Abstract
Levin v. United States Docket No. 11 -1351 Argument Date: January 15, 2013 From: The Ninth Circuit ISSUE Has the United States waived sovereign immunity for medical battery claims based on the acts of military medical personnel when the United States is substituted for the medical practitioner as the defendant under the Gonzalez Act, despite the Federal Tort Claims Act's general exception for assault and battery claims? FACTS Steven Alan Levin brought an action in the United States District Court for the District of Guam against both the United States government and against a Navy surgeon, raising claims of negligence and battery. The government subsequently moved to dismiss both the malpractice negligence claim and the battery claim. Because Levin had failed to identify an expert to testify, the district court dismissed the malpractice claim.