See subject. Is said agreement part of paperwork?
I’m there have been exceptions made. Anyone know of any?
Leo
This is one thing that I’d almost be surprised if it’s stated explicitly in a waiver anywhere, and not protected from courts under simple “common sense” dismissals. I can’t find it anywhere online, regardless of the terms I search for.
It DOES look like there’s some protection of military DOCTORS exhibiting medical negligence that’s being challenged in courts, but that’s the closest I can find.
That said, I recall a thread from a while ago discussing cases where within the military itself you can raise a bit of a structured ruckus if you’re injured due to a CO’s insane orders under certain circumstances, but I don’t think that falls under “suing for injuries” so much as “suing for being incompetent and unfit for a leadership position.”
Edit: Found something, apparently there’s a 1950’s court decision from Feres v. United States that basically made it impossible to (successfully) sue the military for anything “related to death or injury incident to military service” in a civil court.
http://www.armytimes.com/community/ask_lawyer/offduty_askthelawyer_011110w/
Are you thinking of soverign immunity?
its a waiver that is part of the soldiers contract, distinctly recall snickering at the can’t sue if the soldier gets killed in war clause. the person explicitly waives all rights for themselves and their immediate family(spouse kids sibling and parents) to sue, for any reason, I also don’t recall the exact wording, but I DO recall that was an individually initialed clause in my contract. I would have to send off for my official military record as that peice of paper went into my personnel file or I have managed to lose my copy of it over the years. I do remember when my brother was killed my parents couldn’t sue the military but the sued the airline that had the transportation charter.
closest I can recall it said, "by initialling this clause and signing this contract I /guestchaz/ understand that I waive for myself and on behalf of my immediate family(spouse, children both by birth and adopted, siblings or parents) the right to {sue} the United States Army, The Dept. of the Army, or the Dept. of Defense for any reason up to and including death or disfigurement of the {signee}
this is all from memory and is 16 years old so, yanno, usual disclaimers apply, the {} brackets are where I couldn’t recall if they worded it a specific way or if they used the usual milspeak/legalese the rest if not accurate im confidant is fairly close to what it was at that time
This is it. As your link states, it’s not just a court decision, but a 1950 Supreme Court decision, Feres v. United States.
The opinion is known as the Feres Doctrine. It has been held to extend even to deaths or injuries resulting from negligence or incompetence.
Personally, I think that a distinction should be made between deaths or injuries on the battlefield versus a peacetime barracks accident or negligence by a military physician during a routine non-battlefield procedure.
On the other hand, while military members cannot sue the government, they can apply for a disability claim from the VA for disabilities resulting from injuries or illnesses incurred during active military service.
Oy military medicine, specifically surgery, whole other box of waivers and what not to sign there too. Yeah, ya get drunk and fall of your bunk and crack your skull, probably you will be able to get disability to some extent that the doc wasn’t able to return you to a pre-drunken fall condition, on the theory that the US Gov. “owns” you while you’re in the military and therefore responsible for discharging you in the same condition you entered minus reasonable wear and tear. No I don’t know what reasonable wear and tear is, thats a moving target they (the VA) adjusts periodically.
Would it be the legal doctrine of Assumption of Risk?
If you’re a civilian beneficiary of military health care, you theoretically have the right to sue for injury caused by negligent or incompetent care. You have to file a claim with the appropriate branch’s legal system, and that claim has to be denied before you can proceed with a lawsuit. Unlike a civilian malpractice suit, the military will likely not settle to make it go away. They have the resources to fight. Of course, if it’s obvious and provable malpractice, and it’s a case they’d probably lose at trial, they’d probably approve your initial claim.