I do find it quite baffling that there can be different levels of acceptance in different countries within a professional environment that can affect many nations in a single journey.
When an industry has international effects, as with commercial international air traffic where multiple countries are crossed, wouldn't it make sense to have an ICAO Medical Standard, not National or even Continental standards.
God forbit it should ever happen, but for the sake of discussion, what would the implications be if, for example, a FAA licensed pilot with a SODA, flying a US civil airliner at night in VMC, incorrectly interprets the PAPI / VASI lights and crashes into a built up area short of the runway in a JAA member state? Irrespective of the fact that the pilot meets the medical standards of the country in which the aircraft is registered, the fact is that the pilot does not meet the medical standards of the country in which the flight is being made at the time of the accident. Pilot error aside, where in this example would the responsibility lie?
Does anyone know the current talk regarding SODA's following the NTSB's recommendations to the FAA following the Tallahassee Incident Report?