Military Times reports that the proposed House Democratic spending bill, which is expected to advance this week could overturn the Feres Doctrine, a 1950 U.S. Supreme Court decision that has prohibited U.S. Military service members from bringing claims for medical malpractice. In Feres, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that that military members could not bring an action under the Federal Tort Claims Act if they were injured as the result of another federal employee, including physicians. The proposed bill would allow claims against the Department of Defense in some cases of medical negligence. Full article here: https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2019/07/10/widows-tax-block-on-military-malpractice-lawsuits-would-be-repealed-in-house-defense-bill/
As combat veterans, we believe that veterans and service members should make themselves heard on this issue and we hope the measure passes!
We discussed the Feres doctrine in depth in an earlier post back in March. Check out that post for more.