Posted on 09/01/2009 6:28:01 AM PDT by BGHater
It wasn't a bullet or roadside bomb that felled Lance Cpl. Josef Lopez three years ago after nine days in Iraq.
It was an injection into his arm before his unit left the states.
The then 20-year-old Marine from Springfield, Mo., suffered a rare adverse reaction to the smallpox vaccine. While the vaccine isn't mandatory, the military strongly encourages troops to take it.
However, it left Lopez in a coma, unable for a time to breathe on his own and paralyzed for weeks. Now he can walk, but with a limp. He has to wear a urine bag constantly, has short-term memory loss and must swallow 15 pills daily to control leg spasms and other ailments.
And even though his medical problems wouldn't have occurred if he hadn't been deployed, Lopez doesn't qualify for a special government benefit of as much as $100,000 for troops who suffer traumatic injuries.
The hangup? His injuries were caused by the vaccine.
"I could have easily died, or not been able to walk because of that," Lopez said. "It destroyed my world. It was pretty traumatic to me."
Officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which oversees the benefit program, said they're following what the agency has determined to be Congress' intent.
"It's for traumatic injury, not disease; not illness; not preventive medicine," said Stephen Wurtz, deputy assistant director for insurance at the VA. "It has nothing to do with not believing these people deserve some compensation for their losses."
(Excerpt) Read more at mcclatchydc.com ...
This exact thing happened to my nephew last year. When he was able to walk they gave him a bus ticket and sent him home. He has yet to get TriCare card though he is paying for it nor can he get his W2’s or anything from the Marines. This is NOT an isolated incident as I know of others.
Ignoramus ping.
Bad reporting. The vaccine is voluntary ONLY if you wish to leave active duty and PCS to the 1stCivDiv.
All personnel refusing smallpox vaccines are subject to disciplinary action.
I have seen people get VA disability (service connected) for a hysterectomy and sexually transmitted diseases.
He needs to keep applying. The DAV (Disabled Vets of America) will help him for free, and they are very effective at getting the VA system to work right.
The VA resists this kind of disability ruling because it opens the floodgates for thousands more vets who had similar injuries. It took many years for the VA to surrender on the thousands of Agent Orange cases. My friend got cancer from exposure to it.
Yes, none of the vaccines we were given were voluntary, even if they were.
Self Censor due to self sensor overheating?
Someone explain to him that his Congress members may be able to help. He’ll need someone to advocate at the Federal level. Happens ALL the time.
Little amendments are added to bills solely for the purpose of helping a constituent. Congressional bills are rife with these amendments.
Let me see if I understand this...his illness that cause his disability does not qualify for the traumatic injury benefit because it is an illness and not a traumatic injury, correct?
And the problem with is exactly what?
I always was under the impression that when you enlisted you automatically "Volunteered" for anything your CO wanted you to do from that point on.
The problem is that it was not an illness. It was a vaccine related injury.
The injuries don’t have be the result of combat to qualify for funds. This man had money taken out of his pay every month for insurance, to cover ALL injuries.
Lawsuit time!
How are you saying that the vaccine reaction qualifies as a traumatic injury?
Toxic responses are not normally called traumatic injuries.
“It’s for traumatic injury, not disease; not illness; not preventive medicine,” said Stephen Wurtz, deputy assistant director for insurance at the VA. “It has nothing to do with not believing these people deserve some compensation for their losses.”
I bet going on his local tv news station’s consumer help segments and naming his congressman would oil some squeaky wheels real fast.
Pretty much; I’m not complaining, as I did volunteer, but I can remember several mandatory ‘family fun days’ That would have been better spent snoozing...
Yes, I think it does. He was injured, and it was traumatic.
Traumatic
1. A serious injury or shock to the body, as from violence or an accident.
2. An emotional wound or shock that creates substantial, lasting damage to the psychological development of a person, often leading to neurosis.
3. An event or situation that causes great distress and disruption.
Injury
wound or trauma; harm or hurt; usually applied to damage inflicted on the body by an external force.
I think that fits more than calling it an illness or a disease.
You are twisting definitions and simply incorrect.
It isn’t a matter of what you believe, words have meanings and even the definitions you supplied do not support your assertion.
You asked me what I believe. You just don’t like my answer.
It seems the legal description agrees with me too.
Traumatic injury:
A comprehensive term for any wrong or harm done by one individual to another individual’s body, rights, reputation, or property, or any interference with an individual’s legally protected interest.
why thank you, it’s nice to know which of our military or former military is a boor and a jerk. I usually get treated quite respectfully. Not with you though!
I bet you’re the kind of man that would get really irate by your wife or daughter getting treated the way you treat others.
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