Military Malpractice Claim Denied
My DoD medical malpractice claim has been denied. The claim was denied because the documentation did not support the diagnosis of cancer, even though a mass was present in 2012, One document in French and one translated to English from USAG BENELUX/SHAPE-Chièvres clinic stated that a mass was found, follow-up is needed in 2012. If you think a patient is malingering or you think it is "just" phantom pains from hernia surgery, your documentation will most likely support that instead of what may really be going on.
The 2012 Chièvres clinic document along with many visits to BACH (Blanchfield Army Community Hospital) including one for a bowel blockage that resulted in a 5 day hospitalization in April 2016 should have triggered testing and investigation but too many of the military medical providers were convinced that Jay was just trying to "get out of PT and work". The bowel blockage was diagnosed at BACH in April 2016 on his 2nd trip to the ER using X-Ray since other testing was unavailable, CT and MRI scans were not ordered from 2013-2016 and when ordered for the blockage the machines were not working. On the 1st trip, he was sent home after being told he was just constipated. Over the four years following the SHAPE-Chièvres document, they tried to say he had IBS or acid reflux or stomach ulcers or its all in your head (phantom pains from hernia surgery in 2012) or just constipated to the point of vomiting and distended abdomen. Four years of medical professionals ignoring him or not listening. In April 2016 a doctor actually told me that sometimes bowel blockages "just happen for no real reason" but Jay should follow up with private care or VA care since he was ETSing (getting out of the Army and going to National Guard) in less than 30 days.
The VA was able to correctly diagnose cancer in September 2016 after getting set up in the VA system, followed by primary care, ENT, and gastro appointments. The Stage 4 diagnosis came in October after exploratory surgery officially found a mass the size of a baking potato. By that point, the mass was so large and oddly shaped/attached, that they had difficulty determining the origin (Stomach, Esophagus, or Duodenum), but they also found multiple nodes of cancer throughout his abdominal cavity attached to every organ.
Had military medical read the 2012 Chièvres clinic document in his file or listened to Jay they might have found cancer when it was possible to treat and possibly cure, instead the only option was palliative care (keep him as comfortable as possible and try some new drug trials). The original diagnosis said he had 3-6 months to live but he was able to survive 2 years.
I am not alone in this claim denial farce. It appears that the claim (and appeal) for Richard Stayskal, whom the law was named for, has also been denied.
Unfortunately, the military community is not afforded the same rights as the civilian population. If a civilian worker is exposed to toxins they can sue the employer/receive Workers’ compensation, in the military community you can receive VA disability (not the same level of benefits). In the civilian world, you can sue for medical malpractice and/or neglect for millions of dollars but the service member does not have that option, you can file a tort claim if it has been less than 2 years since the incident and then you face a 95+% chance of having the claim denied. (that is the current denial rate that I saw in an article recently for DoD tort claims since the law changed in 2020). Just frustrating!
As of March 2023 The US Army has had 202 administrative claims filed, Army Claims Service acted on 155 of the cases: 144 have been denied. Many have been denied since March but I do not have the “official” counts
