## Facts

- In April 1975, a Lockheed C‑5A aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Saigon during “Operation Babylift,” causing deaths and injuries to passengers, including Vietnamese orphans.
- Friends for All Children, Inc. (FFAC), acting as guardian/next friend for 150 injured children, sued Lockheed in tort, alleging negligent manufacture contributed to the crash and resulting neurological and developmental disorders.
- Lockheed denied responsibility and asserted U.S. Air Force negligence, impleading the United States as a third-party defendant.
- Based on medical evidence indicating risk of latent neurological injury and the need for prompt specialized testing, the district court entered partial summary judgment that Lockheed was liable for the reasonable cost of diagnostic examinations for certain children (including those adopted by non‑U.S. parents).
- The district court also issued a mandatory preliminary injunction requiring Lockheed to create a $450,000 fund to pay reasonable diagnostic-examination expenses for approximately forty adopted children in France who otherwise could not obtain timely testing.
- Lockheed appealed, challenging the existence of a diagnostic-exams remedy absent proof of present physical injury and contesting the propriety and constitutionality of the mandatory injunction.

## Issues

1. Whether District of Columbia tort law permits recovery of the reasonable cost of medically indicated diagnostic examinations without proof of a traditionally defined present injury.
2. Whether a court may issue a mandatory preliminary injunction in a tort action requiring a defendant to finance diagnostic testing where liability for that discrete element has been adjudicated and delay would likely cause irreparable harm.
3. Whether the partial summary judgment and injunction impermissibly infringed Lockheed’s due process and jury-trial rights or unfairly prejudiced later jury proceedings on remaining issues.

## Decision

- The court affirmed the district court’s partial summary judgment recognizing liability for the reasonable cost of diagnostic examinations.
- The court held that District of Columbia tort law allows recovery of diagnostic-examination costs necessitated by a defendant’s negligent conduct even before traditional injury is fully proven, where the testing is concrete, medically indicated, and causally connected to the alleged tortious event.
- The court affirmed the mandatory preliminary injunction requiring Lockheed to establish a $450,000 fund to pay reasonable diagnostic-testing expenses.
- The court rejected constitutional objections, concluding the injunction was interim equitable relief tied to an already-adjudicated element of liability and did not displace the jury’s later role in determining overall damages.

## Legal Principles

- Reasonable costs of medically indicated diagnostic examinations can constitute compensable tort damages when a defendant’s alleged negligence creates a substantial risk of serious latent injury and competent medical evidence supports the need for testing.
- Such diagnostic-cost recovery is distinct from claims for speculative future harm or fear of injury; it compensates the present need to determine whether an injury exists and to permit timely treatment.
- Partial summary judgment may properly adjudicate a discrete element of liability where the record supports it, while leaving other causation and damages disputes for later resolution.
- Mandatory preliminary injunctions are disfavored but may be appropriate in extraordinary circumstances when (a) likelihood of success is strong (including because liability on a discrete element has already been determined), (b) irreparable injury is imminent absent relief, (c) the balance of hardships favors plaintiffs, and (d) the public interest supports relief.
- Interim funding orders for diagnostic testing do not violate due process or the jury-trial right when structured as temporary relief, limited to reasonable expenses, and subject to later accounting in the final damages determination.

## Conclusion

The D.C. Circuit approved a tort remedy for reasonable diagnostic-examination costs supported by medical necessity even without proof of fully manifested injury, and it upheld a mandatory preliminary injunction requiring the defendant to fund timely testing to prevent irreparable harm while the long-delayed litigation proceeded.


Friends for All Children, Inc. v. Lockheed Aircraft Corp., 746 F.2d 816 (D.C. Cir. 1984)