Stayskal Act Claims

Holding the Military Medical System Accountable

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When military doctors miss the diagnosis, delay treatment, or injure a service member inside a covered treatment facility, the Stayskal Act is often the only path to compensation. It is not a lawsuit. It is a hard administrative fight — and most claims lose.

For decades, active-duty service members could not recover for medical malpractice committed by military providers. A 1950 Supreme Court decision known as the Feres Doctrine closed the courthouse door. Families of civilians and dependents could often sue. The service member could not.

Congress changed that — in part — in the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. The provision is commonly called the SFC Richard Stayskal Military Medical Accountability Act, named for a Green Beret whose lung cancer was missed on military imaging. The statute is codified at 10 U.S.C. § 2733a. The implementing rules are in 32 C.F.R. Part 45.

The Act does not repeal Feres. It does not give you a jury. It creates an administrative claims process inside the Department of Defense. DoD investigates itself. DoD decides whether the claim is “substantiated.” DoD decides what, if anything, will be paid. Historically, the large majority of claims have been denied — including the claim filed by the soldier whose name is on the law.

That is why this area of practice requires more than filling out a form. It requires a record, a theory of liability that fits the regulation, medical proof, and a damages presentation DoD cannot casually dismiss.

Younts Law represents service members and authorized family representatives in Stayskal Act claims. We explain the law in plain terms, screen cases for statutory eligibility, and build the claim the regulation actually requires.

UCMJ

A Narrow Path to Compensation.

What the Stayskal Act Is — and What It Is Not

The Stayskal Act allows the Secretary of Defense to settle and pay a claim for personal injury or death of a member of the uniformed services caused by the medical malpractice of a DoD health care provider, when every statutory condition is met.

It is not:

A traditional medical-malpractice lawsuit in federal court
A replacement for VA disability, CRSC, medical retirement, or SGLI
A claim for every bad outcome in military medicine
A claim for care received in the field, on a ship, on an aircraft, in a combat zone, or at a battalion aid station
A claim against a volunteer or a non-personal-services contractor
A vehicle for derivative claims by spouses or children in their own right

Dependents and civilian family members injured in a military hospital often have a different path under the Federal Tort Claims Act. The Stayskal Act exists because the service member generally does not.

If you are confused about which statute applies, that is normal. The first job of counsel is to place the case in the correct system before a filing deadline is missed.

Who Can File a Stayskal Act Claim

A claim may be filed by:

The service member who received the care
An authorized representative, if the member is deceased or incapacitated and cannot file
In limited circumstances, a Reserve or National Guard member, when the injury or negligent diagnosis occurred while the member was in a federal duty status (including certain Title 32 duty for the National Guard)
A cadet or midshipman at a military academy

A claim generally may not be filed by:

An applicant who has not accessed onto active duty
A Delayed Entry Program recruit who has not been accessed
A third party asserting a separate injury of their own because the service member was harmed (no consortium / derivative claims under this statute)
A family member seeking compensation for their own grief as a standalone claim under § 2733a

If the member has died, the authorized representative can pursue the member’s claim. That is different from a civilian wrongful-death lawsuit, and the proof and damages rules are the DoD rules, not state tort law.

The Six Gates Every Claim Must Pass

Congress did not open a wide door. 10 U.S.C. § 2733a(b) requires all of the following:

Proper claimant. The member, or an authorized representative if the member is deceased or incapacitated.
Malpractice by a DoD health care provider acting in the scope of employment. The provider must be a member of a uniformed service, a DoD civilian employee, or a personal-services contractor authorized to provide care. Volunteers and non-personal-services contractors are not covered providers under the regulation.
Covered facility. The act or omission must have occurred in a covered military medical treatment facility — a medical center, inpatient hospital, ambulatory care center, or fixed dental clinic as described in 10 U.S.C. § 1073d and 32 C.F.R. § 45.5. Care in the field, on ships or aircraft, in deployed settings, or at battalion aid stations is not covered.
Timely filing. The written claim must be received by DoD within two years after the claim accrues. Accrual is the later of (a) the date of the act or omission, or (b) the date the claimant knew, or with reasonable diligence should have known, of the injury and that malpractice was a possible cause. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act does not toll this deadline.
No other payable statute. The claim cannot be one that is allowed to be settled and paid under another law, including the Federal Tort Claims Act.
Substantiation. The claimant has the burden to prove the claim by a preponderance of the evidence. DoD may require additional records and may require an expert opinion — at the claimant’s expense.

If any one of those gates fails, the claim is not payable. Many denials are not “close calls on medicine.” They are statutory or regulatory disqualifiers that should have been identified before the claim was filed.

What You Must Prove

A payable claim is not “I got worse after I was seen at the hospital.” Under 32 C.F.R. §§ 45.6–45.7, you must prove:

The provider owed a professional duty
The provider breached that duty by a negligent or wrongful act or omission, measured against national standards used in a majority of States
The breach was a proximate cause of the injury or death
The harm is compensable under DoD’s damages rules

DoD adjudicates these claims on national standards. The location of the hospital does not control. Foreign law does not control for overseas MTFs.

The regulation also shuts down theories that civilian plaintiffs often use. Claims based on informed consent, negligent credentialing, intentional infliction of emotional distress, products liability, strict liability, or joint-and-several liability theories are not payable under Part 45.

There is no discovery. You do not get to depose the doctor. You get the records you are entitled to under the Privacy Act and HIPAA rules, the documents you gather yourself, and the expert work you pay for. The quality of the opening submission often decides the case.

What Compensation Can Look Like

If a claim is substantiated, damages fall into two buckets.

Economic damages can include past out-of-pocket medical expenses not paid by DoD or VA, certain future medical costs, lost civilian earnings, loss of retirement benefits in appropriate cases, and the cost of household services the member can no longer perform. Future losses must be discounted to present value. The claimant has a duty to mitigate.

Non-economic damages can include pain and suffering, physical discomfort, mental and emotional trauma, loss of enjoyment of life, disfigurement, and loss of the ability to perform daily activities. Those damages are capped. DoD publishes the cap in the Federal Register and updates it from time to time.

Two payment rules matter in practice:

DoD may pay awards of $100,000 or less directly. Larger approved amounts are referred to the Treasury.
DoD offsets compensation already provided through military and VA systems. You are not paid twice for the same loss.

A large demand letter is not a large case. The regulation requires proof of each element of damage. Unsubstantiated numbers are ignored.

How the Process Actually Works

This is an administrative claim, not a trial.

Case screening. We determine whether the care occurred in a covered facility, whether the provider is a covered DoD provider, whether the claim is timely, and whether another statute already covers the harm.
Record development. Service treatment records, civilian records, imaging, pharmacy history, profiles, MEB/PEB documents, and VA files often all matter. Gaps in the record are how claims die.
Liability theory. The claim must identify the conduct alleged to be malpractice and the standard-of-care breach. Vague “they should have done better” language is not a theory.
Written claim. The filing must include the factual basis, a specified dollar demand, and a proper signature. If an attorney files, the regulation requires the claimant’s affidavit confirming the attorney’s authority.
DoD adjudication. The Department reviews the file, may demand more information, and may require a claimant-funded expert. There is no discovery.
Initial determination. DoD issues a decision on liability and, if it finds liability, on damages.
Reconsideration and appeal. Limited administrative review exists. It is not a new trial, and it is not a federal lawsuit. Deadlines in the determination letter are real.
Finality. A final resolution under this system is generally conclusive. You do not get a second chance in district court under this statute.

The services have historically approved only a small fraction of filed claims. Public reporting in the first years of the program showed approval rates in the single digits to under ten percent. The namesake claimant was denied. Anyone who tells you this is a simple payout is not telling you the truth.

Cases We Evaluate

Not every bad medical outcome is malpractice, and not every malpractice event is a Stayskal Act case. We evaluate matters that may include:

Missed or delayed cancer diagnoses after imaging or labs at an MTF
Surgical error, retained foreign objects, or wrong-site procedures in a covered hospital
Failure to treat or follow up on abnormal findings
Birth-related injury to the service member in a covered facility (the member’s own injury — not a standalone dependent claim under this Act)
Medication errors and anesthesia complications
Failure to diagnose infection, stroke, heart attack, or other time-sensitive conditions
Dental malpractice in a fixed dental clinic
Death of a service member following negligent care in a covered MTF

We will also tell you when the case does not fit — including field care, shipboard care, combat-zone treatment, or a claim that belongs in a discharge upgrade, MEB, or VA lane instead.

Why This Is Not a Do-It-Yourself Claim

DoD wrote the rules. DoD holds the records. DoD decides the claim. The claimant carries the burden. DoD can demand an expert the claimant has to pay for. There is no jury and no discovery.

A weak filing does more than lose. It can lock in a record that is hard to repair on appeal. A strong filing does three things at once: it satisfies the statute, it educates the adjudicator, and it forces the Department to confront the medicine instead of hiding behind procedure.

Younts Law approaches these claims the same way we approach the rest of military administrative practice — with a clear theory, a complete record, and no interest in performing for the process. We represent the member. We do not represent the hospital.

Related Representation

A Stayskal Act claim often sits next to other military legal problems:

Medical Evaluation Board / Physical Evaluation Board and disability retirement
Discharge characterization and records correction
Professional licensing and privileging actions against military medical providers
Security clearance fallout after a medical or administrative case
VA disability claims that overlap the same injury

We evaluate the whole picture so one filing does not undermine another.

Talk With Us Before the Clock Runs

The filing window is two years from accrual. Accrual is not always the date of the appointment. It is often the date you learned — or should have learned — that the injury and the malpractice were connected. Waiting for “the military to make it right” is how deadlines die.

Contact Younts Law for a confidential consultation. Bring what you have: the timeline, the records you possess, the names of the facilities, and any denial letters already issued. We will tell you whether this statute applies, what proof the regulation demands, and whether the case is one we can fight.

Free. Confidential. Secure.

Call (833) 739-5291 or use the consultation form below.

R. Davis Younts — Military Lawyer
Caleb Byrd — Military Lawyer

No representation is made that the quality of the legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I sue the military doctor in federal court?

Generally no, if you were on active duty and the injury was incident to service. The Stayskal Act is an administrative claims process inside DoD, not a repeal of the Feres Doctrine.

What if the malpractice happened in Germany, Korea, or another overseas MTF?

Location does not control the legal standard. The care still must have occurred in a covered MTF, and DoD applies national U.S. standards — not foreign law.

What if I was treated on a ship or in a deployed aid station?

Those locations are not covered military medical treatment facilities under the regulation. The claim is not payable under the Stayskal Act.

Does VA disability stop me from filing?

No. But if a claim is paid, DoD offsets government compensation already provided for the same loss. You should not assume a VA rating equals a Stayskal payout, and you should not assume a Stayskal filing replaces a VA claim.

How long do I have?

Two years from accrual. Accrual is the later of the act or omission, or the date you knew or reasonably should have known of the injury and that malpractice may have caused it. This deadline is not tolled by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.

Can my spouse file because they lost income taking care of me?

Not as a standalone third-party claim under this statute. The Act authorizes the member’s claim, or a representative’s claim on behalf of a deceased or incapacitated member. Family members injured in their own care at an MTF may have a different FTCA analysis.

Why do so many claims get denied?

Because the statute is narrow, the claimant bears the burden, there is no discovery, DoD can demand a paid expert, and the Department is both the defendant and the adjudicator. Procedural defects and thin medical proof are fatal. That is the system Congress created, and it is the system we have to win inside.