"This Is A Tough One"

By: Byron Pitts
Topics: Field Notes

Byron Pitts is National Correspondent for CBS News.

(CBS)

Carmelo Rodriguez III was a U.S. Marine. He served his country with honor in Iraq. Just like every other "Devil Dog" I've met in Iraq and elsewhere, he was proud to serve – and even prouder to be a member of "The Corps."

He was your typical fit, gung-ho Marine: 5'10 and185 pounds of muscle and moxie. He was 29 years old. When I met Sgt. Rodriguez he weighed about 77 pounds. He was dying of cancer.

That alone is enough to give anyone with a heart pause. But that's not the end and far from the beginning of the Carmelo Rodriquez story.

At first, we weren't sure we had a story. Producer Rodney Comrie received a phone call from the family's attorney who said the he was representing the family of a Marine who said his skin cancer was misdiagnosed while serving in Iraq. The attorney told us that the Sgt. was very weak, but that he'd be willing to talk to you – as would his family.

So, the next day, we headed north, and fortunately our camera crew was ahead of us. They got to the house well before Rodney and I did. Veteran cameraman Henry Bautista (who has covered war and despair around the world) met us at the door.

"This is a tough one," he said.

Henry is as talented and as tough as any network cameraman I've ever worked with. We were taken by his tone. You could tell he was moved by the images his camera captured and the people he met. If Rodriguez's situation could get to Henry, I thought to myself, then it must be bad.

Once inside the house, Rodney and I made our introductions and were ushered to a rear bedroom to meet Sgt. Rodriguez. His uniform was hanging on a wall. His 7-year-old son Carmelo the 4th was sitting at his side.

As we were preparing for the interview, Sgt. Rodriguez died. The house erupted in screams and tears. It was the kind of raw emotion you'd expect when a family loses a loved one. We were prepared to leave: Pack our gear and get lost. But the family insisted we stay. They wanted to honor Carmelo Rodriguez by telling his story.

For the Rodriguez family and hundreds just like them, their fight wasn't against the Marines or their country but against a 50-year-old law called the Feres Doctrine.

So we started working on a story about military malpractice and the Feres Doctrine. In 1950, a Supreme Court ruling now known as the Feres Doctrine, prohibited active duty members of the U.S. military from suing the military for negligence or medical malpractice for injuries unrelated to their service. In other words, unlike any other U.S. citizen, men and women in the military cannot sue the government for negligence or malpractice.

A team of CBS News producers (Comrie as well as Betty Chin) researched this story. What they learned is the military's position has long been the Feres Doctrine is important to "maintaining good order and discipline."

The U.S. Supreme Court last upheld the Feres Doctrine in 1987. In his dissenting opinion, Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia wrote "Feres was wrongly decided and heartily deserves the widespread, almost universal criticism it has received."

Towards the end of his life, Sgt. Carmelo Rodriguez made clear he loved the Marine Corps and he loved his country. But with all the energy and passion left in his body, he took dead aim at the Feres Doctrine.

"I just want to save the next Marine," he said.

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by Army_JAG_Corruption December 14, 2010 11:10 AM EST: As many of you know now, the Feres Doctrine "protects" the US Government from being sued for things like medical malpractice. Be aware that it also protects the US military from malpractice and systemic legal corruption.

While I was on active duty with the US Army, I was threatened by a US Army lawyer named Captain Matthew Fitzgerald to do something which was contrary to the US Army legal regulations (which I did not know at the time but he did). Fitzgerald's motive was to tout this as his first accomplishment on his annual performance report of which I later got a copy. This threat resulted in my losing over $50,000 of my personal funds. After then doing my own investigation and trying to recoup my money, I discovered the expression, "A fish rots from the head down" definitely applies to US Army lawyers.

When I asked the top lawyer (now Lieutenant General Dana Chipman) for assistance, the first thing they did was appoint Fitzgerald's previous boss and a very obvious friend to "investigate." Since there was no wrongdoing found as a result of this faux investigation but specifics were protected by the Privacy Act , I filed the same complaint with Fitzgerald's Oregon State Bar which is NOT PROTECTED under privacy laws. Evidence showed that Fitzgerald lied no less than 10 times to his Oregon State Bar.

It was all thrown out of federal court due to Feres although I had a slam-dunk case with all evidence in my favor. Just to add insult to my financial injury, Fitzgerald got promoted to Major.; Reply to this comment


by Edfremer July 21, 2009 10:34 AM EDT: This is another victim of the poor medical care in the Military. Please read the story on Airman Colton James Read. This is the same Military hospital that Killed Dean Witt. This occurred at the David Grant Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base.

The family can not take action because of the Feres doctrine. It is time for congress to act.

http://cbs11tv.com/health/medical.mistake.military.2.1092872.html

http://www.coltonread.com/; Reply to this comment


by maryquain May 4, 2009 4:16 PM EDT: My child also died as a result of medical malpractice at the hands of the Army and we've been advised of the Feres Doctrine. I'll do anything I can to help change this ludicrous lack of accountability. I would like to contact the Rodriguez family, if they are open to it, to offer my prayers and support. Can you help? Thank you.
Mary Quain maryquain@gmail.com; Reply to this comment


by meadace March 30, 2009 4:50 AM EDT: To me this shouldn't even fall under malpractice it should be manslaughter b/c the first doctor that diagnosised him knew and did not tell him or make a treatment plan.; Reply to this comment


by katzk March 29, 2009 4:01 PM EDT: This story is tragic and really hits home. My son is in the Navy. For the last 2 months he has been experiencing horrific stomach pain and is very anemic. He has gone to the Naval Hospital emergency room where he was treated with pain medicine and sent back to his barracks. It has taken 7 weeks to get a CT scan. He is losing weight and unable to eat much of anything. Last Monday he finally got his CT scan and while waiting for results he learned his Dr. went on vacation. We are scared to death that he will get worse before anyone really does anything. Its so frustrating because our hands are tied. My heart breaks for the family of this young man. Something needs to be done to get these young men an women the healthcare they so deserve.; Reply to this comment


by kevinpenney March 26, 2009 12:02 PM EDT: My story was not life threatening but after two years in service with the US Navy I was discharged with a sleep disorder and told by the doctors @ Bethesda naval medical that it was pre-existing. They did not take into account the rigorous schedule I had back at my training base, which for the previous six months, had left me with around 2hrs of sleep each night. I was told that if I wanted to remain in service with the Navy, I would have to (at my own expense) get full sleep studies done at an outside clinic and once it had been resolved would have to get a waiver signed by my congressman (if I remember correctly). Bottom line, They wanted to make it plain that I could not continue serving due to the problems that developed during my term. No apologies, no benefits, just go home and forget you served for the last two years.; Reply to this comment


by dh3000 March 25, 2009 2:23 PM EDT: I am completely SHOCKED and extremely sad after watching this story. I STILL feel like crying and have to catch my breath while typing this comment.

I was in the military for 10 years. My husband and father both retired from a branch of the armed forces. I am proud to be an American and even more proud to have been a part of our military, however, I can't beleive that BLATANT NEGLECT can be overlooked EVEN with the U.S. MILITARY!! I had no idea that things like that happened. Something needs to change!! I want to continue to be proud of our country and our branches of the Military. Please for the sake of this country do right by these people

Such a waste of human life. A GOOD life. I pray for your family Rodriquez's. You have a devastating loss as does the Military and the rest of America. Your family definately deserves compensation for his suffering and your loss. God bless you and keep up the fight.

Dana; Reply to this comment


by cbswjr March 25, 2009 1:06 PM EDT: I am going through the exact same thing with my neice who was in the Army. Is there anyway I can contact the family to let them know what we are going through and maybe we can also help confirm that this is happening to others.; Reply to this comment


by LNoelle March 25, 2009 11:17 AM EDT: I already wrote a comment, but I just can't shake this story out of my head. It is so sad that every time I think about it it brings tears to my eyes. How can they do this? I'm checking out this VERPA website and signing the petition. I urge others to do so as well.; Reply to this comment


by cosmotopper777 March 25, 2009 10:07 AM EDT: CBS News continues to do the best job (of all broadcast media) of targeting and reporting the really important stories to the future of this country. Katie Couric's story regarding the recruitment of criminals and gang members by the Bush administration (supported by Senators McCain and Graham) was one of them.

But regards Byron Pitts' story on Sgt. Rodriguez, please make sure you keep eyes wide-open as to the source of the problem. Changing the law to provide more fees to trial-attorneys is not a solution, it's a continuation of the single biggest practice which has made health care prohibitively expensive in this country. (It also feeds one of the most preferred constituencies of the Democratic party.)

My cousin was diagnosed with stage-4 melanoma in 1989, 18 months after the first doctor he went to told him it was probably a "tic bite". He died in 1992. I have a close friend who pointed out an unusual looking mole on her lower back to her doctor in 2004, and he told her "let's watch it..." In 2006, she was diagnosed with a level-3 melanoma. After a grueling year of chemotherapy, she is still alive today (three years after diagnoses) and with no signs of recurrence. In neither case did my cousin, or my friend opt to file a lawsuit, even though the original doctors obviously made a mistake.

Meanwhile, as a single, self-employed person 56 years old, I pay over $600 a month for health insurance, and that number is going up. I am in almost perfect health, with no major risk factors for anything. Just four years ago, my monthly premiums were $350.

If the Rodriguez family believes the military health-care system is unfair, perhaps they should consider how fair the civilian system is to those who simply can't afford insurance at all, and never even get the chance to have a mis-diagnosed skin cancer? Contrary to the Democratic Party's mantra: "health-care is a right, not a privilege...", health care is a profession, and the people who take the time to learn those skills and try to make a career out of it, do so in hopes of rewards, both spiritual and monetary. As it stands now, very few of our smartest and most capable young people are opting into the medical field, and those that are, tend to favor medical research over patient care. Why? Because the biggest single expense doctors have in caring for patients is malpractice insurance.

Doctors make mistakes. Medicine is not a perfect science, and never has been. But the medical malpractice 'industry', as practiced by the personal injury attorneys in this country costs all of us tens of billions of dollars every year. I see two or three ads every day from personal injury lawsuit 'factories' (such as Oasis Legal Finance for example) which offer to pay people "up front" for their legal claims, "with no obligation to repay if you lose your suit". Is it possible that the very existence of firms like this could be considered an indicator that our tort-laws are out of control?

Our health care system in this country will never become affordable until we cut out the malignant lawsuits being filed by attorneys who know that all they need to do is file an action, and the insurance companies will settle rather than face the unpredictable and costly process of fighting it in court. This, like the AIG story, is just one more example of the larger and more important malaise that has afflicted us: Greed. Unless we cure ourselves of that, this country will continue it's headlong rush towards failure.; Reply to this comment