In the Aviation Industry
Coming Soon!
The unspoken truth of how airlines remove pilots for reporting safety, calling in fatigued, using too much sick leave, or suggesting improvements for safer operations... As it turns out calling a pilot crazy is more effective than firing them. If a pilot is terminated unjustly, they have legal rights to return. However, if they are deemed unfit to fly, they have no rights.
It doesn't matter if these pilots never lose their medical certificates. If the airline pays a doctor to create a diagnosis, then the airline will not allow the pilot to return to flight status. Some will get jobs at other airlines at half the pay and at the bottom of the seniority list. Others spend every penny fighting for justice. Some are forced into an alcohol rehab program, whether they are an alcoholic or not.
One would ask why anyone would do such a thing? That is the million dollar question. The answer could be simple as, a sociopath in power.
This book, however, is on the medical side of this retaliation of how doctors are paid for creating a false diagnoses to remove an airline pilot. Many months ago I posted a passage from a medical report created by one of these doctors. Clearly extortion is written all over this page.
This doctor tells the pilot that if he contacts an attorney, files a complaint with the medical board, rescinds the releases he initially signed, or continues to allude to legal action that he would be found mentally unfit. However, if he drops legal action there might be a chance of a favorable diagnosis.
I also learned that the doctor who wrote the above report for one pilot, received close to $74,000 for a mental health examination of another. To put that in perspective, the average evaluation is closer to $3,300. This doctor went as far to tell pilot on Christmas Eve they would never fly again, despite notifying the company two months earlier. He has destroyed numerous lives over the course of his career. Sadly he is not alone, as there are other doctors just like him.
Can we stop these doctors?
Sometimes good news does prevail. After numerous calls to the medical board, and a half a dozen reports on the same doctor, a lengthy investigation prevailed. There was enough information identifying this doctor to have unethical behavior to send the investigatory report to the "controller."
The controller held this report for 9 months due to workload, but when he evaluated it, he too saw a problem and sent the doctor to the disciplinary board. Last week, the disciplinary board agreed with previous recommendations, and they sent him to the medical prosecution board. This next phase will take another two months, but the system is working.
The controller held this report for 9 months due to workload, but when he evaluated it, he too saw a problem and sent the doctor to the disciplinary board. Last week, the disciplinary board agreed with previous recommendations, and they sent him to the medical prosecution board. This next phase will take another two months, but the system is working.
While this will not get the lives back that this doctor has taken, it will prevent him from harming anyone again. The next question is, if a doctor loses his license and prosecuted for taking money with intent to do harm and fraud, what will they do with the organizations that paid these doctors for his false diagnoses? As this doctor, and others are officially prosecuted, I will post their names. If anyone has been harmed by one of them, these pilots may have recourse to open up their case to be revisited.
For those who have been subjected to a mental health evaluation for reporting safety, calling in fatigued, or being forced to fly unfit, you have rights under the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century, known as an Air 21, the whistle blower law. Please know that forcing someone into a mental health evaluation is considered an "adverse action" in the eyes of the law. If you need help, contact Lee Seham to learn the laws of protection, as you only have 90 days.
Stand by... this story is not over, and the book is in underway.
Enjoy the journey!
XO Karlene
