Federal judge dismisses malpractice suit against the VA over man’s 2014 death

A federal judge this week dismissed a medical malpractice suit filed by the children of a Navy veteran who died in 2014 from bleeding on the brain after he was discharged from Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Rice dismissed the suit Wednesday partly under the argument that the attending physician was not an employee of the Veterans Administration and remanded that portion of the claim to state court.

The incident began Aug. 2, 2014, when Steven Wright went to Mann-Grandstaff a week after falling at home. After he was discharged, VA nurses offered to transport him via wheelchair outside the hospital but he refused. Once outside, Wright fell again and injured his head, according to court records.

He was brought back into the medical center and checked out. Upon his request, Wright was discharged. He was found dead the next morning.

Wright’s children sued under the argument that VA medical officials should have ordered further testing that would have revealed the bleeding on the brain.

But Judge Rice ruled that the suit did not provide enough proof to satisfy the necessary legal elements of the case for it to proceed.