article_snippet: Under patient confidentiality rules, which also operate in the UK, pilots do not have to disclose pilots profession to GPs and doctors are not able to pass on pilots concerns to airlines.
article_snippet: The onus of reporting any health issues rests solely on the 'honesty' of pilots.
article_snippet: As a pilot, my medical life at work and my medical life at home are absolutely separate, unless I choose otherwise.
article_snippet: Nobody checks that you communicate your health problems to the airline. '
article_snippet: Pilots have a yearly medical examination, which includes a chat about how we've been feeling psychologically, but it's fairly low-key. '
article_snippet: no requirement for me to disclose that I'm a pilot. '
article_snippet: And if I see the doctor for something that may affect my ability to perform my duties, the doctor is prevented from communicating that to the airline because of medical confidentiality. '
article_snippet: The onus is on me to hold my hands up and tell the aviation authorities.
article_snippet: There is a legal obligation for pilots to tell pilots employers if pilots have surgery, or an illness that requires more than 21 days off work, or have been prescribed a long list of certain drugs. '
article_snippet: A pilot friend of mine had no idea.
highlights_snippet: Confidentiality laws mean doctors could not disclose medical information directly to Lufthansa .
  
highlights_snippet: In both Europe and the UK, pilots are supposed to tell airlines if pilots have health problems, but this is not policed .
  