Why Joining This Lawsuit Is Not an Option

I am getting the same message over and over: I want to join the lawsuit.

I understand why. If you are affected, and your doctor will not investigate what happened, if you think a court filing is the only door left — of course you want on the action.

Please hear this clearly, as a physician, Medical Director, and as a plaintiff.

Joining this lawsuit is not an option.

This is an Administrative Procedure Act (APA) case. It is not a class action. There are no damages. There is no personal payout. A court does not add walk-on plaintiffs just because someone asked.

APA is not a personal-injury law. It is the law that lets a court tell a federal agency: you already have a duty, you sat on it, now do the job. We petitioned. The agencies did not act. We asked a court to compel the duty they already have.

Our attorney clarified it on 2 July 2026: the complaint does not seek monetary damages, or to benefit individual plaintiffs in any way. The named plaintiffs — including me — are not there to collect. We are there so the agencies are ordered to do the public-health job they already do for federal employees: recognize civilian AHI/Havana Syndrome as reportable, issue diagnostic guidance, stand up civilian surveillance, open NIH programs on equal terms, and alert clinicians.

Plaintiff selection was strategic, with strict criteria, designed for the lawsuit to succeed. The names on this lawsuit are not a waiting list. They were chosen so the case can stand.

Joining the lawsuit does not get you money, a diagnosis, HAVANA Act benefits, an NIH appointment, or insurance coverage. That is not a rejection of the injured. It is what this case is.

If a physician has already diagnosed you, that is a Civilian Registry matter, not a lawsuit matter: CivilianRegistry@protonmail.com. Diagnosed cases only. I will not treat an undiagnosed report as a ticket onto this case.

The win we asked for is public tools for every civilian physician and every civilian patient — not a slot on the complaint. That is the whole lawsuit.

Counsel:

Video: https://lenbermd.substack.com/p/ber-v-cdcnih-the-lawsuit-explained
Docket: https://clearinghouse.net/case/48312/