Senior HIMS AME Dr. Brent Blue, stated major revelations about the Cogscreen on "The Pilots Pandemic" Podcast episode #82
* 18 minutes into the Podcast Dr. Blue states point blank even though the FAA commissioned and paid for the creation of Cogscreen in 1987, Gary Kay the test creator owns the copyright and patent for the test and gets a kickback of $100 every time the test is administered.
* 18 min 38 sec Dr. Blue says the Cogscreen has NEVER been shown to prevent an accident.
* 18 min 48 sec Says 80% of the 20 studies done on the Cogscreen with the last one being done in 2000 either had Gary Kay as the lead author or one of the authors which is a SIGNIFICANT CONFLICT OF INTEREST. This is not unlike the conflict of interest of the claimed "independent experts" regarding vaccine safety when they are actually funded by big-pharma to cover up the shots cause ADHD as reported by CBS News https://x.com/catsscareme2021/status/1914683945947480110?t=TMB0dPK7bWDoRtAc8cskpA&s=19
* 19 min 18 sec Dr. Blue questions why the FAA uses the Cogscreen the way they do. and says it's an subjective test but the FAA uses as an yes/no test meaning that a pilot could pass an assessment with flying colors but if they do bad on the Cogscreen they won't get their medical back. Dr. Blue finds this truly offensive and makes no sense what so ever
As documented below Dr. Blue states the Cogscreen is "ridiculous" and proves nothing, especially if a pilot passed sim training (and by extension passing a checkride to earn a flight rating) They are mentally capable to fly. Can't be emphasized enough that Dr. Blue stated the test is graded subjectively yet is used as a hard yes/no regarding if a pilot receives his medical or not regardless if the pilot aces every other aspect of a cognitive assessment. Not only does this prove that day two of Fabian's testing was nothing more than a cash grab, but with the recent policy change certain if you pass the Cogscreen, you don't have to take it again, then it incentivizes the test administrator to keep failing the pilot with their subjective grading to hold them hostage.
Also keep in mind that not every pilot has to take this which is a violation of the 14th Amendment equal protection clause. The test itself violates the 6th where it's a black box and there is no transparency to it being the accuser along with the FAA's 5th Amendment violation of forcing the disclosure of past diagnoses whether they were valid or not, such as the over diagnosis of ADHD which Dr, Blue also states in the podcast at the 39 minute mark. And no HIPAA does not protect pilots from being subject to perjury indictments for withholding said info. This is why pilots are afraid to seek healthcare because no diagnosis means no act of perjury is committed
Dr. Blue is also has no idea why the FAA continues to use the Cogscreen in spite of all the evidence put forward. He probably was unaware of Dr. David O'Brien's ties to Gary Kay. Why else would have the Cogscreen website have hosted O'Brien's white paper https://next.thehhp.net/index.php/s/keNELgosoANpP79 mirrored https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qCxR_cOGWhagrg-fN6HUj4hyu1r8Lf5U/view?usp=sharing Remember After I sent this to Congressman Sessions's office, the PDF was deleted from the website, but not before I persevered the google cache to prove it was there https://next.thehhp.net/index.php/s/EL6GBQ48gameFNH mirrored https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JkEY1Dzs34pqZZ5pm71OYUUgb1Yijo42/view?usp=sharing Another FAA whitepaper that was conveniently removed from the internet but not before I archived it was one that stated the Cogscreen was 100% accurate page 43 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IKLQwNG5EZYFQQ4sG6JTw2lqSssp9jpk/view Nothing is 100% accurate, the inaccuracies of COVID publications proves this.
Dr. Blue also has written numerous articles on the Cogscreen and how it's use should be eliminated
https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2022/august/pilot/flight-md-flying-low and
https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2023/june/pilot/flight-md-cog-screen-testing
Rundown of Pilots Pandemic Episode 82.
Dr. Brent Blue Senior HIMS, AME, AOPA advisor.
52 sec Dr. Blue has his intro
2 min 40 sec Explains his reasoning from becoming an aviation medical examiner or AME. says he liked helping pilots getting their medicals
3 min 18 sec. Explains the difference between regular AMEs and Senior AMEs. Senior AMEs can administer First Class Medicals. AMEs can apply to become Senior AMEs after a year and is granted by the regional flight surgeon based on the AMEs performance.
3 min 45 Sec Says the difference between First, Second, and Thrid Class medicals is Vision
4 min 5 sec SPONSOR RUNS until 5 min 10 sec
5 min 11 sec Dr. Blue talks about HIMS, Human Intervention Motivational Study, A 1070s study to get pilots back into the cockpit after drug and alcohol issues.
5 min 49 sec, Dr Blue says it was initially successful with airline pilots but then was expanded to general aviation and they should have changed the name but they didn't.
6 min 16 sec, to become a HIMS AME you have to take a week long course, that is held once year.
6 min 30 sec, HIMS was originally meant for drug and alcohol abuse, but the FAA for whatever reason also "threw in" the anti-depressant pilots into HIMS even though it "does not belong there"
6 min 50 sec Dr. Blue says instead of creating a new category or allowing non-HIMS AME to handle SSRI pathways, they dumped it on HIMS AMEs because "there was no other place to put it"
7 min 55 sec, HIMS practitioners have to take re-education classes (conflicts with Joe LoRusso's statement to me where the FAA never revokes HIMS certification like they should have done with John Mathew Fabian)
8 Min 28 sec Dr. Blue does not think the HIMS Program, especially for those that are not drug and alcohol abusers is currently appropriate.
9 min 10 sec Dr Blue states that the current way The FAA has AMEs evaluate pilots is in accordance with modern medicine, Dr Blue views the FAA draconian policy towards SSRI pilots as inappropriate.
14 min 45 sec Dr. Blue states that the special issuance pathway is always difficult. Not only for what has to be submitted but also because the FAA is backed up, says its a significant problem
16 min 25 sec Emma talks about Dr, Blue criticizing the Cogscreen at AOPA Airventure 2022 in Oshkosh
17 min 5 sec Says that certain pilots have to see a neuropsychologist or psychiatrist certified by the FAA to administer the Cogscreen
18 min 8 sec Dr. Blue says the Cogscreen was invented (in 1987) by Gary Kay who owns the copyright an patent and Gary Kay received $100 (kickback) every time the test is administered.
18 min 38 sec Dr. Blue says the Cogscreen has NEVER been shown to prevent an accident.
18 min 48 sec Says 80% of the 20 studies done on the Cogscreen and the last one being done in 2000 either had Gary Kay as the lead author or one of the authors which is a SIGNIFICANT CONFLICT OF INTEREST.
19 min 18 sec Dr. Blue questions why the FAA uses the Cogscreen the way they do. and says it's an subjective test but the FAA uses as an yes/no test meaning that they could pass an assessment with flying colors but if the does bad on the Cogscreen they won't get their medical back. Dr Blue finds this truly offensive and makes no sense what so ever
19 min 47 sec Dr. Blue says he trained with Gary Kay and purchased the equipment and says after he administered it a few times he feels that the Cogscreen is a ridiculous thing to make pilots do. Dr. Blue is not in favor of it in any way shape or form. .
20 in 32 sec, Dr. Blue says that one airline pilot he treated was forced to take the Cogscreen every year for 26 years and say no test is valid in that setting. He said because that pilot was an airline pilot he had to like all airline pilots pass a sim check every 6 months, so if you can pass a sim check, there is ZERO reason to have to take a cogscreen or has an significance whatsoever. Dr. Blue reemphasized that if a pilot can pass a sim check, "What the hell are we doing with a Cogscreen!?"
21 min 40 sec Says the FAA removal of recurrent Cogscreen testing on SSRI pilots was a compromise between those that favor Cogscreen and those that don't and says no study says that Cogscreen is a useful tool to evaluate pilots that took SSRIs
22 min 30 sec when asked about a better evaluation than using Cogscreen, professional pilots have Sims, and thinks its crazy to require the Cogscreen. says makes no sense.
23 min 45 sec when asked does the FAA keep it for liability purposes, Dr. Blue compares when doctors say liability to supply chain people saying COVID. It's NOT a liability issue, its become a bureaucratic norm for the FAA and nobody has got the guts to challenge this. Dr. Blue compares it to EKG requirements for First Class Medicals where it has no predictive value. According to Dr Blue EKGs cannot predict heart attacks. Calls EKGs antiquated tests.
25 min 35 sec Emma talks about Dr. Blue's survey where pilots avoid reporting anything to the FAA or avoiding healthcare as to not have to go through bureaucratic hell to keep their medicals. Also 97% of pilots surveyed by Dr. Blue feel the FAA is not handling mental health issues even remotely correctly.
27 min 36 sec Dr. Blue claims that the the new Federal Air Surgeon Susan Northrup is trying to make changes but is encountering "bureaucratic inertia" in Oklahoma (I have my doubts with her Jim Crow like statements regarding pilots ever tagged with ADHD) Dr. Blue states these changes don't come fast enough and there are not enough of them.
28 min 18 sec Dr Blue states that his survey confirms what he believes from the start many pilots dont seek medical care because they are concerned at losing their medical.
29 min 53 sec Dr. Blue states that he doesn't run into anybody that thinks the FAA is handling mental health issues correctly, they are behind modern medicine.
30 min 25 sec Maddie brings up the other items addressed by Dr. Blue at Airventure such as delegating more decisions to AMEs vs sending them up to Oklahoma.
30 min 40 sec Dr. Blue says the AME that is actually examining the pilot at the flight physical has first hand observation and a better feel if that pilot is fit to fly than some bureaucrat doctor in Oklahoma who according to Joe LoRusso has not been a clinician in decades. he AMEs evaluate the same studies sent to Oklahoma and Dr. Blue questions why the AMEs can't approve a medical on the spot instead of waiting months to years for a bureaucrat doctor in Oklahoma to approve. Says that only recently that some conditions have been delegated to the AMEs but those conditions should never have been on a special issuance list in the first place.
32 min 55 sec Dr Blue feels that can be done for almost ALL special issuance
34 min 42 sec Dr Blue cites "basic med" as proof the aeromedical process is out of date. Basic med exams can be administered by non AME medical doctors. 80,000 pilots are on basic med and the accident rate between pilots on basic med and those that have a Third Class Medical are identical. This is the reason why AME should be granted much more authrity to grant medicals which would get rid of the the special issuance backlog. A good percentage of pilots on Basic med were previously on special issuance medicals.
37 min 23 sec Dr. Blue feels the Special Issuance should go away but the FAA in their outdated views makes special issuance a lifetime occurrence for some pilots.
39 min Dr. Blue has a issue with doctors putting pilots on medicines that never should have been prescribed but then it screws the pilot when it comes to getting a medical
39 min 19 sec Dr Blue says that ADD was one of the most over prescribed and over diagnosed issues haunting pilots. says that over diagnosis of ADD is one of his pet peeves because he views that many kids were diagnosed but the diagnosis is not valid. The pilot is forced to however state that they were tagged with ADD and were prescribed the drug and they are in a "world of hurt" trying to prove a negative. Says the over diagnosis of ADD and ADHD is extremely high
40 min 3 sec Emma says that ADD and ADHD are the biggest culprit of over diagnosis.
40 min 29 sec Dr. Blue calls it the "disease du jour"
42 min says many AME differ pilots because they are lazy.
43 min 47 sec talks about the waiting game with the FAA
47 min FAA only since April 2023 allowed AMEs to scan documents to the FAA vs send it in certified mail.
This comes after Dr. Brent Blue going on records multiple times condemning the Cogscreen. He first in called this out in front of Federal Air Surgeon Dr. Susan Northrup at an AOPA sponsored symposium on pilot mental health at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2022. Dr. Blue said the entire process is archaic, the use of the Cogscreen is inappropriate, and pilots should not be forced to use the FAA's hand picked psychologists and psychiatrists which without Dr. Blue directly stating it, more or less admits the FAA's hand picked 3rd party quacks are biased against the pilots. 7 min 41 seconds https://youtu.be/iNWhpl4DtmA?t=461 to which Northrup could not come up with an answer and she herself had a "cognitive slow" response. Dr. Blue clearly shows that he is aware of how rigged the Cogscreen AE
Dr. Blue in a publication in August 2022 stated that The FAA has a love affair with the Cogscreen a proprietary computer screening program that the FAA uses as a yes/no test regardless of other evaluations https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2022/august/pilot/flight-md-flying-low#:~:text=The%20new%20policy%20states%20that,medical%20certificate%20without%20further%20evaluation. and went on to further state There is no evidence that it (The Cogscreen) has prevented even one accident in the real world. Dr Blue also stated the FAA antiquated process came from a previous FAA chief psychiatrist who was, in (Dr. Blue's) opinion, also just horrible. His legacy of antiquated evaluation has been a difficult sea to move.
Dr. Blue further condemned the Cogscreen
As Pointed out in in another publication by Dr. Blue in April 2023 https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2023/june/pilot/flight-md-cog-screen-testing
Dr. Blue in an article from February 2025 stated: https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2025/february/pilot/flight-md-a-problem-of-trust
The underlying problem is trust. The FAA does not trust AMEs, nor does it trust local providers like psychiatrists or other specialists. Persistent arrogance in Oklahoma City that reviewers there can evaluate a pilot just by requiring tests and reviewing medical records better than a provider or AME who has seen the pilot, interviewed the pilot, and examined the pilot is ludicrous.
A lot has changed and dramatically improved in the diagnosis and detection of diseases and conditions, which could affect a pilot in the aircraft environment since the last century. Twenty-first-century medicine has made these evaluations routine for non-aviation trained physicians. It is time for the FAA to enter the twenty-first century and stop the bureaucratic nightmare it needlessly creates for pilots.
And in response to the FAA nearly taking a major step back of making defferals into outright denials automaticly, Dr. Blue in this April 2025 article stated if he was Federal Air surgeon he would grand medicals within 60 days and not hold pilots hostage to the Cogscreen. https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2025/april/pilot/flight-md-its-time-for-a-change Dr blue also advocated for DOGE to be very aggressive with FAA Medical but also feels that the FAA is at the bottom of the unfortunately towards the bottom of the list of DOGE's attention unless more people get vocal with their congressman.
The Cogscreen itself has no right to be proprietary since its creation was funded by the US taxpayer since the test was commissioned by the FAA. Since it's used on US citizens and has no national security justification, there is no legitimate reason to keep the nuts and bolts of the test a secret. In fact that very act is a violation of the 6th Amendment due withholding evidence against the pilot how they are accused of being "cognitively deficient/defective." Even more suspect the test itself is controlled by a private company, Cognitive Research Corporation
owned by the test creator itself Gary Kay PhD
This shows the subjectively graded Cogscreen tests have nothing to do with safety and are really about creating a cottage industry that holds pilots hostage for as much money can be squeezed out of them by dangling the hope with no guarantee of getting their medicals back. Far from it, these trapped pilots are subjectively graded as fails in order to keep them in hostage indefinitely. It's time to let the safest pilots have their unrestricted medicals back without any strings attached and to put these mental health quacks cottage industry of holding pilots hostage out of business.