Carmelo Rodriguez died in January 2008. The name might not ring a bell immediately, if at all, but what happened to this 29-year-old former U.S. Marine is a story that must be heard.
Rodriguez was not killed by a bullet or a bomb, nor from any injury endured during the time he spent serving our country.Instead, Rodriguez lost his life due to melanoma, one of the most severe types of skin cancer. Many people suffer from melanoma. The difference in Rodriguez's case was that it went undiagnosed.
The marine's death has inspired some to take a closer look at the rights, or lack thereof, that military servicemen have under a document known as the Feres Doctrine, and the proposed bill that is being presented to combat it.
Upon entering the United States Marines in 1997, Rodriguez’s doctor noted an odd-looking mole during this physical. The doctor jotted it down as “melanoma on the right buttocks.” But instead of informing Rodriguez of the finding, he kept it in the documents— documents that Rodriguez never saw. These documents passed through the hands of several doctors when he was deployed to Iraq.
Just over a year ago, CBS national correspondent Byron Pitts ran a story for 60 minutes about Rodriguez and his family. Rodriguez, who was once a very handsome and physically fit young man, had become emaciated, down to less than 80 pounds, and was bedridden by stage four melanoma. A mere eight minutes after Pitts's initial meeting with the former marine, Rodriguez died, with his seven-year old son clenching his hand. He died of the disease that he was never told about until it was too late. Melanoma is one of the most severe, but entirely treatable, forms of skin cancer.
When I saw this gut-wrenching interview, chills shot down my spine and the hairs on my arms shot up like bolts of lightning. How can this possibly happen, especially to a person who put his life on the line every single day for our “great country?"
Ok, so his doctors messed up. Sue them. In anyone else's case, this is what would happen. There is a reason we have such legal recourse in America. When professionals don't do their jobs and cost victims their jobs or even their lives, as was the case for Rodriguez, there is a way to hold those professionals responsible for their actions: lawsuits. At the very least, Rodriguez's seven-year old son should have a chance at college with the money from a successful lawsuit, especially since his father can't save that money for him now.
But therein lies the problem. According to the Feres Doctrine, a 1950 Supreme Court ruling, service members are excluded from collecting damages for personal injuries in the performance of their duties. The policy limits the use of the Federal Tort Claims Act, which essentially allows a citizen to sue the United States in Federal Court for compensation from those responsible for their injuries. Therefore, according to the Feres Doctrine, the government is not liable under the Federal Tort Claims Act for injuries sustained while on active duty.
Are you freaking kidding me?
How is it plausible for the brave men and women who protect our country to not have the same rights as a normal U.S. citizen? It just does not make any sense. These people lay their lives on the line each and every day; at the very least they should have the exact same rights as every one of us.
I understand the basis of the doctrine. If all lawsuits were allowed, the government would likely be sued left and right for service members' injuries during wartime duties. But for medical malpractice? For doctors intentionally not telling someone they have a deadly illness for God knows what reason? That is absolutely ridiculous.
As a country, we strive for better care of our servicemen and veterans. And this is what we give them? The inability to collect damages that were caused by someone else?
How exactly are we caring for our courageous men and women who risk their lives by disallowing them to sue the government for medical malpractice or negligence?
I speak to everyone who has a heart and common sense when I say that something needs to be done about the Feres Doctrine, because it is morally wrong. There is a difference between the law, what is justice, and what is plain old right. And this doctrine, on many levels, is just not right.
The movement is already in motion, thanks to New York representative Maurice Hinchey. On March 24, Hinchey introduced a proposed bill know as H.R. 1478, the "Carmelo Rodriguez Military Medical Accountability Act of 2009." According to the Library of Congress, the act is set out to “amend chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code, to allow members of the Armed Forces to sue the United States for damages for certain injuries caused by improper medical care, and for other purposes.”
So far the bill has only been held in subcommittee meetings.
If the government really does want what is best for the military, then why not start by giving servicemen and women better medical care and the same rights that civilians have when it comes to legal protection? I’m not here to say that service members should have more, only the same. They should be able to do anything that you and I can do.
The story of Carmelo Rodriguez is only one of many mishaps in the protection of our service men and women, but let his story be the inspiration for better care for our service members.
And it’s up to us, we have a responsibility to do something about this because if we don’t, it is just us much our fault as it is the government's.
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