Are there any pilots on here? Are you able to work while on ADT?

There have been pilots on here and pilots I have spoken to who said that if you are on ADT, you cannot fly a plane.. If the FAA knows you’re on ADT, they will take away your license.

Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, Some people don’t have much in the way of side effects.

Thanks Jeff,
The regulators are pretty picky so I am curious what others have gone through. The listed side effects with Zoladex and Nubeqa can be an issue, but I would think it would come down to how the effects are handled by each person. It’s all quite an adventure that certainly caught me by surprise.

1,300 hour instrument-rated private pilot here. In Canada, TCCA doesn't have a list of banned meds like the FAA does, and decide instead on a case-by-case basis, but I doubt they'd allow ADT either.

In the event, they pulled my medical in 2021 because of my emergency spinal surgery and fusion, and didn't even mention ADT or Apalutamide in the letter. Maybe they were holding them in reserve in case I appealed. 🤷

@cjflyguy
Nubeqa Has no side effects for most of the people I know on it. Fatigue is not one of them and neither is brain fog. Sure, you might find a rare case, but I know dozens of people using it.

Maybe that one isn’t on the list.

It’s too bad they don’t do it the way Canada does it.

@jeffmarc Unfortunately, the aviation idea of "side-effects" is far more rigorous than we're used to in the rest of life. For example, if your BP is even a little above 140/90 and you can't get it lower, you're grounded, even if there are no negative physical symptoms.

It sucks. But if I was a passenger and knew my pilot was sleepy or peed a lot and just not tip top shape, I'd feel very nervous flying!

@beaquilter Perhaps there would be concern if only one pilot but that is why there are co-pilots

@beaquilter And it's not just your pilot; it's all the other pilots flying around them, even in small planes. My private pilot license gave me the right to use the same airports and airspace as the heavy iron, and I landed my former Piper at busy U.S. airports like IAD and PHL as well as Canadian ones, often in instrument conditions.

I don't think the authorities always get it right — sometimes they get it very wrong — but it should be a high medical bar to operate any aircraft in or near controlled airspace (including drones).

@northoftheborder
Very well said!
The medical guidance for pilot medicals has changed quite a bit in Canada over the 40 years that I’ve been flying. When I mentioned Nubeqa to the medical examiner he had not yet heard of it….so I will see how it all works out.

I got fired from an IT consultant job when Lupron fucked me up