National Guard airman paralyzed at Walter Reed petitions Supreme Court to allow him to sue military (Stars & Stripes, June 23, 2024)

Summary: He was in the Air National Guard in Baltimore. He went in for a surgery to fuse vertebrae due to severe pain, and came out a quadriplegic due to a surgical error.

After the surgery failure, the Air National Guard retroactively placed him on active duty, which brings into play the 1950 Feres Doctrine. (Originally decided by the Supreme Court prohibiting active duty military personnel from suing the military for negligence.)

He has been turned away by the courts six times, each citing the Feres Doctrine. They are now petitioning the Supreme Court to revisit his case.

A few years ago, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in a case that the Feres Doctrine should be revisited, since no law created or supports this position.

Congress created a law recently to allow in limited circumstances military personnel to make an administrative complaint to their service branch, and if that is ruled against them, they can seek court relief.

The military’s response has been not to review those complaints.