[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2422 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``SFC Richard Stayskal Military 
Medical Accountability Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. ALLOWING CLAIMS AGAINST THE UNITED STATES FOR INJURY AND DEATH 
              OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES CAUSED BY IMPROPER MEDICAL 
              CARE.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 2681. Claims against the United States for injury and death of 
              members of the Armed Forces of the United States
    ``(a) A claim may be brought against the United States under this 
chapter for damages relating to the personal injury or death of a 
member of the Armed Forces of the United States arising out of a 
negligent or wrongful act or omission in the performance of medical, 
dental, or related health care functions (including clinical studies 
and investigations) that is provided at a covered military medical 
treatment facility by a person acting within the scope of the office or 
employment of that person by or at the direction of the Government of 
the United States.
    ``(b) A claim under this section shall not be reduced by the amount 
of any benefit received under subchapter III (relating to 
Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance) of chapter 19 of title 38.
    ``(c) Notwithstanding section 2401(b), a claim brought under this 
section shall have a 3-year statute of limitations beginning on the 
date the claimant discovered or by reasonable diligence should have 
discovered the injury and the cause of the injury.
    ``(d) For purposes of claims brought under this section--
            ``(1) subsections (j) and (k) of section 2680 do not apply; 
        and
            ``(2) in the case of an act or omission occurring outside 
        the United States, the law of the place where the act or 
        omission occurred shall be deemed to be the law of the State of 
        domicile of the claimant.
    ``(e) In this section, the term `covered military medical treatment 
facility' means the facilities described in subsections (b), (c), and 
(d) of section 1073d of title 10, United States Code, regardless of 
whether the facility is located in or outside the United States. The 
term does not include battalion aid stations or other medical treatment 
locations deployed in an area of armed conflict.
    ``(f) Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of 
this section, and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary of Defense 
shall submit to Congress a report on the number of claims filed under 
this section.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 171 of 
title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``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 amendments made by this Act 
shall apply to--
            (1) a claim arising on or after the date of the enactment 
        of this Act; and
            (2) a pending claim arising before the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, with respect to which the period of 
        limitations shall be deemed to begin on the date of the 
        enactment of this Act.
    (d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act or the amendments 
made by this Act shall be construed to limit the application of the 
administrative process and procedures of chapter 171 of title 28, 
United States Code, to claims permitted under section 2681 of such 
chapter, as amended by this section.
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