Victims of The HIMS Program

 WE NEED YOU!

HIMS was a 1974 study to research military pilots with respect to alcohol abuse who would become airline pilots. This HIMS research transitioned into an assistance program. Today, however, this program has shifted from helping pilots to a money-making pilot abuse program that has enabled a medical industry to extort money from airman. Doctors assert airman have a substance abuse disorder, whether they do or not, and then threaten their airline careers if they don’t participate in the program, forcing them to pay exorbitant amounts of money and time to retain their career.

Pilots for HIMS Reform

The Pilots for HIMS Reform (P4HR) group is working to end this abuse, but they need your assistance.

If you have fallen victim to HIMS, you are not alone. Pilots for HIMS reform is trying to fix the problems, which are many. But they need to show the current reports of system abuse are not isolated cases.

Current Reports Indicate

Dr. David B Altman

There is no FAA oversight. Instead, the FAA has abdicated their accountability to HIMS AMEs.

To put this into perspective, the once leading HIMS AME doctor, Dr. David B. Altman, who testified in a court of law that he conducted more pilot evaluations than any other doctor, forfeited his medical license to avoid prosecution. Altman had accepted $74,000 from Delta Air Lines in exchange for providing a false diagnosis against me. Three years of my effort but one dirty doctor was gone.

HIMS AME Dr. Chien, stated, “Doctors can be bought” and “This is a dirty business.” Chien also told me he was an anesthesiologist and quit to become a HIMS AME because he could make more money. Dr. Alan Kozarsky is a trained ophthalmologist who is acting as a HIMS AME for Delta. Faulkner, is managing his own emotions with long-term anti-depressant use.

Unfortunately, airlines and unions use the HIMS program to control pilots while bastardizing the HIMS process. Any doctor can become an HIMS AME without any additional training. Dr. Faulkner testified in court that all they must do is attend a four-day conference. Well, at least that’s what he did. Yes, alcohol is involved at these seminars. Not for research but for consumption by the doctors at the end of the day.

Airline management sets arbitrary standards such as random thresholds for PEth or ETG testing. Airlines also require far greater monitoring than required by regulatory standards, and they force pilots to sign contracts, that are not required by the FAA. Where is the union? They are participating in this fraud.

When a pilot enters an airline’s HIMS program, the airline controls the pilot with the threat of medical certificate revocation, something they should have no control over. The HIMS contracts restrict the pilot’s ability to use sick leave, and the company threatens pilots when they call in fatigue, write up maintenance, etc. Airline management uses this program for control.

Airline management also uses the “HIMS contract” to terminate pilots who are not “compliant” with that contract, of which is outside the Pilot Working Agreement (PWA). Compliant can be subjective. One pilot faced consequences that he was not "working a good program" despite evidence that he never drank. Pilots have no job protection under the HIMS program despite what the union touts, and instead they expose themselves to arbitrary termination.

An entire industry is profiting from HIMS. Psychiatrist, rehabilitation centers, group therapy providers, and individual medical providers are all profiting by forcing pilots to jump through ambiguous hoops. Some of those pilots don’t even have a “substance use disorder” but are coerced into the program for other reasons than drinking. Many are forced by their union. Why? The union profits from this program too. While airlines reimburse some pilots for their medical expenses, there is no recouping the extensive time lost in their lives. I know of two pilots who quit the job because the program itself. One said it would have cost him his marriage. The HIMS program is a non-paid full-time job.

The linchpin in all this is the AME who is forcing pilots into psychiatric referrals. While the FAA does not use medical standards for the HIMS program, the AME and psychiatrists at the rehabilitation centers write insurance codes requiring proper medical standards. There exists a huge medical disconnect.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

If you, or anyone you know, was pressured into attending MARR (Maine Association Recovery Residences) or any other addiction recovery center, or if your AME has taken liberties with undue and arbitrary requirements, high expenses, or in any other manner harmed you, you can help by sharing your details.

Examples of the information requested:

1.  Your position and where you work. Example, Pilot at Delta, or pilot at major airline.
2.  Who told you to go into the HIMS program? (AME, Union, Management, FAA)
3.  What happened that forced you into the program?
4.  Who forced you to see a psychiatrist? (AME, Union, Airline management, FAA)
5.  Was any pressure applied to join the HIMS program?
6.  Were you coerced into seeing a psychiatrist?
7.  Were you coerced into admittance into MARR or another treatment center?
8.  What is your current medical status?
9.  Was any employment action taken?
10.  What were your out-of-pocket expenses?

All Documents you can share, such as letters, emails, notes, even invoices will be much appreciated. You will remain anonymous, unless you're mad enough to share your story. We understand those still employed, need anonymity. Do not believe that your story is unique and they will figure out who you are, too many, too much of the same, will protect you. This is simply data collection to prove the numbers.

Email everything to: P4HR@pilotsforhimsreform.org

Please forward to anyone impacted.

— Pilots for HIMS Reform

Together we fly — and we reform.