Prominent aviation attorney Joe LoRusso of https://www.ramoslaw.com/our-team/attorneys/joseph-lorusso/ echo's Dr. Blue on his appearance on "The Pilot's Pandemic" podcast episode 39. https://anchor.fm/thepilotspandemic/episodes/39-Joe-LoRusso-Aviation-Attorney--Discussing-Flawed-Aeromedical-Policies-e1jcgbd
Key points that LoRusso stated were that the HIMS Program is garbage 4 min 50 sec, pilots are wrongly put in the HIMS program 8 Min 30 Sec,
9:00 reporting process is extremely draconian, all someone has to do is accuse and pilot is red flagged without any actual evidence to support the red flag. Not even blood testing is done. But the pilot is forced to go to a HIMS doctor 9 min, and 13:50 pilot is being held hostage for his entire flight career in the HIMS Program. Airlines especially Delta throw Pilots into the HIMS program to hold them hostage which state the pilots are essentially property of the airline that threw them into the HIMS program.
You read this correct, not only does the FAA HIMS program forces pilots into the unconstitutional action of not only being held hostage to the HIMS program, but are forced keep using the same HIMS AMEs and Specialists every single time, no second opinion for as long as they desire to fly. 31 min 45 sec Not only is this a failure of The FAA oversight to prevent malpractice, it has the exact opposite effect and in fact this absolutely incentivizes these quacks to keep "finding problems with pilots" which in turn is a financial gravy train for these quacks. This is especially true if the quacks are either partners in or receive kickbacks from rehab centers. 33 min 25 sec 95% of Joe's clients are pilots that have been duped into the HIMS program, HIMS negatively affects the pilot. Also these is no good reason why those pilots tagged with ADHD as children by the public schools who have no criminal record of alcohol or substance abuse should have to go see a HIMS specialist.
Pilot's are afraid to say anything because FAA Aeromedical Division is run like a dictatorship and even though this violates the law, https://aam300.com/faq/ and since most pilots are afraid to speak up for fear of never getting their medical back 20min 50 seconds, These actions have largely flown under the radar of Congressional Oversight.
This level of malpractice, corruption and outright disregard of following the law goes all the way up to the FAA Administrators. Previous FAA Administrator Steve Dickson was integral in causing an Delta Airlines pilots whistleblower Karlene Petitt to lose her medical for two years by intertidally weaponizing a psychiatric evaluation. https://sites.google.com/site/no2cog/supporting-evidence/psychology-confirmation-bias-and-social-equity-quotas an administrative law judge later determined, The psychiatrist who gave the initial diagnosis, which Delta paid for, years later was forced by Illinois regulators to stop practicing medicine partly due to improprieties involving commercial-pilot screening for the carrier."
Judging by a search warrant issued to Biden's successor to Dickson, Phil Washington, for "corruption contracting process" meaning Washington is being investigated for accepting kickbacks, https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/09/search-warrant-served-bidens-faa-nominee-claims/
meaning things would not change at the FAA if it ended up under his watch, Thankfully his nomination did not get approved
LoRusso said as much at 34 min 10 secs where he said the HIMS quacks use a template where you can black out the names of reports from different pilots, the reports minus the names end up being identical. The pilot is screwed the moment he is forced to go see the quack. The pilot is trapped and it becomes a financial gravy train for the quacks. Non-airline pilots have to pay entirely out of pocket but airline pilots are sponsored by the airlines who are reimbursed by the FAA, AKA the taxpayer. 42 minutes LoRusso says many of the the FAA neuropsychs are in fact bought and paid for hacks
Doesn't help that those that are in charge of this process which includes Dr. David O'Brien who LoRusso mentions by name
26 min 40 secs by stating O'Brien has way too much discretionary power to reject an airmen's medical application based on opinion
At 35 min 50 sec LoRusso states mental health is subjective.
LoRusso states that the FAA Aeromedical Division, AAM 300, based in Oklahoma City employees some of the least qualified doctors possible 27 min 30 secs, 28 min 15 sec FAA Doctors have not been clinicians for decades many in 30 plus years. 29 min AAM-300 often rejects non-FAA approved (meaning no kickbacks to the FAA) specialist documentation and demands raw data for AAM-300 to interpret themselves yet they don't have any specific specialist to interpret the data so they interpret the data wrong. This is not only a failure of the Oklahoma Medical Board to rein in this type or malpractice because since this malpractice extends across state lines. It's also a failure of other States' Medical and Psychology Boards by allowing their State doctors to be dictated by an out of state entity in violation of HIPAA and the 10th Amendment.
Joe lorusso pilots pandemic 39
4:50 hims program is garbage
6:00 HIMS is an airline program
6:41 hims was only available for airline pilots originally
7:35 hims has regressed into instead of actually helping the pilot more of a CYA for the FAA and Airlines for all Pilots and now is more interested in holding Pilots hostage
8:30 pilots are wrongly put in the HIMS program
9:00 reporting process is extremely Draconian all someone has to do is accuse and pilot is red flagged without any actual evidence to support the red flag. Not even blood testing is done. But the pilot is forced to go to a HIMS doctor
9:40 even though the pilot was not drunk and does not have an alcohol problem he is forced admitted into a 30-day rehab program
10:40 system is set up against the pilot where the pilot is guilty until proven innocent
11:50 hymns program was reinvigorated by the FAA in the 1980s and stated it would be federally funded but only for 121 airline pilots everyone else had to pay out of pocket. Airlines pay for the treatment of 121 Pilots then are reimbursed by the government
12:30 is a money meal for the airlines
13:50 pilot is being held hostage for his entire flight career in the hims program. Airlines especially Delta throw Pilots into the himms program to hold them hostage which state the pilots are essentially property of the airline that threw them into the HIMS program.
16:50 airline pilots Association and other pilot unions for Airlines have a conflict of interest where they are representing the HIMS program over the pilot
17:50 says the first course of action is contacting an aviation attorney
19:00 95% of Joe's clients are pilots that have been duped into the hims program, HIMS negatively affects the pilot
20:50 hims program takes the soul of a pilot, and piles are afraid to stand up to this and say what is going on is wrong.
22:50 FAA is archaic with their approach to Mental Health and pilots cannot be human
23:10 you can't mourn the loss of a loved one.
24:00 hims program views even light drinking who are not addicted to alcohol is considered an alcohol problem and that people tagged in the hymns program have to be titles for the rest of life and if they have one drink it's considered a violation and then they are an alcoholic
25:30 26:00 line of power of issuance of special issuance is not well defined from federal surgeon to all the way down to AMEs
26:40 David O'Brien has way too much discretionary power to reject an airmen's medical application based on opinion
26:50 even the appeals process is a guessing game
27:30 FAA doctors are probably some of the least qualified doctors
28:15 FAA doctors have not been clinicians for decades many in 30 plus years
29:00 AAM often Rejects specialist documentation and demands raw data for aam to interpret themselves yet they don't have any specific specialist to interpret the data so they interpret the data wrong
30:00 the excuse is the FAA carpet bomb rejects Pilots for cya and yet the FAA being a federal agency is not liable for anything
31:45 32:25 Pilots are forced to go to the exact same hims psychiatrist/psychologist every single time. So no second opinion
33:25 Pilots are forced to specific hims psychologist that write up damaging reports to hold them hostage for at the Pilot's expense. and go figure that psychiatrist also owns or is a partner in a rehab center.
33:55 problem is not the quality of the doctor but the persuasion of the doctor.
34:10 hims quacks use a template where you can black out the names of pilots and they are identical. The pilot is screwed the moment he is forced to go see the quack. That's the problem when money gets involved in the situation.
35:50 mental health is subjective
42:00 supports hims psychiatrists that are clinicians not bought and paid for hacks
Ramoslaw.com
More recently Joe LoRusso has expanded his social media presence beyond LinkedIn onto Instagram via mos Law Profile. https://www.instagram.com/ramosaviationlaw/ He reiterates how punitive the FAA is against pilots for even accidentally not listing any medical issue such as seeing a marriage counselor of failing to list a DUI arrest, even if the pilot was innocent by having a BAC of 0.0 and was ultimately acquitted and the case expunged. LoRusso also calls out his critics claiming he is over exaggerating these claims, he's not, and if anything LoRusso is actually showing much restraint as to how broken FAA Medical really is. This includes influencer pilot exposed part 2 stating that the faa's videos about their medical division are essentially gaslighting pilots and the reality is there are 27, 000 Pilots and air traffic controllers stuck in medical purgatory for multiple years under the current system. A medical expungement and amnesty of allowing those 27,000 Pilots near traffic controllers they have their medical bags for bacon significant debt in the pilot and aircraft controllers shortage especially since most of those 27,000 were experienced pilots and air traffic controllers that have numerous years in the industry