> Pilots must request waivers from the FAA for a number of medical conditions, including mental illness, some cardiac issues, and substance abuse. But the wait for those waivers can take months in the FAA’s understaffed medical certification system, one reason pilots say they limit what they report.<p>Months? Hah, that's rich. You'll be waiting at least a year. And out several thousand dollars from all the tests. And don't forget you have to see a very tiny list of FAA approved examiners and psychiatrists. Then you get to go through the process again and again for the rest of your career.<p>Oh yeah, and if your medication ever changes, you get to start the whole thing over.