Medical certification

The current funding challenge at the FAA is doing little to improve the response times for issuance of medical authorizations. First-time special issuances in particular are taking at least 120 days to be cleared. However, AOPA is aware of some reissuances of existing authorizations being delayed as well. The FAA is currently under a hiring freeze, and reductions in staffing levels of key positions at the Aerospace Medical Certification Division in Oklahoma City, including Legal Instrument Reviewers who review many of the cases flowing through the system, will exist for some time yet. In addition, one of the staff physicians has been recalled to active military duty.
http://www.aopa.org/members/resources/medical.html