Who would do that? Instead, I went to the Mayo Clinic. Then we needed a tiebreaker, and Dr. Altman fought to make Brousseau the neutral examiner. These are the red flags you must pay attention to. I never used Brousseau, and this is not an assertion of her potential to be one of the doctors that could be bought, as stated by Dr. Chien. I am only sharing my concerns based upon her lack of experience, the great effort ALPA and Altman went through to have me see her, and all the reasons that I did not. 

Dr. Jon Riccitello (ALPA/AMAS)

Dr. Riccitello looks so sweet and innocent, quite nerdy too, but not only did he try to convince me to go to Brousseau, he told me there was no way I could beat Altman with a bipolar diagnosis and asserted the Altman was the "BIG GUN" with the FAA. He was wrong. The FAA assured me they did not have a big gun. They may not have a big gun, but these doctors are running around like it's the wild west without any FAA control, taking out pilots one shot at a time. Those AMEs they do have control over, they are looking the other way. I have to ask why?

It's Time to Remove These Doctors

I could not sue Altman for malpractice because he worked for Delta. He simply evaluated me. There was no client patient relationship. Courts have determined that examinations conducted at the behest of a third party, do not typically entail the establishment of a patient-physician relationship because the intent is to inform the third party, not to treat or diagnose the patient. (Lownsbury v Van Buren, 762 NE2d 354 (Ohio 2002). State v Herendeen et al, 279 Ga 323, 613 SE2d 647 (Ga 2005). This is how airlines are able to use these doctors, because the airline is the client. 

But that might not be the case. First, had I gone to Dr. Kristin Brousseau, she would have been my doctor, and if she had played the same game I could have filed malpractice against her. If you select a doctor that you feel is in cahoots, they probably are. You have legal options available. 

For those in the HIMS program, your company may be forcing you to see a specific HIMS AME, they may even be paying for that doctor, but if that doctor is prescribing anything, such as a 90-day lockdown as an in-patient, or telling you to see a psychiatrist, or anything that identifies a client patient relationship then you can file malpractice charges. If you pay the doctor, and the company reimburses you, I believe you could argue that this is your doctor. Just like a company uniform, you pay for it, you own it, but the company will reimburse you for it. 

The only way to get rid of these dirty doctors is to pick them off, one at a time, and hurt them where they place their value: Their wallet. 

Pilots careers are on the line, 

And Passenger safety is at stake!

WHERE IS THE FAA???

Read more on the post Medical Fraud and Abuse.  

If you know of a dirty doctor, please email me at Karlene.Petitt@gmail.com. Now is the time to expose them all! 

Enjoy the Journey
Dr. Karlene Petitt

PhD. MBA. MHS.
A350, B777, A330, B747-400, B747-200, B767, B757, B737, B727