‘Feres is indefensible’: Justice Thomas dissents as SCOTUS rejects latest Military Malpractice case

(InvestigateTV) — The Supreme Court has issued a new blow to active-duty service members hoping to seek justice following cases of medical malpractice at the hands of military doctors, nurses and other healthcare practitioners.

In an order posted Monday, the court denied a petition to hear the case of former Staff Sergeant Ryan Carter.

Carter served for more than a decade in the Maryland Air National Guard.

He was previously the subject of an InvestigateTV report looking into the inability of active-duty service members to sue the government for malpractice and digging into the lack of transparency in the military healthcare system.

As InvestigateTV previously reported, Carter underwent elective spine surgery in 2018 at the nation’s premier military facility - Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

The procedure was intended to improve chronic neck pain but instead left him paralyzed.

“It’s like someone just you know, went in and cut my nerves and just said, good luck,” Carter said.

Attorney filings obtained by InvestigateTV claimed military doctors were negligent during Carter’s surgery, listing 22 specific claims of failures related to everything from anesthesia to aftercare.

If Carter had been a civilian, he could have filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the providers involved in his case. But a decades-old court decision known as the Feres doctrine has effectively banned active-duty service members from suing the military for malpractice.

‘We should fix the mess that we have made’

In the latest effort to challenge the decision, Carter’s attorney, Chris Casciano, filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to hear his case. But that petition was denied in a list of decisions released early Monday.

Justice Clarence Thomas offered the dissent opinion, saying he hoped one day the Supreme Court would overturn Feres, indicating it has been almost universally condemned by judges and legal scholars.

“Feres is indefensible as a matter of law, and senseless as a matter of policy,” Thomas wrote.

InvestigateTV has spent years investigating medical malpractice within the military healthcare system, discovering the names of providers involved in those cases are shielded from public view - leaving service members and their families in the dark about problem providers.

For years, we have sought to uncover the names of those involved in military malpractice cases, but despite numerous public records requests - the Defense Health Agency and Department of Defense have released nothing more than basic statistics.

Our reporting uncovered hundreds of providers reported to a confidential data bank that stores disciplinary action, malpractice payments and other information about problematic doctors and nurses.

InvestigateTV sought reaction to the Supreme Court decision from Ryan Carter and his attorney but has not yet heard back.

If you or someone you love has experienced medical malpractice in the military, please get in touch with InvestigateTV using the survey below.

By clicking “Submit” you agree to our terms and conditions regarding your information and image in our Publicity Release and Copyright License, Terms and Conditions

Watch the InvestigateTV Livestream above or click here to see more InvestigateTV content on our YouTube channel