Lawsuit by soldier’s Widow test Tennessee’s malpractice law
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – A federal court case brought by a military widow whose husband committed suicide is testing Tennessee’s medical malpractice statute after a judge said the state’s laws led to “seemingly unfair results” for the soldier’s family.
The U.S. Veterans Administration has conceded that its doctors failed to diagnose Scott Walter Eiswert with post-traumatic stress syndrome. The 31-year-old Greeneville veteran served in Iraq with the Tennessee National Guard before being honorably discharged in 2005. He committed suicide in 2008.
The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that Weisert’s federal lawsuit against the Veterans Administration has been thwarted because of paperwork required under Tennessee medical malpractice law.
U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer said he was forced to dismiss the widow’s lawsuit because of Tennessee law. A federal appeals court has revived the suit.
