Three additional men have filed $5 million claims each against the Army, accusing it of failing to protect them from misconduct by a military doctor who is facing court-martial in one of the largest abuse cases in the Army’s history, Gary Warner and Rose Thayer reported Sept. 30 in Stars And Stripes.
Maj. Michael Stockin, 38, is set for a court-martial in January, charged with sexually abusing 41 patients at Madigan Army Medical Center, located at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Seattle. Court records indicate he plans to plead guilty as part of an agreement, although neither the Army nor Stockin’s attorney have disclosed which charges this agreement covers.
An anesthesiologist and pain specialist, Stockin faces 47 counts of abusive contact and five counts of wrongfully viewing another person’s private areas. If convicted on all counts, he could be sentenced to more than 300 years in prison. Although Stockin is no longer treating patients, he is not in pretrial confinement while awaiting his court-martial, according to Army and court records.
These three new complaints bring the total to 18 administrative complaints against Stockin under the Federal Tort Claims Act, each seeking $5 million. The cumulative compensation sought now totals $90 million. Federal law requires that an agency be given the opportunity to resolve complaints before a lawsuit can be brought in federal court.
The Army has declined to comment on the complaints, citing the pending litigation. Each of the complaints follows a similar pattern, submitted under pseudonyms by service members and veterans, all of whom are men. They accuse Stockin of instructing them to undress and then touching their genitalia under the pretense of medical care.
According to Dunn, the contact was not medically necessary. One complainant said he sought treatment for neck and back pain, but Stockin asked him to undress and then touched him inappropriately. “I was confused why Dr. Stockin did not examine any other parts of my body, including my back,” the man stated. He further blamed the Army, stating it “owed a duty of care” to patients at Madigan. The man claimed he was referred to Stockin for care after February 2022, which is when the Army has said it prohibited Stockin from treating patients. “The Army breached that duty by negligently hiring and negligently supervising Dr. Stockin,” he wrote. “The Army’s negligence directly caused me to be assaulted by Dr. Stockin.”
Another claimant shared a similar account, adding that the experience left him with severe anxiety about doctor visits, even those for his children. Stockin, who joined the Army in 2013, has been stationed at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and was deployed to Iraq. Since his transfer to Lewis-McChord in July 2019, Army prosecutors and investigators have launched inquiries into whether he may have abused patients at previous postings, though no reports of such abuse have surfaced.
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