If you feel like your rights are being violated, you have a right to sue for reparations for the crimes against you under the constitution. January Ritchie was a pregnant, enlisted woman who was advised by her doctors to limit her strenuous activity, or else risk the life of her unborn son. Despite their requests, the chain of command required Ritchie to participate in her regular duties of strenuous activity. Because of the physical activity she was forced to undergo, her son was born at 23 weeks and died in the next hour. Jonathan Ritchie sued the military, but the court ruled in favor of the military under the Feres Doctrine. This doctrine states that active-duty officers can not claim damages caused by the military. Soldiers are prohibited from suing the military, and by extention often their families, regardless of the circumstances. The baby’s death was a direct result of the active-duty, and therefore the military is unaccountable for the situation, and the family can not sue. If the injury is “incident to service”, the government is not liable. The family petitioned for the Supreme Court to take up the case, but the petition was denied. When ruling in a similar case, the Judge stated that they believed the Feres doctrine to be undeniably unfair, but that they were incapable of overruling the doctrine.
Three petitions have been made in the last decade for the reconsideration of Feres, many of them medical malpractice cases. Military physicians and contractors have made countless errors that result in the suffering of U.S. soldiers. One airman died when he was improperly intubated by being given a medical device fit for a child, another had his aorta punctured during surgery and lost both legs, and a marine who died from melanoma after doctors failed to recognize cancer and misdiagnosed it as a birthmark.
While the government claims that the insurance provided by the military service will cover all needs, Tricare is woefully inadequate and provides far less care than is needed. Of the 50,000 babies born in military facilities in the U.S. and around the world, the rate of injuries to babies during delivery is twice the national average. These hospitals have a service to protect people, and if they’re not living up to that, changes must be made.
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https://work.chron.com/join-army-can-just-quit-27702.html https://nccs.net/blogs/americas-founding-documents/bill-of-rights-amendments-1-10 https://www.militarytimes.com/pay-benefits/military-benefits/health-care/2015/07/05/law-prevents-some-family-members-from-suing-the-military/
The Feres Doctrine has had seriously problematic effects on soldiers and non-combatants alike. I heard of one case in which a soldier had a routine appendectomy—an operation with under a 1% fatality rate—and was supposed to get hooked up to an oxygen tank during his recovery. Instead, the nurse accidentally punctured his esophagus and pumped his stomach full of oxygen while his brain was unable to function. He went into a vegetative state and lost all brain function. The nurse tried to save him with a pediatric device, and he died under two months later. The military cannot be held accountable by anyone—not the civilians they kill, nor the soldiers who suffer at their leaders' ignorance.
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