US Marines Are Banned From Recovering for A Doctor's Negligence
A recent article from the American Association of Justice brings to light an important legal issue pertaining to our nation’s finest: the men and women of the military. Marine Sgt. Carmelo Rodriguez served in the military for a decade before he lost his life, not from enemy fire, but from medical malpractice. When Mr. Rodriguez enlisted in the Marine Corps, he received a routine medical exam in which the doctor diagnosed a blotch on his body as melanoma. However, the doctor did not tell him and the military did not follow up on the diagnosis. The melanoma grew over the subsequent eight years and Mr. Rodriguez had it examined once again while he was serving in Iraq. The doctor there told him the blotch was a wart that he should have checked when he returned to the US. It was too late, however, and Mr. Rodriguez died a year and half later from skin cancer.
In most cases of such medical negligence, Americans have the right o pursue legal justice. However, Mr. Rodriguez’s family does not share this right. After the 1950 Supreme Court ruling in Feres v. United States, service members on active duty were forbidden from holding the government accountable in non-combat related injuries. This court decision, which still holds today, takes away the right of redress through the justice system from many military families.
Representative Maurice D. Hinchey of New York has introduced the Carmelo Rodriguez Military Medical Accountability Act. This bill will restore the rights of service men and women who are injured by medical malpractice and negligence. If passed, this Act will offer the fine men and women of our armed forces the same protections through the justice system every other American enjoys.
