Opinion
No. 6337.
Heard November 4, 1964.
Decided December 30, 1964.
Francis J. Larkin, Milford, Mass., with whom Edward J. McCormack, Jr., Boston, Mass., and Meyer H. Goldman, Boston, Mass., were on brief, for appellant.
William F. Looney, Jr., Asst. U.S. Atty., with whom W. Arthur Garrity, Jr., U.S. Atty., and John Paul Sullivan, Asst. U.S. Atty., were on brief for appellee.
The court below found that the doctor who treated the plaintiff at the Veterans' Administration Hospital in West Haven, Connecticut, "was not lacking in the exercise of due care" and hence, not having been negligent, the United States was not liable to the plaintiff under the Federal Tort Claims Act. Perhaps the doctor might have used more extreme precautions in practicing a well recognized medical procedure known in rare instances to have serious side effects. But a preliminary clinical examination of the patient disclosed no need for extreme precautions. The record contains ample evidence warranting a finding that the doctor followed the usual practice and used the usual skills of medical men in his field of practice in the area of West Haven, Connecticut, if not indeed elsewhere throughout the United States.
Judgment will be entered affirming the judgment of the District Court.