Nellie F. Welsh, Administratrix of the Estate of Francis John Welsh, Deceased, and Nellie Welsh, Individually v. United States

MERRITT, Circuit Judge.

In this medical malpractice action brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act for wrongful death arising from surgery in a Veterans Administration hospital, the District Court after a bench trial awarded plaintiff-appellee $606,203.95 in damages against the United States. Plaintiff’s decedent died from an E. Coli infection of the brain (meningitis) after a prolonged period of decline that followed two brain operations in 1980, the first on June 9 to remove a large benign brain tumor and the second on October 15 to treat the infection. The United States argues on appeal…