![]() ![]() Nearly 115 million Americans have diabetes or prediabetes and are striving to manage their lives while living with the disease. ![]() The ADA looks forward to working with the FAA to implement this protocol so that properly qualified insulin-treated pilots are granted medical certificates and eagerly awaits the day the first pilot treated with insulin is cleared to fly a commercial plane.Įvery day more than 4,000 people are newly diagnosed with diabetes in America. Thanks to these volunteers and their sacrifices, people with diabetes have one fewer hurdle to overcome. Countless volunteers contributed to this victory, but in particular, former American Airlines Captain Eric Friedman, whose devotion to the cause of justice is extraordinary. Today, thanks to the dedication of tireless ADA healthcare professional, attorney, and pilot volunteers and staff, the FAA has finished the work it promised pilots in 2015. The ADA met with the FAA, brought industry stakeholders to the table, convened a panel of expert endocrinologists to provide recommendations, engaged members of Congress and filed friend-of-the-court briefs in litigation brought by pilots to challenge FAA inaction. Over the course of the past decade, the ADA has continuously educated, negotiated with, and ultimately supported litigation all geared toward convincing the FAA that it is medically appropriate to grant individual assessment to commercial pilots treated with insulin. In 2010, the ADA began educating the FAA about the advances in diabetes medicine and treatment that make it possible to identify insulin-treated pilots who can safely fly. People with diabetes should always be given individual assessment of their qualifications and medical condition. “Finally, children with diabetes are free to dream of growing up to be airline pilots.”ĪDA’s position is that blanket bans against people with diabetes are never medically or legally appropriate. “After many years of fighting for the rights of pilots with diabetes at every turn, we are pleased to have broken down a barrier that stood in place since 1959,” said John Griffin, past chair of ADA’s Board of Directors and member of ADA’s Legal Advocacy Subcommittee. In 1959, the FAA banned pilots who use insulin from commercial operations, so today’s move marks a historic day for people with diabetes. Today, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) applauds the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for announcing a protocol for pilots with insulin-treated diabetes to obtain the type of certificate needed for commercial flight. ADA’s advocacy removes barriers so people with insulin-treated diabetes can fly commercial planes
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