In Case You Missed It: Medical malpractice claims delay 'unacceptable,' Rep. Hudson tells DoD (Fox 46)
November 30, 2020
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (FOX 46 CHARLOTTE)– Bipartisan anger on Capitol Hill continues to grow as military families, whose loved ones were injured or killed due to medical malpractice, are left in limbo.
In a letter to Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, Fort Bragg Congressman Richard Hudson (R-Concord) calls the Defense Department's delay in processing medical malpractice claims "unacceptable."
"When we initially began this endeavor to bring equitable treatment to those harmed by medical malpractice, it was noted that the DoD was opposed to this effort," Hudson wrote. "I sincerely hope that this is not an effort by the Department to delay a policy that they do not support."
Active duty soldiers are not allowed to sue the government because of a controversial 1950 Supreme Court ruling known as the Feres Doctrine. A law signed last year, following a series of FOX 46 investigations, gives service members the right to be compensated for the first time for botched and negligent care.
"While this…does not wholly repeal the Feres Doctrine," Hudson wrote, "it is a positive step towards the equitable treatment of our men and women in uniform."
Last year, a bipartisan bill that Hudson worked on was introduced in Congress. It stemmed from a series of FOX 46 reports on the botched care that Fort Bragg Green Beret Sgt. 1st Class Richard Stayskal received at Womack Army Medical Center. Doctors misdiagnosed his lung cancer as pneumonia. He is now Stage 4.
Defense officials told Congress an interim final rule needed to implement the law would be released no later than Sept. 30. Nearly two months later, DoD officials say it is still "well underway" – almost a year after President Trump signed the law.
"[W]e are now well past this target and there is still no timeline on when a rule will be made public," Hudson wrote. "This delay is unacceptable."
Read the entire article and Congressman Hudson's letter to the Department of Defense here.
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