Have you or a loved one been seriously hurt by negligent medical care at a hospital or clinic run by the Department of Defense or the Department of Veterans Affairs – formerly the Veterans Administration? This web site is dedicated to educating you about your legal rights.
Patients who are treated at military or veterans facilities have the right to the same high quality care as any American at any civilian facility. When those rights are not respected, the government can be held financially liable for the resulting injury and damage. This website is a service of Patrick Malone & Associates , the premier law firm in Washington, D.C. for serious personal injury and malpractice cases.
What kinds of claims can be brought?
Typical examples include:
- A baby delivered at a military hospital suffers brain damage or nerve damage to an arm due to improper delivery procedures.
- A veteran who gets regular care at a VA facility develops a preventable complication of diabetes, like diabetic blindness, because of failure to give him or her the proper regular testing.
- A spouse of a military service person is injured due to poor hospital or clinic care.
- An active-duty military member is harmed due to medical negligence at a Department of Defense hospital
Three laws govern malpractice claims against U.S. military facilities:
- The Federal Tort Claims Act – for claims at military and veterans’ facilities in the United States. (See also: Federal Tort Claims Act Damages and Veteran’s Benefits)
- The Military Claims Act – for claims at military facilities in foreign countries.
- The 2020 National Defense Authorization Act – for claims from servicemembers on active duty
Additional Resources
- Find VA hospitals, health care facilities and clinics in your state
- National Guideline Clearinghouse is a government-sponsored research tool that allows one to search for the medical care guidelines and standards of care that are specific to a variety of diseases, conditions and treatments. Patients can search for guidelines by disease, type of treatment, or medical organization.
- Standard Form 95 is the form used for starting all Federal Tort Claims Act claims.
Legal Consultation
If you or a family member has suffered a serious, permanent injury related to a government or military physician’s malpractice or negligence, you may want to talk to a lawyer. We provide free consultations to help determine if you have a valid medical negligence case.
Our firm is based in Washington, D.C., and can handle injury claims against the United States government anywhere. The final decision-makers in the government often are based in or near Washington – in the U.S. Justice Department or one of the military branches.
Our firm has a unique experience with military cases that separates us from other firms. Of Counsel Attorney Peter R. Masciola, Brigadier General (Retired) has over 35 years of government and military medical malpractice experience from both sides of this law practice area. Attorney Masciola understands how to best help military families victimized by the government they served.
We will need to obtain complete medical records to do a good analysis.
Call us at 1-202-742-1500 or toll-free at 1-888-625-6635 or fill out our confidential contact form for a FREE Consultation and review of your case.
