Just for your information Kit, I hold a full UK JAA PPL(H) with a Class 1 medical initially obtained at Gatwick and renewed several times by an AME local to me. Some gentlemen pilots on here might also describe me as fit.
I have sat 6 of 9 CPL exams and passed all with an average of 92%. I also have a degree in Nuclear Physics and am a Chartered Accountant. If you'd been FA to read my profile before shooting your mouth off, you'd have known in which country I obtained my licence.
The more I go through the JAA system, the more I realise what a loads of old bolleaux it is. Most medical failures are due to eyesight. For example, the CAA won;t accept anyone who's had laser surgery on their eye. Why? They might; they're currently doing research on it at the moment. Perhaps the US are ahead of the UK in this aspect?
We none of us know why the original poster failed his medical (and neither should we); the point is, I do not believe that there are more accidents in the USA caused by ill health of the pilot than there are in the UK.
Cheers
Whirls
I can jump through hoops, that's all.