FAA Proposal Rejects 1 Expert Panel's EpiPen Push for Airplane Medical Kits

1 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Oct 4

The FAA has proposed updating onboard medical-kit rules without adopting an expert panel’s call to require newer tools such as EpiPens on most U.S. flights.
Instead, the agency’s draft would give airlines more flexibility over kit contents, a surprise turn in a review that doctors had pushed to modernize emergency treatment options.
Kim Blumenthal, a Yale-trained immunologist, said repeated in-flight emergencies exposed the limits of current kits after she treated a child with a severe allergic reaction and later responded to two more incidents.
The dispute highlights a broader gap between existing federal requirements for airplane emergency kits and the kinds of medications physicians say are now standard for acute allergic reactions.