Second Circuit Decision on Damages With Broad Ramifications

It used to be relatively rare that medical malpractice actions in New York were brought in federal court. Only cases based upon care at a veterans (VA) hospital or the occasional instance of complete diversity between a plaintiff and the defendants would result in federal jurisdiction. That has changed with the proliferation of federally funded family health clinics under the Federally Supported Health Centers Act of 1995 (42 U.S.C. §201 et seq). Pursuant to that law, those centers and their medical staff are deemed federal government employees for the purposes of malpractice lawsuits, and any such actions may only be brought in federal court under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), with the United States as the defendant.¹ As a result, the federal courts have taken on a greater role in statewide malpractice litigation. Therefore, Second Circuit decisions in malpractice cases warrant the attention of New York medical malpractice litigators.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently issued a particularly noteworthy opinion in Malmberg v. United States, ___ F.3d ___, 2016 WL 850859 (2d Cir. 2016), addressing damages in an action involving malpractice at a VA medical center. That decision has important ramifications for cases stemming from care rendered at VA facilities, but also has portentous implications for damages-related issues in other federal and state malpractice actions.