Observations: The trouble with US military medicine (PDF; 269 KB)
Source: British Medical Journal

For over a week now, America has been forced to look into the mirror to discover that it has egg on its presumably noble face. According to several recent reports in the Washington Post, seriously wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Hospital are housed in rodent infested facilities with holes in the ceilings and paint peeling off the walls — right in the nation’s capital, less than six miles from the White House. Meanwhile, a flood of reports from wounded soldiers and veterans elsewhere suggests that America, in too many instances, fails its wounded warriors and veterans in general.

Americans never tire of professing in words their gratitude to the brave men and women who fight the nation’s wars. Automobiles are adorned with $3 magnetic ribbons—made in China — exhorting the citizenry to “Support our Troops.” Immense praise is lavished on our warriors in virtually every speech by politicians or corporate executives of all ideological stripes. Finally, anyone who would dare question the administration’s war strategy and management is harshly accused of undermining the morale of the troops.

With all that touching, rhetorical support for America’s troops, what can account for the dissonance between professed sentiment and actual deed? One can think of at least two explanations: “moral hazard,” and callousness within the ranks of the army itself.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 17th, 2007 at 1:03 pm and is filed under Ethics, Health and healthcare, Military and defense, Veterans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.