Jackie Speier

This is a hearing that we are having about the quality of health care in the military by service members who are not in combat situations.

Is it the right kind of a policy to, you know, have their doctors, the ones who are fighting and dying, you know, not concerned about a lawsuit but every other doctor, to include the ones that do work on each of the Members here--you know…

I love when that kind of claim is made by someone who didn't serve. Because I have served, and I know that that kind of claim is ridiculous.

But it appears that these facilities are providing services, first and foremost, to the spouses and the dependents.

So the first scan actually did detect the error. It just wasn't--you weren't informed, and you weren't referred.

I worry that there aren't enough sophisticated medical professionals with gynecological training in the military.

Let me clarify for everyone that this committee has full jurisdiction over the quality of medical health care in the military, and that is why we are having this hearing.

I think we have struggled for a long time on the issue of widowhood and the compensation issue, and it is one that has to be fixed.

Thank you, Chairwoman Speier, and to the members of the subcommittee for the opportunity to speak today.

This includes standardizing patient experience, improving quality of care, and increasing access to care--reforms that are essential to fixing the types of issues highlighted by your cases.

These repeated failures, which occurred at military medical treatment facilities all around the world, indicate systemic problems within the military healthcare system.

My primary concern is to make sure that the failures you experienced in the military medical health system do not happen to other service members.

But even if the Feres doctrine is changed, we know it will not make you or the other victims of military medical malpractice whole.

Our service members, who sacrifice so much, deserve the best medical care that we can provide, and we, as an institution, let you down.

When our service members suffer from medical malpractice, when doctors fail to perform or woefully misread tests, when nurses botch routine procedures, when clinicians ignore and disregard pain, service members deserve their day in court.

I want to take this moment to thank you in particular. Because of the malpractice you suffered, your time is numbered in days and weeks, not years and decades.

Feres is the product of judicial activism and Congress' silence.

This has got to be fixed.

This is unjust to our service members and their families.

What objectives did it fulfill? What are the benefits of having prosecutors supervised by other prosecutors and not commanders?

I support that proposal.

I just think believing and trusting in the system would have just been a wholly more adequate response.

It goes down to the fact that commanders are people. We are fallible. We are humans.

The inherent bias of command is the problem.

There is nothing a JAG can do to force him to do it.