Syracuse Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
The United States established the Veterans Health Administration to provide health and medical services to veterans. The program helped establish hospitals, clinics, and medical centers aimed at assisting veterans and is run by the federal government, which means the medical professionals working at the facilities are usually considered federal employees.As with any medical center, physicians perform risky procedures and sometimes make mistakes that injure people and lead to New York medical malpractice claims. Through a Freedom of Information Act request, the Department of Veteran Affairs released information regarding thousands of claims against various VA medical centers for an approximately 20-year period. The report shows that the Syracuse VA Medical Center ended up paying out approximately $2 million in claims.
The claimants were not always permitted to file lawsuits for medical malpractice against VA medical centers. Because of governmental immunity, lawsuits were not permitted until the passage of the Federal Tort Claims Act in 1946. The law waives governmental immunity and gives veterans the right to recover money damages from the federal government for injuries caused by the medical malpractice of federal employees.
