Exactly.

The truth is, for anyone who thinks it could never happen, this ought to lay those doubts to rest. Yes, it's unlikely, because a TSO would have to be doing a label-reading bag search. BUT....TSA is notably reluctant to just come out and say 'medical nitro is OK'.

That reluctance says it all. The layers of TSA involved in confiscating my nitro were following SSI SOP, just as they said.

Interestingly, TSA was far more forthcoming when explaining why Britney Spears was allowed to take advantage of a new rule that hadn't been published yet but all the TSOs at LAX already knew about - ice was allowed.

A new rule that TSOs had been trained on but that somehow got rescinded before it ever actually got published on the website.

Note: someone tell me what good it will do if I ever need my medical nitro on the plane, don't have it, and pay the price? Unlike some items, this isn't something that can be bought airside each time and Fed-ex'ing it ahead doesn't do me much good while I'm at the airport and in the plane.

So the best possible outcome is that someone on my behalf files a complaint and gets told "Our bad, you're right, it shouldn't have happened that way".