2010-04-05 11:24:48 - Do you feel safe to fly in a tin can at 35,000 feet when the pilot may have an antidepressant side effects like memory loss?

San Francisco, CA, April 05, 2010 -- Ever wonder, which government agency would be most likely to put a person in harms way. If you join the military then you volunteer to be placed in the line of fire if under enemy attack. The antidepressant use can also kill you on the base just like it did at Ft. Hood several months ago. The IRS will use fear instead of mortality, but they can certainly incarcerate you which could be a slow death. The FDA has been approving psychotropic drugs, heart medications, birth control pills et al, with horrendous track records and mortal consequences since its inception. Some of those drugs have been taken off the market, but most like

antidepressants are still available even though it is widely known they depress patients. Now we have the latest US government agency the FAA, which will now allow pilots to medicate and fly.

Some of the side effects of these now allowable medications (Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa, Lexapro) are suicide, mania, agitation, dizziness, fatigue, insomnia, tremors, muscle aches, diarrhea, fast heartbeat, fever chills, fainting, bizarre behavior, aggressiveness, joint or wrist aches and pain, ringing in the ears, confusion, decreased concentration, decreased coordination, exaggerated feeling of well being, irritability, hostility, memory loss, vomiting, mood changes, unusual weakness, vision changes, hallucinations, and worsening of depression. Do you feel safe to fly in a tin can at 35,000 feet when the pilot may have one or more of these side effects? It seems clear the FAA is looking at only one head in the head count. Based on these side effects you could have a maniac flying the plane! You should get thrown off the plane for bizarre behavior, but today you get to be the captain.

According to news reports the FAA will seek to evaluate the pilots on antidepressants while the pilot is grounded for approximately six months and ongoing through their careers. They also imply pilots could be using antidepressants now without disclosing that information. If so those pilots will be barred from flying, and would undergo a longer evaluation.

Foxnews quotes FAA administrator Randy Babbit "We know more today about the science of the medications being given and we know a lot more about depression itself," Babbitt said. "The policy is changing I mean our number one priority is safety, and the public certainly has the right to know that everybody in the cockpit is healthy, both mentally and physically." End quote. If they truly knew more about these medications they would know they do not work at all, and that the side effects are lethal.

Foxnews also reports Babbitt saying the new rule is aimed, in part, at removing the stigma of mental illness, much as the FAA began to deal with drug abuse and alcoholism in the cockpit with the establishment 40 years ago of its Human Intervention and Motivation Study, end quote. Does the FAA have more concern about the stigma of mental illness or passenger safety? It appears that this is a social experiment, so mentally depressed pilots retain their jobs regardless of the consequences. We can’t discriminate, so we need to allow depressed pilots to fly with lethal medications. This is not about safety, but political correctness. It will now be up to passengers to express their concerns with this policy, and for Airlines to form their own rules regarding potentially lethal medicated pilots. I believe the vast majority will want a healthy pilot free of mind altering drugs and medication. Antidepressants clearly alter the mind.

Stop Foundation Inc. www.stoprx.org Stop Foundation Inc. was formed to make the public aware of the effects of psychotropic drugs. We have a wealth of information including books and many alternative remedies. Please visit the website and donate today.

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