Bill to repeal Feres clears first hurdle

Bill to repeal Feres clears first hurdle

By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday May 19, 2009 15:05:37 EDT

An effort to overturn a 59-year-old Supreme Court decision barring service members from suing the government for negligence inched forward Tuesday when a House subcommittee approved the Carmelo Rodriguez Military Medical Accountability Act.

The bill is named for a Marine Corps platoon leader and Iraq war veteran who was not told by military doctors that he had been diagnosed with melanoma, was not referred for treatment and, years later, was told the growth was a birthmark. Rodriguez, of Ellenville, N.Y., died from skin cancer in November 2007 at age 29.

Rodriguez and his family were barred from suing the government for medical malpractice by a 1950 ruling that became known as the Feres doctrine, which prohibits those on active duty from suing the government for negligence resulting in personal injuries.

If the bill approved by the House Judiciary Committee’s commercial and administrative law subcommittee is eventually enacted, service members could gain that right.
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Bill to repeal Feres clears first hurdle