DOT reports on medical information security, data-sharing

July 6, 2010 at 2:22 pm | Posted in Aviation Law Current Event | Leave a comment

by Sara M. Langston with the blog faculty

Source: AOPA

A report from the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General has identified 15 recommendations for improving the security of airmen’s medical information and the process of identifying pilots with current medical certificates who are receiving disability pay.

The report is the result of a two-year study to determine if airmen’s personally identifiable information is properly secured from unauthorized use or access, and to assess the FAA’s progress in establishing mechanisms to identify airmen holding current medical certificates while receiving disability pay. The FAA concurred with 14 of the inspector general’s 15 recommendations and outlined the actions it has already taken and will take to address the office’s concerns.

The study was prompted by an investigation by the Social Security Administration Inspector General into cases involving fraudulent claims for disability compensation, which in 2007 identified airmen with FAA medical certificates who were receiving Social Security disability benefits, but who failed to disclose the conditions related to those benefits on their medical applications. Receiving disability benefits does not necessarily disqualify someone from receiving a medical certificate, but airmen are required to disclose medical conditions on the medical application…more