The Fourth Circuit has declined to revive a North Carolina woman’s lawsuit alleging that a U.S. Navy hospital misdiagnosed her kidney failure, resulting in gangrene and necessitating multiple amputations. The court upheld a lower court’s decision that the suit was filed too late under a state statute.
Misdiagnosis Leads to Severe Consequences
Debbie Baldwin’s appeal challenged a North Carolina federal court’s ruling based on the state’s statute of repose. This ruling dismissed her suit against the government for alleged medical malpractice, which led to severe gangrene and multiple amputations of her hands and feet. Baldwin contended that the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) should preempt North Carolina’s statute of repose, but the three-judge panel disagreed in their Wednesday ruling.
Navy Hospital Gangrene Suit : Statute of Repose Takes Precedence
North Carolina’s statute of repose mandates filing within four years of the alleged malpractice. Baldwin missed this deadline while negotiating directly with the government, the opinion noted. She first visited the Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune in 2016 and filed her complaint with the Eastern District of North Carolina in 2022, only after the government informed her that suing was necessary to continue negotiations.
Navy Hospital Gangrene Suit : Citing Precedent
The Fourth Circuit referenced its 2011 decision in Anderson v. United States, a similar medical malpractice case under the FTCA, which established that the FTCA does not override state statutes of repose.
