Prosecutor: Germanwings co-pilot feared going blind

[webfact]

Prosecutor: Germanwings co-pilot feared going blind
By JAMEY KEATEN

PARIS (AP) — Fearing he was going blind, the co-pilot who slammed a Germanwings jet into the Alps took sick days at work, upped his dosage of an antidepressant, and reached out to doctors, but they didn't tell his employer they thought he was unfit to fly because of German privacy laws, a French prosecutor said Thursday.

Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin presented new details of his criminal investigation into the case after meeting in Paris with many grieving relatives of the 150 people who died on the Germanwings flight co-piloted by Andreas Lubitz.

The March 24 crash, blamed on Lubitz, has put a spotlight on possible mental health issues involving flight crews.

Robin announced he was handing over his initial inquiry to three investigating magistrates who will try to determine who — if anyone — can be brought to trial in an involuntary manslaughter case in which the main culprit died in the crash.

The news came as families have just started to receive the remains of their loved ones for burials in the coming days and weeks.

The investigation so far "has enabled us to confirm without a shadow of a doubt ... Mr. Andreas Lubitz deliberately destroyed the plane and deliberately killed 150 people, including himself," Robin told reporters.

Investigators say Lubitz locked the pilot out of the cockpit and flew the plane into a French mountainside after having researched suicide methods and cockpit door rules and practiced an unusual descent.

In a new development, Robin said information from Lubitz's tablet PC showed he had also investigated vision problems, and "feared going blind," which would have ended the 27-year-old's aviation career.

Lubitz, who had a history of depression, had seven medical appointments in the month before the crash, including three with a psychiatrist, and had taken eight sick days off work, Robin said. Some of the doctors felt Lubitz was psychologically unstable, and some felt he was unfit to fly, but "unfortunately that information was not reported because of medical secrecy requirements," the prosecutor said.

Robin said that Lubitz sent an email to one doctor just two weeks before the crash, saying he had doubled his dose of an antidepressant he was taking in a failed attempt to end near-sleepless nights as a result of worries about his vision. Robin said it wasn't yet clear if the vision woes were real or imagined, but Lubitz clearly felt it was threatening his beloved career.

"He even said to some of those close to him that given this vision loss, life no longer had meaning," Robin said. Lubitz's girlfriend appeared to be aware of his vision woes, and his family to a lesser extent: Both she and his mother took him to some of his medical appointments, he added.

Robin's comments also exposed the long-term nature of Lubitz's troubles. He feared his vision troubles would spark a return of his depression that he once suffered, the prosecutor said.

In the last five years, Robin said Lubitz consulted with 41 different doctors.

In a March 10 e-mail to a doctor, Lubitz had indicated he could only sleep two hours a night and wanted urgent help, Robin said. Lubitz specified he was taking Mirtazapine, an antidepressant, and had even doubled the dosage from 15 to 30 milligrams in a failed bid to improve his sleep, and his fear of going blind continued, the prosecutor added.

Investigators were going over Lubitz's remains to determine whether he had taken any medications the day of the flight.

Germanwings and parent company Lufthansa have said that Lubitz had passed all medical tests and was cleared by doctors as fit to fly. Robin said he had no evidence that the carrier knew of the co-pilot's alleged visual ailment.

In Germany, doctors risk prison if they disclose information about their patients to anyone unless there is evidence they intend to commit a serious crime or harm themselves. Lubitz had told his doctors not to share information among each other about his condition, Robin said.

Four days after the crash, German prosecutors said there was no evidence that Lubitz had any physical ailment affecting his sight. Robin said Lubitz had complained of seeing flashing lights but that there was no apparent "organic" reason for Lubitz's apparent vision troubles.

Families of the victims were focusing on the return of the remains and belongings of their loved ones, and possible redress. German lawyer Peter Kortas, whose firm represents relatives of 34 victims, said negotiations with Germanwings on compensation began several days ago.

"In this moment everything else is not as important as the fact that the bodies, (the) remains be returned to their families," Kortas said. "It's already more than two and a half months since the crash happened, so it's finally necessary to get to closure.

"The loss of the relatives should be compensated with also a suitable amount of money," he added.

While Kortas said Thursday's meeting with the prosecutors was "informative and interesting," he regretted that some questions remained. Relatives were told what the procedure was for returning remains and personal belongings, but not all got an exact date for the handover of remains, and no timeframe was given for the return of the personal belongings.

Nearly half of the victims were German, 47 were Spanish and there were 17 nationalities among the rest.

Stephane Gicquel, who heads a French accident victims association and was at the families' meeting with Robin, said the relatives saw video reconstitutions of the last minute of the flight, with cockpit audio taken from the Airbus 320.

"So very concretely, the families had the proof of what happened by hearing the sound recordings, hearing the alarms, hearing the bangs on the door," he said. "I think that the families appreciated this frank and direct communication."
___

Associated Press writers Masha Macpherson in Paris, Geir Moulson and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, and Alan Clendenning in Madrid contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-06-12

[aslimversgwm]

Absolutely appalling that his German doctors couldn't let the airline authorities know because of privacy laws.

This needs to be reviewed, and urgently.

My deepest sympathies to all the friends and relatives of the victims of this awful tragedy.

[micmichd]

Some antidepressants prescribed by psychiatrists may cause distortion of eyesight and thus raise the fear you're getting blind.

Edited June 12, 2015 by micmichd

[Seastallion]

Some antidepressants prescribed by psychiatrists may cause distortion of eyesight and thus raise the fear you're getting blind.

When I was young, the fear of going blind was from doing something that the priest said not to do. I never did go blind though.

The privacy law issue is a tricky one. Similar, I suppose to what gets said in the confessional or in private to a lawyer or journalist.

The problem comes from the fact that these doctors, priests, lawyers etc have to make a judgement call...and therein lies two problems...patient/client confidence, and consistency in what gets divulged and what doesn't.

[Credo]

In some countries, privacy issues are overruled by a situation in which a person may be a danger to themselves or others. Would a doctor allow a patient who has just been heavily medicated to drive home, for example?

The privacy issue may come into play if you are discussing the actual condition with an employer. I would think that it would be within the law to alert someone that the person presents a possible danger to others.

[micmichd]

Nobody would consult a psychiatrist if he runs the risk that some institution would be "alerted". Psychiatrists know this, so they do it behind the backs of their patients. They can do so legally by getting them incapacitated. Psychiatrists actually cause mental traumata this way, and a strong desire for revenge. "If society is ruining my life, I'll destroy society in exchange".

So, it is absolutely necessary to keep privacy, and it is absolutely necessary to strip psychiatrists from their forensic power.

Psychiatrist should be able to offer solutions instead. First of all, they should be able to listen to their patients' fears. Even a glaucoma might be curable. Depression might be curable without drugs.

A skilled co-pilot might be able do other jobs which are highly valued in societ, and then get back his self-esteem which would also wipe out the desire for revenge.

If a society isn't able or willing to provide alternatives to high-tech professionals, then society will have more and more cases like the Germanwings disaster.

Better beware.

[Jonmarleesco]

'Germanwings and parent company Lufthansa have said that Lubitz had passed all medical tests and was cleared by doctors as fit to fly.' Then something doesn't exactly add up, does it?

[waxon]

Some antidepressants prescribed by psychiatrists may cause distortion of eyesight and thus raise the fear you're getting blind.

When I was young, the fear of going blind was from doing something that the priest said not to do. I never did go blind though.

The privacy law issue is a tricky one. Similar, I suppose to what gets said in the confessional or in private to a lawyer or journalist.

The problem comes from the fact that these doctors, priests, lawyers etc have to make a judgement call...and therein lies two problems...patient/client confidence, and consistency in what gets divulged and what doesn't.

I was primarily concerned that I would turn to stone.

German privacy laws are fine for individuals, but do not fully consider the public at large. US laws trample individual rights in an attempt to prevent acts of terrorism. How to find a balance?

[waxon]

'Germanwings and parent company Lufthansa have said that Lubitz had passed all medical tests and was cleared by doctors as fit to fly.' Then something doesn't exactly add up, does it?

Legalize for "it wasn't our fault". Germanwings can hide behind German privacy laws. And, in this case, rightfully so. Germanwings had no knowledge about the pilot's medical and mental condition. Strict privacy laws made sure that was the case.

[kiwikeith]

all the shooters in american schools were on ....

ANTI DEPRESSANTS

the medicine that is supposed to make you smile, can make you kill yourself

go figure out ...

big black box warning

when I feel down, I take some st-john's worth or 5 htp

What they don't tell you about antidepressants is the extreme high rate of suicide whilst on them.

Also the guy tried to cover up his illness , he was a nutcase and the doctors who failed in reporting him should also be prosecuted.

They are now looking at this and the prospect of bringing in manslaughter charges for not reporting serious cases that can endanger lives.

Closing the door after the horse has bolted.

If I had of been a Dr that was treating this nutter I think I may have crossed the line and reported him.

The law needs changing and so this can not happen again. All pilots prescription drugs and treatment should be accessible to the airlines own medical monitoring professional staff, if they have any!

[Scott]

An off-topic post has been removed.

[impulse]

Sticky wicket there.

I wonder how many pilots are doing quite well on their meds, but would quit going for treatment if there was a risk of being reported and losing their jobs.

The unintended consequences of forcing psychiatrists to violate doctor patient confidentiality may be lots of (closet case) mentally ill pilots flying, but off their meds.

[micmichd]

all the shooters in american schools were on ....

ANTI DEPRESSANTS

the medicine that is supposed to make you smile, can make you kill yourself

go figure out ...

big black box warning

when I feel down, I take some st-john's worth or 5 htp

What they don't tell you about antidepressants is the extreme high rate of suicide whilst on them.

Also the guy tried to cover up his illness , he was a nutcase and the doctors who failed in reporting him should also be prosecuted.

They are now looking at this and the prospect of bringing in manslaughter charges for not reporting serious cases that can endanger lives.

Closing the door after the horse has bolted.

If I had of been a Dr that was treating this nutter I think I may have crossed the line and reported him.

The law needs changing and so this can not happen again. All pilots prescription drugs and treatment should be accessible to the airlines own medical monitoring professional staff, if they have any!

It's not only the airlines that are at risk, there's all kinds of other high-risk systems, too. Think of energy supply, nuclear power plants, eg.

Once you open the door for a medical monitoring system, you would have to open it for all sensitive organizations.

The consequences are expectable: No high-qualified professional would attend a psychiatrist anymore.

If you are member in a German health insurance (which is mandatory for all employees), then your diagnostic data (ICD-10 and full text) will be stored in a central database. Employers usually don't have access to these data, obviously different in this specific case. Problem is that even a wrong diagnosis will be stored in this database for at least 10 years, and it's really hard to get it out once you're labeled under ICD-10. It should be at least mandatory for every MD to tell his/her patient which data were transmitted to the health insurance, and patients should be able to veto if they think their data are not correct.

Psychiatric data are probably the most sensitive data of all, but psychiatrists love to hide them away from their patients. Probably because lots of psychiatric diagnosis (and part of the ICD-10) lack all scientific criteria.

German news say this co-pilot had attended 41 doctors before. So, it might have been a nice pharma cocktail he was on.

There are laws in Germany which make it mandatory to register prescriptions for dangerous drugs ('BTM-Gesetz'). Just the pharma lobby permanently resists that their psycho drugs be put in the dangerous drugs list. Maybe all (old and new) psycho drugs should be put into this blacklist first, and then leave it up to the pharma industry to prove that a certain drug is not dangerous.

Edited June 13, 2015 by micmichd