Brown v. U.S. Dep't of Veterans Affairs, No. 08-2506

In plaintiffs' lawsuit against the US government under the Federal Tort Claims Act, district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the government is affirmed as the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) did not owe a duty to the plaintiffs under Michigan law where there is insufficient evidence that plaintiff's husband presented the VA with symptoms of Leishmaniasis such that a reasonable physician should have known that he was infected with the disease, and where there is also insufficient evidence that the VA should have known that the disease was readily transmissible from the husband to his family members, and thus, the plaintiffs were not foreseeable victims of any failure by the VA to diagnose the husband with the disease.  

Brown v. U.S. Dep't of Veterans Affairs, No. 08-2506

Argued: July 30, 2009

Decided and Filed: October 15, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Circuit Judge McKeague

Counsel

For Appellant: Robert Paul Walsh, Battle Creek, Michigan

For Appellee: Steven P. Croley, Detroit, Michigan