How to Sue the Military for Medical Malpractice
The vast majority of military personnel and their dependents are eligible for medical care through the US military. While this is usually the highest standard of care, as with all healthcare systems, mistakes can happen. While some people might believe that all errors committed by doctors and nurses rise to the level of medical malpractice, this is not actually true. Medical professionals, both military and civilian, are only human, and so there is leeway within the regulations of their industry for them to make a mistake. You cannot file a lawsuit against the military in every event of medical error, and so it is important to understand where the line is and what steps to take.
To help all military personnel and their loved ones who have experienced an issue, here is how to sue the military for medical malpractice.
1. Check that You are Eligible to Sue the Military
The first thing you need to do before you can file a medical malpractice lawsuit against the military is to check that you are eligible to do so. It is important to note that if you are an active member of the military, you are not eligible to sue the government due to the Feres Doctrine. However, you can sue the government if you are a retired member of the military, an active military member whose dependent has been somehow harmed in a military medical facility, or if you are the dependent themselves and you have been harmed.
2. Find Out if You Actually Have a Medical Malpractice Case
If you fall into one of the above categories of eligible people, the next thing you will need to do is find out if your case rises to the level of medical malpractice. For both civilian and military medical malpractice cases, these are the two questions you should have answers to:
Did the healthcare professional provide a treatment that fell below the normal standards of medical care and did the healthcare professional’s actions or inactions cause clear and severe harm?
3. Hire a Specialized Medical Malpractice Attorney
Knowing whether your case fulfills those two criteria can be difficult so it is always worth consulting with an experienced attorney who specializes in military medical malpractice. The attorneys at blg-dc.com/military-medical-malpractice/ explain that every case they are presented with is different and so it is only by examining the circumstances that they will be able to give potential clients a clear answer on whether they have a legitimate lawsuit on their hands. Being found guilty of medical malpractice can have a huge impact on doctors, hospitals, both in the military and in civilian life, so they will fight very hard when an accusation is made. For a claim against the government, you will typically have two years after the incident, or your realization of the incident, to make your claim. Your attorneys will help you fill out the requisite Standard Form 95, and then the process will be in motion.
4. Understand Your Rights
As noted above, the right to sue for medical malpractice is based on two factors; did the medical professional provide a standard of care that wasn’t up to scratch, and did that result in severe harm?
Here is a typical example of a case that would not rise to the level of medical malpractice: You are the husband of an active member of the military and you go to see a military doctor because you have had a three-day cough. When you fill out the forms, you indicate that you are allergic to codeine. The doctor then prescribes you Tylenol 3 (which contains codeine) which results in you developing a high fever and vomiting through the night.
Clearly, something has gone wrong somewhere. The doctor never saw the form where you had indicated your allergy, they saw them and overlooked this information, or they saw them and prescribed Tylenol 3 not knowing it contained codeine. While all of these possibilities should never happen, the consequences were not so severe. After one night of feeling sick, you would have felt better, and with a little rest and a lot of water, you would have been perfectly fine.
If, however, the same doctor error had caused you to have a heart attack or permanently injured your digestive system as a result of your allergy, you would absolutely have had grounds to sue. While military doctors and other medical professionals are allowed to make mistakes just like anyone else, if they result in serious harm then you are eligible to sue the government.
A military medical malpractice lawsuit is a complex case so it is important to hire an experienced attorney. Understanding whether the two determining factors have been reached can be hard, but your attorney will be able to look at the details of your case and decide if it rises to the level of medical malpractice.
