Having read most of the posts on here over the last few days, I cant remember seeing anywhere an idea which, although another knee-jerk reaction, just may be useful in the future.
At the moment, in the UK for example, I can go to my GP and be deemed quite unwell and be signed off from work. Now, if I don't tell my employer, and have a valid, recent Class 1 medical, then I can continue to fly as long as I am able to do so (valid class 1 medical) until either I die, or i'm caught out somehow.
Now I may be able to pass the Class 1 medical because they arent necessarily looking for things which may not flag up on the Class 1. So, as professioanl pilots, why cant we have something akin to taxing a car in the UK. To tax your car you need to have valid insurance and a valid MOT (roadworthy condition report). Without them you cant get the road tax.
So, why not have a stipulation added. Say at a cost of approximately £20 per letter, whereby a professional pilot has to go to his GP and request a letter stating that for the previous 12 months he has had no visits to the doctors for what could be a set of issues ie mental/serious physical. This letter can be emailed by the gp, using the pilot ref number, to the CAA medical branch and entered onto the file of the pilot in question.
Then when going to have the Class 1 medical, (nowadays the AME has access to the CAA information) they can issue that Class 1 medical after checking the letter is all satisfactory and there have been no issues which may preclude you from being deemed fit enough to fly.
If it transpires that there may be something which needs further clarification, then the Class 1 could be witheld for say 14 days until the facts are found or if it warrants further investigation.
I know it isnt a fix for the issue if someone really wants to take out an airliner, but as a professional pilot, i'd quite happily sign up to this, I have nothing to hide, and it just adds another layer of assurance to the system at minimal cost.