Even if it was the sole reason, nicotine patches are not suitable for
everybody.
To give a nicotine patch to a passenger who intends to light up as soon as
he gets on the ground would be irresponsible. The patches are for
`quitters' only.
Airline pilots are not qualified to give out patches to passengers or
explain the side effects, contraindications etc. (Informed consent).
Checklist includes: are you pregnant or breastfeeding, are you allergic to
any components of the patch, have you suffered a stroke or heart attack, do
you suffer from severe skin disease, irregular heart beat, high blood
pressure, peptic ulcer, overactive thyroid, diabetes or kidney or liver disease.
I hope the head of Germany's largest pilots association gets some advice
from legal/medical experts before he encourages this sort of nonsense.
Cheers
Kerry
>>From Avflash:
>
>A NIC FIT, FIGHTING RAGE WITH A RUSH:
> German airline pilots have come up with an idea to fight the increasing
>cases of "air rage"
>-- hand out nicotine patches to cig-starved pax and cut down on the amount
>of hooch
>served during flights. The head of Germany's largest pilots association
>says offering chewing gum to relieve stress wouldn't be a bad idea, either
>
>