Levin

After his unsuccessful cataract surgery, Plaintiff-Appellant Steven Levin brought a claim for battery against the United States government and his United States Navy surgeon. The United States invoked the Gonzalez Act, 10 U.S.C. § 1089 , immunizing individual military medical personnel from malpractice liability. We consider for the first time in our circuit whether § 1089(e) of the Gonzalez Act waives the government’s sovereign immunity for common law battery claims. We hold that it does not, and we affirm the district court’s dismissal of Levin’s complaint for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.

I

At some point prior to 2003, Levin was referred to the Ophthalmology Department of the U.S. Naval Hospital on Guam for evaluation of a cataract in his right eye. Lieutenant Commander Frank M. Bishop, M.D., performed the evaluation. He suggested a surgical procedure called “phakoemulsification with intraocular lens placement.”

After discussing the procedure with Dr. Bishop, Levin gave his informed consent. He signed two consent forms, one entitled “Request for Administration of Anesthesia and for Performance of Operations and Other Procedures,” and another entitled “Consent…