Terry Meier v. Erik Shinseki

MEMORANDUM

Terry Meier appeals the district court’s dismissal of his Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) action against the United States and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials. The case follows a failed FTCA action that Meier brought against the United States in 2005, which arose out of three colonoscopies Dr. Eddie Cheung performed on Meier at a VA facility in 2002 and 2003. See Meier v. United States (Meier I), No. 05-04404, 2006 WL 3798160 , at *1 (N.D.Cal. Dec. 22, 2006), aff’d, 310 Fed.Appx. 976 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 558 U.S. 1011 , 130 S.Ct. 552 , 175 L.Ed.2d 382 (2009). In this suit, Meier appears to seek damages for harms allegedly suffered in connection with (1) the VA’s refusal to investigate and disclose information about Dr. Cheung’s alleged perjury during Meier I regarding the number of malpractice suits previously filed against him, and (2) the government’s disclosure of Meier’s private information during the course of Meier I. The district court dismissed Meier’s fifteen FTCA claims on several, alternative grounds. Reviewing de novo, we affirm.

1. The FTCA waives the government’s sovereign immunity for civil suits seeking money damages “for injury…