L.C. Bell, Personal Representative of the Estate of Lonnie C. Bell, Deceased v. United States

BOGGS, Circuit Judge.

The personal representative of Lonnie Bell’s estate sued the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b), 2671-2680. The plaintiff claimed that Bell’s death was caused by the failure of physicians at the Veterans Administration Medical Center, where Bell was hospitalized, to diagnose timely Bell’s abdominal aortic aneurysm. After a bench trial, the district court found the plaintiff had established that the Veterans Administration doctors breached their duty of care toward Bell. However, the court also found that the plaintiff failed to prove…