Former KC airline pilot’s lawsuit against VA for bipolar misdiagnosis dismissed

A federal judge has dismissed a Kansas City man’s lawsuit alleging that he lost his job as an airline pilot after Veterans Affairs doctors misdiagnosed him with bipolar disorder.

The suit filed last September by William Royster sought $35 million in damages.

But U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan Jr. ruled Thursday that the suit was not filed within the statute of limitations.

Royster had previously filed suit in 2015 within the applicable time, but it was dismissed in 2016 “without prejudice,” meaning it could be refiled.

His attorneys argued that the time the previous suit was pending in 2015 and 2016 should not count against the statute of limitations for the 2017 suit.

But in Thursday’s ruling, Gaitan said that even if Royster was given credit for that time in 2015 and 2016, the 2017 suit would have still been eight months too late.

Royster was a U.S. Navy pilot who was injured in 1996 when his plane was shot down by a Japanese ship during a training exercise.

After being discharged from the Navy in 1997, Royster received treatment for his injuries at the Kansas City VA Medical Center.

In 1998, he was hired to fly airliners for United Airlines while continuing treatment at the medical center.

After a doctor suggested he be evaluated for possible post traumatic stress disorder, a psychiatrist in 2004 diagnosed him with bipolar disorder. He was told that the diagnosis was permanent and lifelong.

As a result he was medically retired from his job as a pilot. The diagnosis was reaffirmed by doctors over the next 10 years.

But after a new psychiatrist took over his case in 2013, that doctor determined that Royster should never have been diagnosed with the disorder.

Royster made headlines in the Kansas City area in 2010 when he lost an election for the Missouri General Assembly by one vote to John Rizzo. Two of Rizzo’s relatives later pleaded guilty to voter fraud after voting in the election although they did not live in the district.