Lloyd J. Austin III Secretary of Defence | Official website
The Department of Defense (DoD) has issued a Final Rule, published in the Federal Register, which revises its regulation on the medical malpractice claims process for Active-Duty Service members. The revised rule removes the offset requirement for payments related to non-economic damages.
This updated regulation aims to optimize benefits for Service members who file medical malpractice claims arising from incidents in military medical treatment facilities. Under the previous rule, all payments received by Service members from both the DoD and the Department of Veterans Affairs pertaining to medical malpractice were utilized to offset the total claim amount.
With this revision, eligible claimants are now able to receive the full amount of non-economic damages without any offset. These non-economic damages encompass pain and suffering, physical discomfort, and loss of enjoyment of life.
The DoD stated that this action was taken in direct response to feedback from Service members, Members of Congress, and other significant stakeholders.
The new rule is effective immediately. All currently pending claims will be processed using this updated calculation method.
The Final Rule can be accessed at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-05-10/pdf/2024-10130.pdf.