Charles P. Gillen, Jr., and Charles P. Gillen Iii, a Minor, by Charles P. Gillen, Jr., His Guardian Ad Litem v. United States

This is an appeal from a judgment in favor of the United States of America (Appellee) in a wrongful death suit instituted under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C.A. §§ 1346 (b), 2671-2680, inclusive.

The jurisdiction of this court to review the judgment is sustained by 28 U.S.C.A. §§ 1291-1294 . Charles P. Gillen, Jr., is the husband, and Charles P. Gillen III is the minor son (Appellants) of Josephine Cecelia Gillen who died at the Brooke Army Hospital, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, on January 6, 1956. The deceased had been, on December 19, 1955, duly admitted as a confinement patient to 3555th USAF Hospital, Perrin Air Force Base, Sherman, Texas, a facility owned and operated by the Appellee, being then a dependent of Appellant Charles P. Gillen, Jr., then a member of the Armed Forces.

On December 24, 1955, at about 1616 hours the deceased was delivered of a stillborn child and suffered post partum hemorrhaging (1,000 cc’s of her normal blood volume), with attending shock, and that during the course of treatment of the deceased, at about 1630 hours, transfusions of whole blood were ordered and caused to be transfused into the veins of the deceased by treating medical personnel…