Opinion ID: 4707703
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: procedural history of ftca claim

Text: Prior to filing this lawsuit, Mr. Smith had to exhaust his FTCA claim through the VA. Specifically, Mr. Smith filed a “tort claim” under the FTCA, alleging that his “VA healthcare providers negligently failed to timely diagnose and treat [his] tongue cancer.” In a December 2015 letter, the VA’s Office of Regional Counsel denied Mr. Smith’s claim. The Regional Counsel’s letter stated that the VA had “thoroughly investigated the facts and circumstances surrounding [Mr. Smith’s] administrative tort claim” and concluded “there was no negligent or wrongful act on the part of” any VA employee. The VA, at least at that point, seemingly conceded that medical negligence or malpractice was the proper lens through 17 USCA11 Case: 20-11365 Date Filed: 07/29/2021 Page: 18 of 58 which to view Mr. Smith’s claims.5 That same letter informed Mr. Smith that if he were “dissatisfied,” he could “file a request for reconsideration of [his] claim with the VA General Counsel.”6 Mr. Smith did that. In a February 2018 letter, the VA’s Office of the General Counsel responded that it had reconsidered Mr. Smith’s FTCA claim. The General Counsel “found no evidence of any negligent or wrongful act or omission on the part of a [VA] employee acting within the scope of his or her employment that caused or contributed to any injury to Mr. Smith.” The General Counsel’s letter informed Mr. Smith that if he wished to pursue his claim further, he could file suit in a federal court.
Mr. Smith then filed this suit against the United States (“the government”), pursuant to the FTCA, 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b). He alleged, inter alia, that “various personnel at the VA[] were negligent in regards to the care and treatment of” his 5 The letter acknowledged that Mr. Smith had framed his grievance as an FTCA negligence claim: The Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), . . . under which you filed your claim, provides for monetary compensation when a Government employee, acting within the scope of employment, injures another by a negligent or wrongful act or omission. Medical negligence means there was a breach in the standard of care and that breach proximately caused an injury. The standard of care is the level at which similarly qualified medical professionals, including doctors and nurses, would have managed the care under the same or similar circumstances. 6 The letter also informed Mr. Smith that, alternatively, he could “file suit directly under the FTCA.” 18 USCA11 Case: 20-11365 Date Filed: 07/29/2021 Page: 19 of 58 cancer by “[f]ailing to timely act in the face of Smith’s concerning symptoms and test results, resulting in inexcusable delay in the diagnosis, at a time when his cancer was treatable and curable,” and thereby failed to meet the applicable and appropriate medical standard of care. Compl. ¶ 38. The government moved to dismiss Mr. Smith’s complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under the VJRA, 38 U.S.C. § 511, which precludes judicial review of VA benefits decisions. The government acknowledged that Mr. Smith framed his FTCA claim as sounding in medical negligence but argued that his claims actually turned on the fact that his medical care was delayed and thus “he was denied benefits.” The district court agreed and dismissed Mr. Smith’s complaint without prejudice. This appeal followed.