Thread: Supreme Court says federal medical officials cannot be sued

This story is NOT for the squeamish. The decision is interesting. Hello Healthcare?

Supreme Court says federal medical officials cannot be sued for immigrant death
By JESSE J. HOLLAND , Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the family of a now-deceased immigrant who was denied medical care for cancer while in custody cannot sue federal medical officials for damages.

The law clearly states that the federal government, not individual federal medical personnel, must be the defendant in lawsuits arising out of claims of harm by federal employees during the course of their official duties, the high court ruled in an unanimous decision.

"We are required ... to read the statute according to its text," said Justice Sonia Sotomayor, writing for a unanimous court.

Salvadoran immigrant Francisco Castaneda was denied a biopsy for a painful penis lesion while in prison in California, despite outside specialists' recommendations.

According to his attorneys, Castaneda was treated with ibuprofen, antihistamines and antibiotics and was given extra boxer shorts for a penis lesion that bled and festered. His penis later was amputated but by then the cancer had spread and he died.

The federal government has admitted liability for medical negligence. But Castaneda and his estate also sued individual U.S. Public Health Service medical officials for damages.

The government says its medical personnel have absolute immunity against lawsuits for their official actions.

Congress in 1970 passed a law gave immunity to Public Health Service doctors who treat immigrants in detention. Under that law, Castaneda's survivors can only sue the federal government under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which bars jury trials and punitive damages and limits economic damages to those allowed under state law.

A federal judge and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco refused to throw out the lawsuit, however. The high court on Monday reversed that decision.

Castaneda spent eight months in state prison after being convicted in 2005 of possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute. He complained about the lesion while at the San Diego Correctional Facility, and again when he was transferred to immigration custody in San Pedro, Calif., because he was in the United States illegally.

Castaneda informed Immigration and Customs Enforcement staff in 2006 that a "lesion on his penis was becoming painful and growing," a federal judge said. But a government doctor would not admit him to a hospital, calling a biopsy "an elective outpatient procedure."

After the American Civil Liberties complained in 2007, a doctor performed a biopsy and said Castaneda likely had cancer.

ICE decided to release him 11 days later. Castaneda went to a hospital and was diagnosed with metastatic squamous cell carcinoma. Less than a week later, his penis was amputated.

He died a year later.

The case is Hui v Castaneda, 08-1529.



http://www.startribune.com/nation/92669 ... :UiacyKUUr

"We are required ... to read the statute according to its text," said Justice Sonia Sotomayor, writing for a unanimous court.

What a surprise.

I'm kind of surprised that the "wise Latina" didn't stick up for the illegal.

This is GOOD. Detention Centers are not medical facilities. They are not mental evaluation centers. They are for holding criminals.
Detention Centers and their employees should not be held liable for the mental and physical health of every person in detention. Sure, BASIC needs must be met, but cancer diagnosis and treatment is not what detention centers are for.

I wonder if this guy KNEW he had cancer and came to the U.S. hoping U.S. Taxpayers would pay to treat him? I guess we did, eventually.

"My husband is in jail now," she said, stressing that other family members were watching her children while she was in the hospital.

Lovely, free medical care for her and three squares and a cot for her hardworking honest husband.

The federal government has admitted liability for medical negligence. But Castaneda and his estate also sued individual U.S. Public Health Service medical officials for damages.

The law clearly states that the federal government, not individual federal medical personnel, must be the defendant in lawsuits arising out of claims of harm by federal employees during the course of their official duties, the high court ruled in an unanimous decision

I would bet the family has already filed suit for medical malpractice against the Federal gov., since the feds have already admitted liability for medical negligence. That's not what this case is about.

The family wanted to go after the health care providers individually, which the SC said they cannot do, since the law states the federal government must be the defendant when claims of negligence, by federal employees, arise during the course of their official duties.

This decision simply reaffirms that medical practitioners cannot be sued individually when claims of negligence arise while performing their official duties on behalf of the federal government.

But the federal gov is not immune from such claims of negligence and can be named as a defendant in such cases.

Related:
http://www.alipac.us/ftopic-197585-0.html