Federal Judge calls military lawsuit ban 'unfair', 'irrational'

[babylonsister]

Judge calls military lawsuit ban 'unfair'
Submitted by davidswanson on Sat, 2009-02-14

By Walter F. Roche Jr., TRIBUNE-REVIEW


Calling it "unfair and irrational," a federal judge in California has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider a 58-year-old doctrine that bars active-duty members of the military from malpractice claims against military medical facilities.

In a five-page ruling filed Tuesday in Sacramento, U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez "reluctantly" dismissed the lawsuit filed by Alexis Witt, the widow of an Air Force staff sergeant who suffered permanent brain injuries due to a documented cascade of medical errors following a routine appendectomy.

"The alleged facts in the instant case are so egregious and the liability of the defendant seems so clear," Mendez wrote, that he gave serious consideration to Witt's claim despite dozens of court rulings to the contrary.

Citing prior cases in which federal judges have called on the Supreme Court to reconsider the issue, Mendez wrote: "Now is the time to revisit the Feres Doctrine. Otherwise Feres will once again have led to a result that can only be characterized as unfair and irrational."

In the 1950 decision that has become known as the Feres Doctrine, the court concluded that active-duty members of the military are barred from filing claims for wrongful death or injury resulting from negligence, including malpractice in military health facilities.

more...

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/39822

[Thothmes]

1. You get what you pay for.

The Navy physician that did my vasectomy bothched the job. Spent 12 Days in the hospital as a result. No legal recourse. This is one reason that I am not a heavy supporter of Government sponsored medicine.

[babylonsister]

2. Oh, my. My DH had

a vasectomy in the military and walked home after it.
Don't you wish you'd had legal recourse? That's what this is about, though I don't expect that to ever happen.

[Kaleva]

3. This would open up a can of worms

unless the change in the Feres Doctrine was limited to malpractice in military health facilities in peace time only. But then, how does one define "peace time"?