FAA Medical Denial

Hi All,

I’m really hoping somebody in here has been in my shoes or can provide some guidance on what to do.

I was sent a denial letter from the FAA because I take Wellbutrin since about 2019 and Zoloft was added in 2023 due to a traumatic event. I have been in communication with my treating physician who was and is currently working with me on getting off of the Zoloft.

With this said, the letter didn’t say anything as to what the further steps where. The AOPA stated to send a letter to the FAA notifying that I will be asking for reconsideration after being off of the medication for 60 days with a favorable doctors report. I have a feeling it’s not that simple, so I wanted to see what I should be expecting after getting off of one medication and remaining on 1 of the approved SSRIs.

Any information or guidance would be helpful since the letter contained nothing useful. If the dream is over I will have no choice but to accept that but I have a hard time believing I am the only (want to be) pilot out there that was on 2 SSRIs at one point in time in thier life.

You're going to need a HIMS AME. Your AME should have prepared you better.

I suggest you look the medical subforum on the Pilots of America forum; you are far from the first with this problem. You can post anonymously there if you prefer, and there are a couple of senior HIMS AMEs that post there.

have you snooped around the FAA medical examiner webpages? https://www.faa.gov/ame_guide

Pretty sure you can find what the criteria is for issuance of a medical.

If one of your meds is no the Do Not Issue list the FAA is not going to entertain the idea of issuing a medical until you're off of it, thus the AOPA advice sounds legitimate. If it's Wellbutrin IR, that's the deal breaker because the SR/ER versions are okay. So is Zoloft but not sure about combinations.

You really want to call Dr. Bruce Chien, http://www.aeromedicaldoc.com/. He's one of the people who wrote the SSRI protocols for the FAA.

A history of 2 meds at the same time will make your case more difficult, but it's not a "hard no" (an FAA doc described complications like this to me as a "yellow flag"). If you want to apply while taking a single medication, you will first need to establish a track record of being on the same medication AND dosage for six months. You will definitely need the services of a HIMS AME, and most likely an FAA-designated mental health practitioner, but start with the AME. The FAA considers these cases on a case-by-case basis, based on the unique circumstances of the applicant.

Because of your history of taking two meds, the off-medication route will be a bit more complicated as well, and similarly start with a HIMS AME and likely a workup with a specialist.