Army Maj. Michael Stockin is serving nearly 14 years in jail for sexual abuse of patients. The former Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., physician is the subject of 42 claims totaling $210 million against the Army for failing to properly monitor Stockin’s activity and react quicker to complaints about his inappropriate behavior. (KOMO News)
The Army is facing $210 million in claims from 42 soldiers and veterans who say they were victims of Maj. Michael Stockin, the Army doctor at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., serving a nearly 14-year sentence for sexually abusing patients.
Twenty new complaints under the Federal Tort Claim Act were filed Monday with the U.S. Army Claims Service at Fort Meade, Md., according to Christine Dunn, an attorney with Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight. The firm already filed claims on behalf of 22 men who said they were abused by Stockin.
“The Army has focused on the criminal prosecution of Dr. Stockin,” Dunn said. “Now that has concluded and it’s time to hold the Army accountable for its role that allowed the abuse of his victims to take place.”
The administrative claims are the first step in establishing a victim’s right to sue the federal government for financial damages. Each of the claims seeks $5 million.
The victims argue the Army wasn’t diligent in oversight of Stockin’s activities at Madigan Army Medical Center, the hospital at Lewis-McChord, and didn’t act quickly enough when complaints arose about the doctor’s behavior.
“The Army owed a duty of care to patients at Madigan to take reasonable efforts to ensure their well-being while at the medical facility,” wrote one victim, identified only as John Doe No. 23. “However, the Army breached that duty by negligently hiring and negligently supervising Dr. Stockin. The Army’s negligence directly caused me to be sexually assaulted by Dr. Stockin.”
Stockin arrived at Lewis-McChord in June 2019 and was assigned to the staff of the pain management clinic at Madigan. He was barred from seeing patients in early 2022 following the Army’s reaction to initial claims of Stockin’s inappropriate behavior.
Stockin was charged with sexually abusing contact and indecent viewing in August 2023. By January 2024, Stockin faced a total of 52 counts of violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice with a possible maximum sentence of more than 250 years.
In January 2025, Stockin was sentenced to 164 months in prison by Col. Larry Babin, a military judge.
Redacted copies of three of the complaints, provided by Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, recounted encounters with Stockin that are similar to earlier complaints.
The men were assigned to Stockin — an Army pain management doctor. Once alone in an examination room, Stockin would tell the men to disrobe and then fondled the men’s genitals or make crude comments while staring at their bodies, according to the statements.
Victims who testified during Stockin’s court-martial said the doctor told them that the viewing and touching were “routine” parts of the medical examination, even when the patient was complaining of pain in their neck, shoulders, back or elbows.
Dunn, the lawyer handling the civil action against the Army, said the Pentagon has six months to investigate each claim. They can settle with the victim or deny the claim. If denied, claimants can sue in U.S. District Court.
