"Willing to Die But Not This Way"

Some are trying to fix the problem.

That is, military hospitals and clinics--like hospitals everywhere--occasionally get it wrong and somebody dies. The thing is, families have no recourse with military hospitals, even when against the complaints of the military patient, they insist that what turns out to be melanoma is just a wart; when they bungle what appears to be a routine appendectomy; and something as simple as pneumonia goes undiagnosed and, therefore, treated not only in ways that will not help, but ways that will hurt.

The other side of the story is that the military's funds are limited. To allow soldiers and their families to sue could raise the already astronomical costs of keeping our military viable.

So, in the words of Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?" Isn't there a compromise out there that would allow military courts, as an example, to adjucate such cases with a liberal attitude (and pocketbook) to soldiers and the families of soldiers who are as the LA Times titles their article on the subject, "Willing to die but not this way." Wouldn't having some kind of malpractice model in place help the military to spot problems better and keep their system running well?

To read the full story go to the LA Times, Page A1 and A22, April 20, 2008. It was reported by Times Staff Writer, Walter F. Roche Jr.
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson wrote the foreword for Eric Dinyer's book of patriotic quotations, Support Our Troops, published by Andrews McMeel. Part of the proceeds for the book benefit Fisher House. Her chapbook of poetry won the Military Writers Society of America's award of excellence.