Malmberg v. United States

816 F.3d 185, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 4106, 2016 WL 850859
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit·Decided March 4, 2016·No. Docket Nos. 14-3555-cv(L), 14-3913-cv(XAP)·Published·Cited by 16 cases

Opinion

POOLER, Circuit Judge:

Charles Malmberg sued the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”) after surgery at the Syracuse Veteran’s Administration Medical Center (“VA”) rendered him quadriplegic. After the liability portion of a bifurcated bench trial, the district court found the VA liable for Malmberg’s injuries. Malmberg v. United States, 814 F.Supp.2d 159, 167 (N.D.N.Y.2011). The government does not appeal the district court’s finding of liability.

Malmberg appeals from the August 21, 2014 judgment of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York (Scullin, J.) awarding him damages of $4,468,859.91. Malmberg v. United States, No. 5:06-cv-1042 (FJS/TWD), 2014 WL 4184737, at *15-16 (N.D.N.Y. Aug. 21, 2014). Malmberg argues that the district court abused its discretion by (1) offsetting the award for future medical care and benefits by subtracting out for services that could be provided by the VA for free, thus forcing him to receive medical services from his tortfeasor rather than choosing his own medical providers in the future; (2) denying his motion to amend his ad damnum clause to increase the amount of damages he sought; and (3) awarding $2 million in damages for past and future pain and suffering, which he contends is lower than comparable awards from New York state courts for similar injuries. The United States cross-appeals from the district court’s refusal to further offset the award for future medical care to reflect future home health services provided by a third-party contractor paid for by the VA.

We vacate the district court’s decision insofar as it offset the award for future medical care and supplies. Federal law does not require that a veteran injured as [189] a result of the VA’s malpractice be forced to continue under VA care for lack of financial resources and be subject to a concomitant offset, and New York state law does not warrant such an offset. In addition, we hold that the district court failed to provide adequate analysis to support both its denial of Malmberg’s motion to amend his ad damnum clause and its decision - to set the award for past and future pain and suffering at $2 million, and we remand with directions that the district court consider anew Malmberg’s motion to increase the ad damnum, taking into account the testimony of Dr. David Hunsinger, and determine damages without an offset for future receipt of medical care and supplies from the VA, consistent with this opinion. Finally, we affirm the district court’s decision not to further offset the award for future home health services on the ground that the provision of such services going, forward is not reasonably certain.

BACKGROUND

Prior to the operation at issue, Malm-berg suffered from symptoms primarily in his left arm—weakness, numbness and tingling. He did not demonstrate any symptoms typically associated with spinal cord compression. On November 4, 2004, Malmberg underwent surgery at the VA to remove a degenerative disc and osteo-phytes (bony outgrowths usually associated with cartilage degeneration). When he awoke from anesthesia, Malmberg complained that his legs were weak. X-rays and an MRI revealed that he suffered from mild cord impingement at several points in his spine, with excessive edema in the spinal cord. He was diagnosed with incomplete quadriplegia.

Persons, wishing to sue the federal government for money damages for personal injury must do so pursuant to the FTCA, which requires putative plaintiffs to first file an administrative claim. 28 U.S.C. § 2675(a). - Malmberg filed his administrative claim in January 2006. -The VA effectively denied the claim by failing to act-on it within six months. Id. (“The failure of an agency to make final disposition of a claim within six months after it is filed shall, at the option of the claimant any -time thereafter, be deemed a final denial of the claim for purposes of this section.”). In August 2006, Malmberg sued the United States for the injuries he sustained. The district court bifurcated the trial at Malmberg’s request, and found the VA liablé for Malmberg’s injuries after the first portion of the trial. Malmberg v. United States, 814 F.Supp.2d 159 (N.D.N.Y.2011).

In December 2012, the district court held a bench trial to set the amount of damages. The plaintiffs evidence indicated that before the November 2004 surgery, Malmberg lived independently, although he was not employed because of the radiculopathy. He testified that prior to the surgery, he enjoyed an array of activities, socialized regularly and did not have problems with his legs, right arm, bladder or bowel. Post-surgery, Malm-berg has-no use of his legs, Cannot stand, and is confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He must now use a catheter, which needs to be inserted up to 15 times a day, gets repeated urinary tract infections and lacks control over his bowels. Malmberg .testified that he suffers from pain daily, ranging from a 7-to-10 on a 1-to-10 scale. As his condition is not expected to improve, and will likely worsen, he will need assistance with daily living tasks for the rest of. his life.

The district court ultimately awarded Malmberg $500,000 for past pain and suffering, .$1.5 million for future pain and suffering, and $2,469,859.-91 in economic [190] damages. - The. district court -offset the economic damages award for future medical care by- subtracting out for medical care and supplies that would be provided for free by the VA. The district court declined to offset-the award for the costs of home- health- services provided by third-party contractors but paid for by the VA. Finally; the district court denied Malm-berg’s renewed motion to increase- his ad damnum clause. This appeal followed.

DISCUSSION

Following a bench trial, we review the factual-findings of the district court for clear error and its legal conclusions de novo. Petereit v. S.B. Thomas, Inc., 63 F.3d 1169, 1176 (2d Cir.1995).

I. Offset for medical care and supplies to be provided by the VA.

The district court offset Malmberg’s economic damages award by both the amount of past services provided by the VA., as well as the cost of future services that the VA will continue to provide free of - charge. The district court found that the government should not be forced to pay for services that the VA could provide for free, although it is not clear whether it relied on federal or state law in reaching its conclusion. Because of this, and because the government argues that such an offset is required by both federal and state law, we address each.

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Malmberg v. United States, 816 F.3d 185, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 4106, 2016 WL 850859 (2d Cir. 2016).

816 F.3d 185 (Malmberg v. United States) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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