Citing chronic drug shortages, however, the Federal Aviation Administration has granted airlines exemptions that permit passenger planes to fly without a complete medical kit if the airlines say they cannot replenish the drugs. Earlier exemptions were issued by the agency on an annual basis, and only for one or two of the drugs in the kit. But in January 2016, more than 50 airlines were granted four-year exemptions from the requirement to carry all five drugs in the medical kit. There are no data on how many airplanes may be flying at a given time without the drugs. Representatives of airlines said they usually carry complete medical kits and rely on the exemption only during periods of temporary shortages.

Source: International New York Times October 03, 2019 17:26 UTC