Mike,
We must have different rules down here!
If you lose your medical, you can still drive your car and you only need a Car licence for Light Sport category  - to my knowledge. Although it's not due to be implemented here in Australia until September, there could be some guidelines as you indicate.
I know people with blood pressure and Diabetes lose their medical - but doesn't stop them from driving their cars.
George ( down under)

    IF you LOSE your medical, you can NOT indeed drive your car and
    still fly a sport/light. If your medical is revoked you are
    through flying anything but 103 ultralights. This is going to get
    a LOT of guys fried. If you have a know diagnosed illness that
    would preclude you getting a medical, you CANNOT fly a sport/light
    even if you have a drivers lisence. If you have a medical and fly
    with a know deficiency, it is the same as NOT having a medical,
    even if you do not see a doctor. Fair or not, that's the rules and
    those who try to skirt the rules and get caught are going to be in
    a hell of a mess.  Mike C.
     
        ----- Original Message -----
        *From:* George Lendich <mailto:lendich@optusnet.com.au>
        *To:* Rotary motors in aircraft
        <mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
        *Sent:* Wednesday, July 20, 2005 7:09 PM
        *Subject:* [FlyRotary] Re: FAA - we're here to help you

        Kevin,
        Being on a Disability pension don't stop you flying a plane.
        It may make it harder to get a medical clearance and you won't
        get a clearance if your on Medication, such as mind bending
        drugs e.g. Pilots with past Depression and Bipolar can get
        Medicals - Paranoid Schizophrenia is only controlled by mind
        bending drugs, so that one's a NO NO!
        One must be upfront with the details however - some have
        suggested that it's easier to lie than get a medical with past
        medical conditions. I notice a lot of chaps losing their
        medicals for Diabetes and Blood Pressure etc.
                 However you can still drive a car and fly Light Sport Category.
        George ( down under)

            Saw this in today's _New York Times_.

            July 20, 2005
            U.S. Says 46 Pilots Lied to Obtain Their Licenses
            By CAROLYN MARSHALL
            SAN FRANCISCO, July 19 - Prosecutors in Northern
            California have
            charged 46 pilots with lying to federal authorities to
            obtain airplane
            licenses, in most cases not disclosing debilitating
            illnesses that
            should have kept them grounded.

            The pilots, who were indicted this week by grand juries in
            the eastern
            and northern federal districts of California, were
            identified during
            an 18-month criminal air traffic safety investigation by the
            Department of Transportation and the Social Security
            Administration
            that looked into licensed pilots who were also receiving
            disability
            benefits and payments from the government.

            The investigation, initiated in July 2003, included a
            review of more
            than 40,000 pilot licenses issued in Northern California
            to determine
            whether there had been any misuse or abuse of Social
            Security numbers.
            The authorities reviewed licenses held by both commercial
            and private
            pilots and found that some license applicants claimed to
            be medically
            fit to fly an airplane yet were simultaneously receiving
            disability
            benefits.

            "The fraud and falsification allegedly committed by these
            individuals
            is extremely serious and adversely affects the public
            interest in air
            safety," said Nicholas Sabatini, an associate
            administrator with the
            Federal Aviation Administration.

            Charles H. Lee Jr., an assistant inspector general for
            investigations
            at the Department of Transportation, said the reviewers
            first focused
            their investigation on 48 pilots, most of whom were receiving
            disability payments for illnesses like paranoid
            schizophrenia, bipolar
            disorder and disabling heart conditions.

            One case, Mr. Lee said, even involved someone who
            exhibited severe
            suicidal tendencies.

            "To get their certificates, these people had to lie or falsify
            paperwork," Mr. Lee said. "The F.A.A. has rules and
            regulations
            regarding medical conditions and deemed that all 48 had
            medical
            disabilities that would have disqualified them from
            holding pilot
            certificates."

            Two cases were dropped, Mr. Lee said, one because the
            pilot died. He
            declined to comment about whether similar investigations
            were under
            way in other states.

            Of the 46 pilots that Mr. Lee said were charged, 7 held
            commercial
            pilot certificates that would have allowed them to fly as
            well as
            carry cargo; another 4 pilots held air transportation pilot
            certificates which would let them transport passengers.

            Of the remaining indicted pilots, 28 had private pilot
            licenses, and 7
            had student licenses.

            A charge of lying to the federal authorities carries a
            penalty of up
            to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A charge of
            falsifying
            records carries a penalty of up to one year in prison and
            a $100,000
            fine.

            According to court documents, the pilots who were indicted
            failed to
            provide accurate medical history forms, as required by the
            F.A.A., in
            some cases lying about a previous illness or claiming that
            there had
            been no previous medical diagnosis or treatment for
            conditions that
            the pilots knew they had.

            Laura Brown, a spokeswoman for the F.A.A., said that
            pilots could
            obtain a license only after they submit oral and written
            tests and
            current medical certificates. Those certificates can be
            issued only by
            an aviation medical examiner registered with the agency.
            Certain
            medical conditions would disqualify an applicant from
            receiving a
            license.

            "The reason we have disqualifying conditions is to ensure
            that pilots
            are not a danger to others, in the air or on the ground,"
            Ms. Brown
            said.

            Ms. Brown said that the pilots were charged with either
            making false
            statements to a federal official or delivering to a
            federal official a
            false written record. She added that 14 of the pilots held
            active
            pilot licenses, which were immediately revoked.

            The remaining pilots had licenses that had either lapsed
            or were
            missing current information, which would not prevent them
            from flying
            a private plane.

            "It's similar to when people go out and drive cars without
            a license,
            or drive cars when intoxicated," Ms. Brown said. "It's
            illegal but
            they do it."

            At least one of the indicted pilots appeared in Federal
            District Court
            in Sacramento on Tuesday. The remaining pilots will be
            arraigned
            individually in the coming weeks.
            Kevin Lane  Portland, OR
            e-mail-> n3773@comcast.net <mailto:n3773@comcast.net>