Rollin Paul Goodman, in His Individual Capacity v. United States

This case, brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346 and 2671, raises jurisdictional and substantive issues. JoAnn Goodman, who was diagnosed with incurable melanoma cancer, participated in a clinical research study at the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) and died from a toxic reaction to one of the medicines used in the study. Her husband, Rollin Paul Goodman (“Paul Goodman”), filed an unsuccessful administrative complaint for the wrongful death of his wife. Thereafter, he filed a federal complaint under the FTCA alleging medical malpractice. The complaint was amended two times to correct deficiencies and to allege that the NIH failed to obtain JoAnn Goo'dman’s informed consent. After a four-day bench trial, the district court entered judgment for the United States, holding that the United States did not breach its duty to obtain informed consent from JoAnn Goodman. We have jurisdiction and we affirm.

I.

In 1990, JoAnn Goodman, then a thirty-six year old wife and mother who resided in the eastern part of the State of Washington, was diagnosed with advanced melanoma in her scalp. The cancer was excised, but because of the depth of the tumor,…