Burton v. United States

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ) DOSHIA DANIELS BURTON, et al., ) ) Plaintiffs, ) ) v. ) 05-CV-2214 (RCL) ) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) ) Defendant. ) ) MEMORANDUM OPINION I. INTRODUCTION. On February 20, 2003, Samuel E. Burton, a retired United States Coast Guard captain who had recently had his leg placed in a cast at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center to treat a rupture of his Achilles tendon, died from a massive pulmonary embolism. He was convalescing on his living-room couch when a blood clot moved from his leg to his lungs and blocked both arteries, cutting…