West Virginia Patient Abandonment Suit Against U.S. Bounced

A West Virginia couple lost a suit against the U.S. over a federally employed doctor’s abandonment of the wife during their baby’s birth because they didn’t satisfy FTCA filing requirements, a federal court said.

The U.S.'s certification that Aaron Scaife was acting within the scope of his federal employment as a doctor when he walked away from the delivery room brought the case within the Federal Tort Claims Act, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia said.

The FTCA provided Lindsey and Nathan Totten with their only remedy, and the suit had to be dismissed because ...