Court Rules Vet Can't Sue US over Nurse's Sexual Abuse

He argued that a "special relationship" between him and the VA created a duty to protect him from being injured by VA medical staff.

A Navy veteran cannot sue the U.S. government over sexual abuse by a Veterans Administration nurse who treated him for mental illnesses, the 7th Circuit ruled.    

Wisconsin resident Ronald Lee Glade was discharged from the Navy at 18 or 19 soon after joining because of ongoing mental illness. Sexually abused as a child, Glade suffered from PTSD, panic disorder and bipolar disorder, and may be schizophrenic.

The 64-year-old has been receiving inpatient and outpatient psychiatric treatment over the last 23 years from the VA, both at the agency's facilities and in his home.