This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

Tarpeh-Doe (P) is the mother of Nyenpan, an eight-year-old boy who is blind and suffers from severe neurological damage. Marilyn Wheeler is Nyenpan's grandmother and legal guardian. P is employed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The State Department Office has responsibility for the provision of health care worldwide to employees of the State Department, AID, and other government agencies. The State Department provides and is responsible for overseeing Regional Medical Officers in areas of the world in which adequate local care is not available. In 1981, AID assigned P to a post in Monrovia, Liberia. At that time, Dr. Theodore E. Lefton was the Regional Medical Officer assigned to the embassy in Monrovia. Dr. Lefton had been stationed in Monrovia for four years. Dr. Lefton was not well-liked and was to be replaced, but Dr. Lefton was to remain at post until November 1, 1982. On May 18, 1982, while stationed with AID in Monrovia, P delivered Nyenpan. Within three weeks of birth, the baby contracted a bacterial infection that developed into what was ultimately diagnosed as spinal meningitis. On June 5, 1982, P brought the baby to the health unit at the United States embassy in Monrovia. Nyenpan was examined at the embassy health clinic by Dr. Lefton, who forthwith referred the mother and child to an American pediatrician, Dr. David E. Van Reken. Dr. Van Reken was employed by an American mission in Monrovia, not affiliated with the embassy. The baby remained under Dr. Van Reken's care at local hospitals for the next twelve days. On June 17, 1982, Nyenpan, his parents, and an embassy nurse were evacuated to the United States to enable the family to seek additional medical treatment for Nyenpan. By that time, however, Nyenpan was beyond hope of recovery. Doctors informed Ps that their child had suffered severe brain damage. They asked Ps whether they wanted the hospital to remove life support systems. The doctors believed that the child would die within twenty-four hours without life support. Ps agreed to the removal of life support, and feeding and other tubes were removed. Nyenpan survived. Nyenpan is in a facility under constant care. When Nyenpan was 8, Ps brought a claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act claiming that the Department of State violated its duty to provide Nyenpan with the 'best possible medical care' and 'to be alert to any medical and health problems of . . . dependents and to take appropriate action promptly' as required by the Uniform State/AID/USIA Regulations. Ps claimed that the State Department failed to inform P that her health benefits included the option to travel to Europe or the United States to deliver her child. Ps claim that the State Department negligently retained Dr. Lefton even after it learned of the widespread dissatisfaction with the doctor's attitude and availability. Ps claim that the Office of Medical Services in Washington negligently failed to supervise Dr. Lefton adequately. After the presentation of evidence, the court found the United States liable for any damages suffered. Ps' damages include amounts paid for past care for the child, as well as future payments for care and lost income Nyenpan would have earned as an adult. Ps claimed damages of $322,443.57 for Nyenpan's institutionalization, $4,969.18 for unreimbursed expenses paid by Tarpeh-Doe on his behalf, $4,657,400 for the present value of the cost of future medical and personal care at Wheat Ridge, and $1,008,434 in income and benefits Nyenpan could have received over his lifetime, less expenses and taxes. Total: $5,993,246.75. Ps' expert economist Dr. Herman Miller calculated Nyenpan's lost income to be $1,008,434, using the census tables to determine the present value of the income of an American male college graduate with a work life of 38 years, less taxes and plus benefits. Ds' expert economist Dr. Bradley Robert Schiller argues that the appropriate measure of future earnings in the United States for Nyenpan (whose mother is white and whose father is black) is the average earnings of black men, not those of all men.

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