The U.S. Department of Defense will soon begin paying medical malpractice claims under a law inspired by the travails of a Pinehurst Green Beret.
Named after Sgt. 1st Class Richard “Rich” Stayskal, the law allows service members to file administrative claims for medical malpractice in all branches of the armed forces. Military personnel were previously barred from taking such action by the Feres Doctrine, an obscure rule stemming from a 1950 Supreme Court decision.