By SHIRLEY S. WANG And MELANIE TROTTMAN
The Federal Aviation Administration will let some pilots who take four popular antidepressants return to the skies, saying Friday that it is easing its long-standing ban on psychiatric medications.
The old policy stemmed in part from concerns over possible side effects of psychiatric drugs, including sedation. But newer medications have fewer side effects, and pilots' associations have pressured the agency to reconsider the ban.
:
The FAA says it can't estimate how many pilots might come forward but believes pilots' depression rate doesn't differ much from that of the general population, about 10%.
Antidepressants are the fourth biggest-selling class of drugs in the U.S., netting nearly $10 billion in sales in 2009.
