Bill for Military Medical Malpractice Introduced

June 25, 2009

In 1950, the Supreme Court of the United States created a law, which said that military doctors could not be sued for medical malpractice. This is because often, they have to work in dangerous conditions or circumstances. They are not held up to the same standards as traditional doctors, because often their examining room is a battlefield.

However, many say that this law is outdated and cite several cases of negligence, on the part of the military doctor. Several men have complained about towels or other materials, which were left inside their bodies after an operation.

A new bill, which was recently introduced by Senator Charles E. Schumer would change the 1950 law, to allow military men and women to sue their medical professionals for negligence and gross malpractice- in cases where they were receiving treatment for injuries unrelated to their service.

The bill is called the Carmelo Rodriguez Military Medical Accountability Act for a man who died of melanoma because his doctor failed to properly treat the disease- his family was left without a way to sue the doctor.