Supreme Court declines to hear case to allow military medical malpractice lawsuits

[left-of-center2012]

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a Navy lieutenant’s wrongful death case that looked to overturn a rule that bars servicemembers from suing the government for medical malpractice.

The case was on behalf of Rebekah “Moani” Daniel, 33, who bled to death after giving birth to a baby girl, Victoria. The so-called Feres Doctrine bars the Daniels and other servicemembers from seeking such legal recourse. Monday’s decision comes on the heels of an emotional congressional hearing last month that saw several servicemembers and their families recount medical horrors through the military health care system with no legal recourse.

The Feres Doctrine can be traced back to 1950 when the Supreme Court issued a ruling in Feres vs. the United States. Since then, the court has interpreted the Feres Doctrine to mean no active-duty servicemember can sue the federal government regardless of the circumstances.

During last month’s congressional hearing on the doctrine, lawmakers heard stories of missed diagnosis that might have contributed to a Green Beret’s advanced, terminal Stage IV cancer, an airman’s routine appendectomy that turned fatal, and a judge advocate general who suffered multiple miscarriages following questionable care.

https://www.stripes.com/supreme-court-declines-to-hear-case-to-allow-military-medical-malpractice-lawsuits-1.581863

[SeattleVet]

1. I was extremely lucky.

When I was in the Air Force I broke my right femur one night and was taken to the base hospital. They took X-rays, and the tech told me I had broken it "right below your knee". I was sitting on the edge of the table at the time, and grabbed my thigh and moved it, and my knee swung to the left and right. The tech said, "Oh, that's right ... one bone above the knee...two bones below", while flipping the image over. Great!

They put on an inflatable splint and sent me to the civilian hospital downtown. When they wheeled me into the ER, the doctor that met the ambulance grabbed a scalpel and cut open the inflatable, asking, "Who the hell put this on you? This is exactly the WRONG type of splint for this type of break." They sandbagged my leg overnight, operated the next morning and put in a plate, then I was in the hospital for the next month in traction. They put me into a body cast and I was sent home on convalescent leave for 30 days, then back to the (civilian) hospital for a bone graft from my hip to 'fill the gap' (they had removed a bit of the bone when they found a bone cyst, later found to be benign). Put me into a 2-piece hard cast hinged at the knee so that the joint wouldn't calcify. That one lasted for another 2 months or so. I was eventually walking on that one, and even going out dancing (I had a wrench to tighten up the joint when it would loosen...made a great impression on the dance floor!) Everything healed up well and I've had no further problems over the past 40 or so years (no thanks at all to the base hospital, a.k.a. "That damned 3-story Band-Aid box".)

I found out later that the base orthopedic surgeon had been on leave when I first arrived, fighting a malpractice suit that had been filed against him before he entered the Air Force (to avoid malpractice suits, it would seem). The care I received downtown was excellent, and my doc was a real chill guy. Wrote a prescription for me for 'beer or wine with meals or as desired', friends brought me the brew, and the nurses kept it in the fridge for me. I'd be laying there reading in the evening and a nurse would pop in, "Want a beer?", and usually bring 2 or 3 in a bedpan full of ice.