Opinion

Benton W. Bullwinkel v. Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board

  • 23 F.3d 167
Court
Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Filed
Jun 23, 1994
Status
Published
Author
Cummings
On the bench
Cummings, Cudahy, Leinenweber
Cited by
5 cases

The opinion

CUMMINGS, Circuit Judge,

dissenting.

I dissent because the majority is splitting hairs in condemning the no lithium rule. Ob-viouslyi the rule is aimed at two conditions: (1) the taker of prescribed lithium is given the medication because otherwise he or she is apt to suffer the disabling symptoms for which it is given and (2) the lithium itself can cause side effects that make the user disqualified to fly. It is simply pettifogging to remand this case to the Board since serious accidents may occur while the Board reconsiders the rule: it is obvious that the result will be the same, even though the rule will be recouched to satisfy the majority opinion. The Board should not be forced to redraft a rule which is already designed to prevent aircraft tragedies merely to satisfy this Court’s sensibilities.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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