A man left sterile by Nazi medical experiments during the Holocaust cannot sue two German drug companies, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of Simon Rozenkier's lawsuit, saying that his "exclusive remedy" is through a fund set up by the German government in 2000. Rozenkier applied for compensation from that fund and received two checks totaling $9,993 (-7,800), the ruling said.
Rozenkier sued Schering AG and Bayer AG in 2003, while his application for compensation was still pending. He alleged they "had cooperated with the Nazi regime in causing his sterilization."
U.S. District Judge William Bassler dismissed Rozenkier's lawsuit. In its ruling, the federal appeals court agreed the case raises "a nonjusticiable political question."
U.S. Circuit Judge Alan Lourie wrote that former President Bill Clinton was personally involved in negotiations that established the fund as "the exclusive forum for claims by Nazi-era victims of medical experimentation against German companies."
"In this context," Lourie wrote, "judicial review of Rozenkier's claims would express a lack of respect for the Executive Branch's long-standing foreign policy interest in resolving Nazi-era claims through intergovernmental negotiation."
