SUPREME COURT

Challenge to lawsuit ban rejected

The Court this week refused to review the ban in the case of a world-class runner who was left crippled.

Donzell Jones

Prior to an operation at Oakland Naval Hospital in California five years ago, Donzell Jones was a world-class runner, training for what he hoped would be a shot at the Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.

When the surgery was over, Jones was crippled, his chances of ever racing again ruined by what his lawyer charges was negligence in the operating room.

But because Jones was an active duty sergeant in the Army, he cannot sue for medical malpractice. The U.S. Supreme Court this week turned down Jones' request that it review the 47-year-old Feres doctrine, which bars lawsuits for harm done to active duty members of the military.

Jones in his petition to the court argued that his operation was unrelated to his service as an active-duty soldier.

In 1992, Jones qualified for the Army track team and was transferred to the Presidio in San Francisco, along with other Army athletes. While in training for the Olympic trials that year, he developed ulcerative colitis, a painful stomach ailment, which eventually became so serious Army doctors decided to operate.

When Jones awoke from the surgery, he couldn't walk. Burton Weinstein, his attorney, said pressurized stockings used to secure his legs during the operation had been applied too tightly and left on too long - seven hours too long.

Jones suffered severe nerve damage and had to spend months in rehabilitation, learning how to use his legs again. The Army retired the track star on disability.

"Now it is not only impossible for Donzell Jones to run, but it is also extremely difficult for him even to walk,'' Weinstein said in his petition to the Supreme Court.

The court rejected the petition without comment.

Main story:	Laws And Rulings Shield Doctors Military personnel and their families often can do nothing when victimized by the military's health care system.
Sidebars to Part 7:	SUPREME COURT CHALLENGE TO LAWSUIT BAN REJECTED The Court this week refused to review the ban in the case of a world-class runner who was left crippled. PATIENTS' RIGHTS IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES FOR QUALITY CARE Patients of the military health system can take steps to head off potential problems. CONTACT LIST MEMBERS OF CONGRESS WHO OVERSEE MILITARY HEALTH CARE