S.H. by Holt v. United States

853 F.3d 1056 (2017)

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S.H. by Holt v. United States

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
853 F.3d 1056 (2017)

Facts

William Holt, a member of the United States Air Force, was told he would be transferred to an air force base in Spain just before his wife, Chantal Holt, learned she was pregnant with their third child. William requested command-sponsored travel for his wife and two children to move with him to Spain. Before the request could be approved, the family had to be cleared by an air force physician, Dr. Richard Stahlman, to determine whether the air force base in Spain had adequate medical care for the family’s needs. Although he knew Chantal was pregnant and had a history of preterm births and miscarriages, Dr. Stahlman cleared the family for travel to Spain. Chantal was seen by an obstetrician on the base in Spain. When Chantal was 31 weeks pregnant, the obstetrician determined Chantal was in preterm labor and sent her to an off-base hospital, where a caesarian section was performed, and so the Holts’ baby, S.H. (plaintiff), was born prematurely. In the months immediately following S.H.’s birth, S.H. experienced significant motor and development delays. Doctors in Spain suggested S.H. could have cerebral palsy, but S.H. was not definitively diagnosed with cerebral palsy until S.H. was two years old, after the Holts had returned to the United States. S.H., through the Holts, filed suit in federal court against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), alleging that Dr. Stahlman had negligently approved the Holts’ request for command-sponsored travel to the base in Spain, which was not equipped to handle their medical needs. The United States argued the court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction because S.H.’s injury occurred in Spain, and under the foreign-country exception to the FTCA, the United States had not waived sovereign immunity. The district court held that S.H.’s injury occurred in the United States when she was definitively diagnosed with cerebral palsy, and S.H. was awarded more than $10 million in damages. The United States appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Lucero, J.)

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