As previously stated, you should
always try to secure an attorney
to pursue federal tort claims whether
it's against the VA or any other
agency. If you have to go it alone,
there is no such thing as gathering
too much information before you
file.

The statute on FTCA is NOT intended
to be treated as a stand-alone reading.
There are 4 elements to be pleaded
to meet an FTCA claim, and the more
fuzzy and interpretive features of
the statute itself is another runaround
comparable to doing your VA claim.

Here are 2 additional LINKS to give
you supplemental background reading
on how the FTCA works for those who
want to take this on and actually
make it work.

This first link is a handbook on
the FTCA and Overview apparently
written by a lawyer. There are good
index selections to chose from
at this site LINK below.

www.quintonpetix.com/fedtorac.htm

And also, it seems that the U.S. Dept.
of Health and Human Services has actually
published a small Clinicians Handbook
to the Federal Tort Claims Act. Yeah
right, like THEY are the ones who need
help out here !!
There are demonstration complaints in
it, as well as other insider information
apparently intended for use in medical
malpractice claims under the FTCA.

ftp://ftp.hrsa.gov/bphc/pdf/quality/2002clinicianhandbook.pdf

At the very least it will give you
a feel for the defenses they can put
on and how an FTCA claim can be
defeated from their side of the
process.