Wayne Dale Outman v. United States

Wayne Dale Outman appeals from the district court’s grant of summary judgment dismissing his suit under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) for failure to bring his claim within two years after it accrued. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

The plaintiff, Wayne Dale Outman, is a veteran who was diagnosed as schizophrenic by the Veteran’s Administration (“VA”) in 1972. Between 1972 and 1977, Mr. Outman was hospitalized at least ten times in VA mental health wards in the States of Washington, California, and Oregon. At the VA hospitals, Outman’s various inpatient diagnoses were charted chronologically by the VA doctors as: “schizophrenia, schizoaffective depression,” “depressive symptoms”, “schizophrenia versus mania,” “manic depressive illness, bipolar type,” and “manic depressive illness.” As a result of these diagnoses, Outman was put on a prescription for neu-roleptic drugs. Neuroleptics are known as “antipsychotic drugs.” They are extremely powerful and sometimes have adverse side effects.

On or about November 1, 1976, Mr. Out-man, along with his wife, met with VA doctors and were told that Mr. Outman was suffering from tardive dyskinesia as a result of the neuroleptic drugs that had…