Comments on: Military Can't Be Sued For Malpractice

CBS Evening News: Congress Takes Up The Case Of Sgt. Carmelo Rodriguez, Which We First Brought You Last Year

[sparek1961]

I am outraged. And furthermore I intend to write the President. He died for nothing. Sgt Carmelo Rodriguez did not have to die. I hate this stupid Feres Doctrine!!! How many other soldiers will have to die or be maimed because of some incompetent military medical personnel. Fortunately I did not die but I now have a disability that I have had since I left active military service in 1988 when I was in Germany. My heart and soul and all of my being goes out to Sgt Rodriguez's "collective familia." I feel I am a part of them also. My story starts back when I was stationed on a air force base called Hahn. It was then home of the 50th TFW (Tactical Fighter Wing) under USAFE (United States Forces in Europe). One day I go in to see the "Docs" about what I think is a callous on the bottom of my left foot. P.A. Givens in the Physicians Assistant (not a real doctor or nurse) he is an assistant. The callous was misdiagnosed. I tried to protest my point but it nearly cost my spouse's career. And it got me in hot water with Hahn Hospital,the MD's and the Hospital Commander. Basically that is when I believe the Feres Doctrine was probably in play. At the time of my misdiagnosis I was off active duty. I was then a dependent of my spouse. But the Feres Doctrine was probably protecting P.A. Given's and Hahn Hospital from me being able to sue them. They told me point blank that my statements were accusing them of malpractice. Because it was not a callous. It was a problem with a bone protrusion. I would discover this when I moved to North Florida and was treated at Eglin Air Force base. At Hahn P.A. Givens and the MD's just put a dry ice and scraped it and the so-called callous came back. Then they put on salicylic acid and it came back. It was not a callous. I knew that. These dummies had me thinking that this was a pre-existing condition. But that is a lie. MEPS in Richmond did not find it. Lackland did not find it. So how is Hahn trying to tell me that they found what two other hospitals did not including the Xrays they took. That is where Hahn failed they took no Xrays. But Eglin Air Force base did. And so did Shaw Air Force base. When I was at Hahn Colonel Ben Nelson was the commander. I mention that to give others out there a timeline of knowing when I was at Hahn. But most damning is that when I separated with honor. They would not give a full physical (medical and dental) because they could have seen the Xray that would have shown the bone problem. But the Hospital commander in 1988 deemed it not neccessary to have a physical and disapproved my request. I never protested or questioned how illogical that was. Maybe it would not have done any good. Today I hate the VA and I hate what happened to me and I hate even worse what happended to Sgt Rodriguez and his family. Like Sgt Rodriguez I don't want another soldier to die,suffer or be maimed because of the "Feres Doctrine" it has outlived its usefullness Mr. President. I suffer today because of it. Granted I was only given a 0% non-compensable rating after I had to contact the Pentagon after I went back and forth with the Department of Veteran's Affairs here that was in 1989. I was suppose to finally get an operation. To open my foot to file the bone down then close it up and recuperate for at least 6 months when I was in the Air Force Reserves in Charleston SC. I just hope the Feres Doctrine is changed or just put on the scrap pile. In my opinion it has no business in the world of war in the 21st century. My deepest condolences to the Rodriguez family again.

signed
Former SSGT Air Force Security Forces and 919th SPEC OPS [e-mail]

[ccolleenberg]

I'm truly sorry to hear about your husband, but lets not lump all the military doctors together. There are some good ones too. My uterus ruptured while in childbirth and if if hadnt been for my doctor who was a navy doctor we would have died, and both of us are here today, usually one or the other doesnt make it. and to get this baby, hubby had a vasectomy reversed at Navy Hospital Camp Lejeune, NC and it worked. Cancer scare, asthma with the kids have all been taken well care of with military doctors here at FT. Leavenworth. But I do agree then there are the bad ones, just ike in the civilian world.

[tmittelstaed]

I had cancer myself about 15 years ago, fortunately today I'm "cured". I discovered after that experience that patients must take charge of their own medical care. Some times since then I've been told to do things by doctors that I've known are bogus - so I don't do them. Examples of these are overly liberal prescription of painkillers - just about every doctor will tell you to take many more pain meds than you really need. I've also NOT been told by doctors to do things that I knew from my own research that I should have done, and I've done them - such as insist on specific medical tests being done that a doctor didn't think would matter.
The only person who really cares about your medical condition is you. Your the best person to research your own health care, and you should never blindly trust what a doctor tells you - you should ALWAYS verify it - and today, with the Internet, it is incredibly easy to do so. The next time your told anything by a doctor, check up on it - most of the time, your likely going to find out that the available mainstream research agrees with it - but every once in a while, your going to find out that it doesn't, or that your doctor is unaware of a new treatment regimen. And for god's sake, learn how to research on the Internet - there's a lot of quackery regarding medical practices on the Internet (one of the biggies is the anti-vaccination movement who have flooded medical websites with a lot of nonsense)

[harpoot]

I remember the quacks in the Army when I was in it. The only reason they are in the military is because they'd get sued for malpractice in the civilian world.

[stephnyman22]

I am the wife of a veteran who served in the Navy. While in the Navy a lump grew on his arm and the PA said it was a lipoma (benign fatty tumor). As a former oncology nurse I knew this was NOT a lipoma. Lipomas are soft, discrete--this was hard, nodular, large, protruding. I told my husband to request an MRI of his arm. He told me that as an enlisted sailor he cannot ask the officers for anything even if it is part of his medical care or else they will retaliate.
So they delayed things, and then arranged for the tumor to be removed in the office under local anesthetic. The general surgeon injected the local in several locations throughout the tumor, going in and out of the tumor, seeding it. Then he removed it but did not get clear margins. He realized immediately this was cancerous. A week later the results came back as an aggressive, high grade sarcoma.
I requested referral to a sarcoma specialist so off we went to UConn. He had 2 more surgeries on his arm to remove the remaining tumor, get clear margins, and reconstruct his arm for radiation therapy. He received 7 weeks radiation and had radiation burns. Less than 6 mos later there were 10-16 tumors in his lungs. He was medically retired and entered into the VA...another joke. And I can say this because I am an oncology nurse who knows about sarcomas. While the VA has nice employees who care, we have had some inappropriate incidents and now my husband is dying.
The incompetence of the Navy medical personnel and the VA medical personnel are to blame for me losing my 33 year old husband.
I can also speak from another experience of working with Navy personnel as a healthcare provider--some of the most incompetent, unklnowledgeable nurses and doctors I have ever seen.
This bill needs to be passed and the military healthcare professionals need to be held accountable just like the rest of us!

[jmcalli]

I see that some corrections are in order. For those who believe that all military docs are incompetent, you could not be more wrong. Military medicine has been on the cutting edge of medical developments since World War II. From current research on brain injuries, burn medicine, evacuation and stabilization techniques, emergency medicine, the discovery of blood plasma, the list goes on and on.

The VA is not the active duty military. But for those who insist on denigrating the VA, currently they offer some of the best medical care available, anywhere, at any price. Getting into the VA system is a challenge, but once you're in you will be taken care of. I'm not talking about the VA of 1973 - I'm talking about the VA of 2009.

And don't assume that bad military doctors escape discipline because they escape a malpractice lawsuit. Being immune from a lawsuit doesn't mean a bad doctor will not be disciplined by the military. If the military is good at ANYTHING, it is discipline! Military docs may be court martialed, sent to NJP, fined, imprisoned, have malpractice events recorded in the National Provider Data Bank that will follow them the rest of their professional careers, and forced to leave the military. In the military, professional credentialing is real and peer review is the norm for anyone who practices. The military does not accept just anyone with a medical degree into the specialties. There are civilian practitioners out there who were rejected by the military or who where forced out when their qualifications became suspect. And where do you think they went to school? Almost all military docs attended civilian medical schools and they all have civilian medical licenses. Only a minority of the military's doctors graduated from the military's medical school, AMSUS. All of them passed national medical board exams.

The military did not create the Feres Doctrine; the Supreme Court did. If you don't like it, call your Senator. Do it now, or tomorrow, but do it. Complaining on a news commentary and throwing out half truths won't accomplish anything.

[cmp271]

the military should be sued for any malpractice. I know of several cases that should have resulted in the license being pulled for the so called Dr's and PA's. Thankfully I always knew enough to know better. I was treated differently when I was active duty than when I was a dependent. I was treated as baggage when I became a dependent. It was shocking some of the things said to me.

An active duty friend of mine ended up with a hysterectomy. Another man, his wife was given the run around and died.

Just because these medical personnel wear a uniform they should also be held to the same standard as their civilian counterparts. Otherwise it is constructive MURDER!!!

There is a way to sue, loss of their love and affection, and dereliction of the medical personnels duty to other Human Beings!!! Sue them over your civil rights!

The military also has to get over its attitude towards civilian spouses and children. They are just as important to the success of the military.

[jmcalli]

The Feres Doctrine was created by the courts as an expedient for military operations. If you don't approve of the Feres Doctrine, write your senator. The House of Representative has passed several bills to allow military personnel to pursue lawsuits regarding injuries caused by improper medical care. That legislation failed to win approval in the Senate.

[NancyLou9]

While my husband was active duty, I was given an epidural during the birth of my youngest son. What's wrong with that? Lots of women do it every day. I specifically had a directive in my medical records stating I was NOT to EVER be given an epidural. Why? I have my own reasons but it was considered an advance directive. I signed and dated this document the same day I found out I was pregnant, in my doctor's office. What happened? I went into labor several weeks early and my OB/GYN was on leave. The doctor on duty (an officer) ordered my husband to sign the paperwork to permit an epidural when I refused for nearly 7 hours to sign it. He tanked me up on morphine (and jeopardized my son's life) so he could declare me incompetant to make the decision.

The entire time they are putting in the extremely LARGE needle into my back, I am screaming at the ansthesiologist to not do it, that I had an advanced directive prohibiting it. He refused to listen and put the needle in anyway. As soon as he was done with that, a car accident came into the Army hospital I was at in Colorado (I won't give the name, though the Army hospital in Aurora, CO has since been closed) and I never got the medication for the epidural (Thank GOD for that).

However, since having that needle in my back, I have had problems with my back including my sciatica causing my right leg to fall asleep if I sit or stand for too long. Sleeping on my back is also a fantasy and that was the way I slept prior to this event.

My husband's retired now and I will NEVER go to another military hospital for as long as I live. Those doctors are butchers because there is no accountability involved in their care of their patients. I'll save the story of my gallbladder bursting for another time, due to a military doctor misdiagnosing my symptoms as "a food allergy".

[timothyww]

Our military exists to serve the needs of the rich and their corporations, and the individual soldier means nothing. The soldier is a commodity to be used and disposed of as cheaply as possible. Try getting sick while in the Army. You'll be lucky if you are discharged with no help and no benefits, because many wind up in jail on trumped up charges. Nothing in this world is what it's suppose to be, nothing is as you expect, especially the American military. Realistically, what more can you expect of an organization which has the sole purpose of killing human beings? An organization of killers, run by the best trained killers in the world. Asking them to suddenly think like normal human beings and treat their sick soldiers with compassion is a waste of time. They can't and won't. Even the Chaplains takes sides against the soldier for the Army because the Army is their career, not the soldier.

This law need to be change. There has been hundreds of case in our Military bases of Doctors Malpractice, and the military doctors can't be sued due to this old law.

[barbaraf4]

And yet prisoners can have sex change operations at taxpayers' expense.

[rwsmith29456]

I just read an article that said V.A. services were so negligent that they didn't even sterilize colonoscopy equipment after sticking it up someone else's butt, exposing people to HIV and Hepatitis and who knows what else. Maybe individuals aren't allowed to sue but the government itself should put some people in jail for this kind of malpractice. That is beyond just nasty.

[va_chick70]

There are many more soldiers and their families being overlooked by the military and their laws.
My Husband, SSG. Steven L. Felton was on Active Duty and Medically Retired by being placed on TDRL, the same that he died. Upon his return from Iraq he was diagnosed with Cancer, stage 3A Hodgkin?s Lymphoma. He under went 6 rounds of chemotherapy and within 8 months he was admitted to intensive care where his condition worsened because of Bleomyicin toxicity.
One week later, while still on active duty I was told that he was going to die within a few hours. His cancer had gone undiagnosed while he was on active duty. He was given too much chemo drugs and I cannot sue the military for medical malpractice. Due to The Feres Doctrine, a 1950 Supreme Court ruling which forbids active-duty military personnel and their families from suing the federal government for injuries incidental to their service
At the time of my husband?s death I was told that my daughter and I would not be eligible to receive any benefits, unless the Army medically retired him. He was placed on the TDRL or Temporary Retired Disabled List. I now know that because he was placed in this retired status we have been eliminated from other benefits and enhancements.
He was on active duty and his injuries and illness had already been determined to be in the line of duty. He had not gone through a MED board and he was not able to communicate with me or the hospital staff. He was placed on life support and remained on life support, the whole time he was in the intensive care unit. As I stated earlier, I was told that he MUST be medically retired immediately, or my daughter and I would not receive any benefits.
It is my understanding that there was a change and now subsequent changes to the policies regarding the Death of Service members who are on active duty. The change, R10-02 to Chapter 52 of the DoD FMR, Volume 7B effective September 10, 2001 and Public Law 107-107, section 642 dated December 28 2001, enhanced and allowed SBP benefits to beneficiaries of members on active duty who died in the line of duty and are not yet retirement eligible
Congress made amendments that changed the rules. I have been told that I am unable to receive these benefits because they decided my husband needed to be retired before he died.
The laws had changed and the Army was still using them. As a result, many service members? families have been cheated out of benefits, money, and services that they should have received.

[credibility2]

Why did any attorney even take this case knowing full well what the situation was? Perhaps the attorney thought that involving a minority might encourage more sympathy. I believe that no one has ever been able to sue the government over anything, including the military.

[hennighg]

Yeah. I'm surprised.

"Here, bank employee who helped us crash. Have 10 million dollars. The taxpayer won't mind."

"Here, family whose soldier got killed in the war. Have $10,000 dollars. Have a nice life."