SFC Richard Stayskal Military Medical Accountability Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2422 To amend chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code, to allow suit against the United States for injuries and deaths of members of the Armed Forces of the United States caused by improper medical care, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 30, 2019 Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Mr. HUDSON, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. CRIST, and Mr. STEUBE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code, to allow suit against the United States for injuries and deaths of members of the Armed Forces of the United States caused by improper medical care, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘SFC Richard Stayskal 4 Military Medical Accountability Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 May 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2422.IH H2422 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2422 IH SEC. 2. ALLOWING CLAIMS AGAINST THE UNITED STATES 1 FOR INJURY AND DEATH OF MEMBERS OF 2 THE ARMED FORCES CAUSED BY IMPROPER 3 MEDICAL CARE. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 171 of title 28, United 5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 6 lowing: 7 ‘‘§ 2681. Claims against the United States for injury 8 and death of members of the Armed 9 Forces of the United States 10 ‘‘(a) A claim may be brought against the United 11 States under this chapter for damages relating to the per- 12 sonal injury or death of a member of the Armed Forces 13 of the United States arising out of a negligent or wrongful 14 act or omission in the performance of medical, dental, or 15 related health care functions (including clinical studies 16 and investigations) that is provided at a covered military 17 medical treatment facility by a person acting within the 18 scope of the office or employment of that person by or 19 at the direction of the Government of the United States. 20 ‘‘(b) A claim under this section shall not be reduced 21 by the amount of any benefit received under subchapter 22 III (relating to Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance) of 23 chapter 19 of title 38. 24 ‘‘(c) Notwithstanding section 2401(b), a claim 25 brought under this section shall have a 3-year statute of 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 May 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2422.IH H2422 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2422 IH limitations beginning on the date the claimant discovered 1 or by reasonable diligence should have discovered the in- 2 jury and the cause of the injury. 3 ‘‘(d) For purposes of claims brought under this sec- 4 tion— 5 ‘‘(1) subsections (j) and (k) of section 2680 do 6 not apply; and 7 ‘‘(2) in the case of an act or omission occurring 8 outside the United States, the law of the place where 9 the act or omission occurred shall be deemed to be 10 the law of the State of domicile of the claimant. 11 ‘‘(e) In this section, the term ‘covered military med- 12 ical treatment facility’ means the facilities described in 13 subsections (b), (c), and (d) of section 1073d of title 10, 14 United States Code, regardless of whether the facility is 15 located in or outside the United States. The term does 16 not include battalion aid stations or other medical treat- 17 ment locations deployed in an area of armed conflict. 18 ‘‘(f) Not later than 2 years after the date of the en- 19 actment of this section, and every 2 years thereafter, the 20 Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a report 21 on the number of claims filed under this section.’’. 22 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 23 for chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code, is amend- 24 ed by adding at the end the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 May 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2422.IH H2422 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2422 IH ‘‘2681. Claims against the United States for injury and death of members of the Armed Forces of the United States.’’. (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act and the amend- 1 ments made by this Act shall apply to— 2 (1) a claim arising on or after the date of the 3 enactment of this Act; and 4 (2) a pending claim arising before the date of 5 the enactment of this Act, with respect to which the 6 period of limitations shall be deemed to begin on the 7 date of the enactment of this Act. 8 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 9 or the amendments made by this Act shall be construed 10 to limit the application of the administrative process and 11 procedures of chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code, 12 to claims permitted under section 2681 of such chapter, 13 as amended by this section. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 May 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2422.IH H2422 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS