Firebase Network's Veterans Hour Sunday Feb 24 2008

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Firebase Network's Veterans Hour
Sunday, February, 24, 2008
7:00~8:00 PM Eastern
Down Under Monday 10:00~11:00 Eastern
http://www.stardustent.com/
Toll free Number to join in
877-213-4329

Welcome Home

This week we will discuss the "Feres Doctrine" with Barb Cragnotti from VERPA http://www.verpa.us/home.html The Feres Doctrine is named after Lt. Rudolph Feres, who died in a barracks fire in 1947. Feres' widow attempted to sue the Army, claiming negligence because it allowed her husband to be quartered in an unsafe barracks. The barracks had a defective heating plant and authorities failed to maintain an adequate fire watch, she claimed. The doctrine also encompasses two other cases from that time period. One involved an Army serviceman who sued for damages after an 18-x-30 inch towel had to be removed from his abdomen. The towel, which was stamped "Medical Department of the U.S. Army," was left behind after an abdominal surgery that was performed at an Army hospital eight months previously. The other case also involved medical malpractice where the patient, an active duty officer in the Army, died at the hands of what the lawsuit alleged was "an unskilled Army surgeon."
With the Feres Doctrine, the U.S. Supreme Court declared in 1950 that active duty servicemen and their estates could not recover money against the U.S. government. As a result, all three of the pending cases were dismissed.
The Feres Doctrine is an exception to the Federal Tort Claims Act of 1946, which states that the United States is liable for personal injuries and medical malpractice "in the same manner as a private individual under like circumstances." According to the Feres Doctrine, the Federal Tort Claims Act "did not apply to servicemen," because the government is not liable for injuries to servicemen where the injuries "arise out of or are in the course of activity incident to their service in the Armed Forces." This is a Law that should be overturned, it violates the Constitution.
Be sure to tune in. Your calls are welcomed at 877-213-4329

Semper Fi
Rick Townsend
Firebase Adrian