being unjustly imprisoned twice by authorities in his homeland of
Vietnam was to flee in a rickety riverboat, along with 80 others so
desperate to get out of the country that they were willing to risk
death on the high seas.
North Florida, Nguyen has another avenue to redress injustice.
Jailed on an unfounded charge of writing illegal prescriptions nine
years ago last Monday, he can sue the federal government for false
arrest and false imprisonment.
Nguyen had to battle the legal system for years before a recent
federal appeals court decision.
that one individual man living in a town of 1,500 people can sue
the United States — and win,” says his attorney, Robert Rush. “If
you press hard enough, justice is there.”
miles west of Gainesville, it’s not quite there. The government
could appeal the Feb. 4 ruling, though Nguyen is determined to
press on to restore his reputation and the lost income resulting
from the arrest.
and it’s not done yet,” he said in a telephone
interview.
Vietnam at 16 when the communists took control in the
north.
the South Vietnamese army where he served as a combat physician
during the Vietnam War. After the North prevailed, Nguyen was
accused of being a CIA spy and imprisoned for more than a
year.
release, the 41-year-old Nguyen first tried to escape from Vietnam
in 1978. He failed and was imprisoned again, this time for nine
months.
the country. Nguyen and half a dozen others accumulated gasoline
one gallon at a time on the black market to fuel a broken down
riverboat once used to ferry rice.
spread. The number of refugees had swelled to 81. After a dangerous
four-day voyage, they managed to reach the Thailand
shore.
making his way to America with the help of some relatives in this
country. He worked as a translator at a newspaper and as a
volunteer at a VA hospital in California while learning English
well enough to pass three examinations required for a medical
license in the U.S.
Florida, Nguyen earned hospital privileges at Shands Teaching
Hospital in Gainesville and the nearby North Florida Medical
Center.
citizen.
patients when a Gilchrist County sheriff’s deputy accompanied by an
agent of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration came into the
office and arrested him. They seized his DEA license to prescribe
controlled drugs.
“I tried to explain to them. They just put me in
jail.”
later that he learned he was accused of writing prescriptions for a
painkiller and tranquilizer for a “confidential” DEA source without
performing a physical examination.
and had records to prove it, including that the patient had
complained of “nervousness, insomnia and pain.” The charges were
dropped 55 days later for insufficient
evidence.
arrest, but his practice was ruined.
medicine. Insurance companies canceled contracts with him, so
patients switched to other doctors. Some called up wanting to know
if he was some sort of criminal.
privileges.
but it took five months. He had to reapply.
patients never returned.
again. They don’t want to get involved in any lawsuits, so they
just drop you,” Nguyen said.
deputy, the sheriff and the DEA.
DEA on the grounds of sovereign immunity, a legal principal
blocking the federal government from being sued without its
consent.
against the sheriff and his deputy. While their appeal was pending,
a settlement was reached for $1 million.
government as a defendant in the suit dragged
on.
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the sovereign immunity was
waived, according to the court’s interpretation of a 1974 amendment
to the Federal Tort Claims Act. Congress passed the law after the
1945 crash of a B-25 bomber into the Empire State Building,
allowing U.S. citizens to sue the federal government for the first
time.
an exception to the waiver provision was nullified by a provision
in the 1974 amendment. The appeals court said it
was.
handed down in October. After that, Nguyen’s attorney, Rush, said
he waited anxiously for a final order, which he expected by
mid-January.
the first, was filed Feb. 4 after the 11th Circuit panel took it
upon itself to review the case again, without a request by either
party.
than establish damages, and he is prepared to take the case to
trial if necessary.
cause, which is the basis for false arrest,” Rush
said.
the 11th Circuit ruling, take the lawsuit to a jury or settle the
case.
to court, and I’ll be asking the court for several million
dollars,” Rush said. He estimated that when the suit was first
filed, Nguyen had lost $800,000 in revenue from his damaged
practice.
attorney in Tallahassee, would not tip the government’s hand. She
said the case “will start anew” before U.S. District Judge Maurice
M. Paul in Gainesville.
argue. It depends on how the case develops,” Rhew
said.
wrangling to end.
said. “Now I might have to work two more years because of the
economy.”
