II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1467 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide coverage under Traumatic 

Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance for adverse reactions to vaccinations administered by the Department of Defense, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 16, 2009 

Mrs. MCCASKILL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide coverage 

under Traumatic Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance 

for adverse reactions to vaccinations administered by the 

Department of Defense, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lance Corporal Josef 

5 Lopez Fairness for Servicemembers Harmed by Vaccines 

6 Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TRAUMATIC SERVICEMEMBERS’ GROUP LIFE IN2 SURANCE COVERAGE FOR ADVERSE REAC3 TIONS TO VACCINATIONS ADMINISTERED BY 

4 DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find6 ings: 

7 (1) Section 1032 of the Emergency Supple8 mental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global 

9 War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005 (Public 

10 Law 109–13), which was enacted on May 11, 2005, 

11 established the Traumatic Servicemember’s Group 

12 Life Insurance program by adding section 1980A to 

13 title 38, United States Code. 

14 (2) The Traumatic Servicemember’s Group Life 

15 Insurance program was established to provide mem16 bers of the Armed Forces who suffer a loss as a di17 rect result of traumatic injury with short-term mon18 etary assistance to mitigate the economic burden on 

19 such members and their families. The families of 

20 such members often incur financial hardships be21 cause they relocate to be with such members as they 

22 undergo long and difficult treatment and rehabilita23 tion periods. 

24 (3) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs is the ex25 ecutive agent for the Traumatic Servicemember’s 

26 Group Life Insurance benefit and has established 


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1 policies and procedures for dispensing the benefit 

2 based on the Secretary’s interpretation of section 

3 1980A of title 38, United States Code. 

4 (4) The Department of Veterans Affairs Insur5 ance Center has implemented a policy that does not 

6 extend the Traumatic Servicemember’s Group Life 

7 Insurance benefit to those members of the Armed 

8 Forces who sustain a life altering and permanent 

9 disability caused by an adverse reaction to a vaccine 

10 administered by the Department of Defense as a 

11 component of accessions, training, or pre-deployment 

12 preparations for duty in a combat or imminent dan13 ger zone. 

14 (5) There are multiple documented cases of 

15 members of the Armed Forces suffering severe, ad16 verse reactions to vaccinations administered by the 

17 Department of Defense. Such adverse reactions in18 clude the traumatic injuries of coma, amputation, 

19 paralysis, and loss of the activities of daily living 

20 (ADL). All such adverse reactions are covered under 

21 existing Traumatic Servicemember’s Group Life In22 surance program guidelines. 

23 (6) Lance Corporal Josef Lopez is a Marine 

24 from Springfield, Missouri, who, in September 2006, 

25 was administered a smallpox vaccination by the DeVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:42 Jul 17, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1467.IS S1467

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1 partment of Defense just prior to a deployment to 

2 Iraq. One week after his arrival in Iraq, Lance Cor3 poral Lopez suffered complete paralysis, a coma, and 

4 the loss of two activities of daily living, all of which 

5 were subsequently diagnosed as resulting from a 

6 rare adverse reaction to the smallpox vaccine. 

7 (7) Lance Corporal Lopez was medically evacu8 ated from Iraq to Landstuhl, Germany, and ulti9 mately to the National Naval Medical Center at Be10 thesda, Maryland, where he remained for six weeks. 

11 Lance Corporal Lopez later endured multiple hos12 pitalizations and physical therapy treatments in his 

13 native Missouri. 

14 (8) Lance Corporal Lopez was wheelchair15 bound for one year and now walks with a permanent 

16 limp, is unable to stand for long periods, and must 

17 use a urine collection bag because he has no control 

18 over his bladder. Daily, Lance Corporal Lopez must 

19 take prescription medications to control spasms in 

20 his legs and bladder. These injuries and issues are 

21 a result of Lance Corporal Lopez’s adverse reaction 

22 to the smallpox vaccine described in paragraph (6). 

23 (9) Lance Corporal Lopez was medically retired 

24 from the Marine Corps on June 30, 2009. 


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1 (10) During the course of the treatment that 

2 Lance Corporal Lopez received for the adverse reac3 tion described in paragraph (6), he and his family 

4 endured substantial hardship. His mother spent ex5 tensive periods at Lance Corporal Lopez’s side dur6 ing his initial treatment and she had to make expen7 sive modifications to her home to accommodate 

8 Lance Corporal Lopez’s wheelchair. 

9 (11) Lance Corporal Lopez’s mother represents 

10 the very finest attributes of love and loyalty to her 

11 heroic son to whom she has provided care and assist12 ance. Such care and assistance is critical for the 

13 healing of injured members of the Armed Forces like 

14 Lance Corporal Lopez. The provision of such care 

15 and assistance by family members is encouraged and 

16 recognized by the Armed Forces, by healthcare pro17 viders, and by the Congress as highly valuable for 

18 the care of injured members of the Armed Forces. 

19 (12) Lance Corporal Lopez applied for Trau20 matic Servicemember’s Group Life Insurance bene21 fits because his injuries resulted in qualifying losses 

22 under the Traumatic Servicemember’s Group Life 

23 Insurance program, including coma, paralysis, and 

24 loss of activities of daily living. Under the Traumatic 

25 Servicemember’s Group Life Insurance program as 


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1 in effect on the day before the date of the enactment 

2 of this Act, Lance Corporal Lopez and his family 

3 would have received $75,000 in associated benefits if 

4 his claim was accepted. However, his claim was de5 nied because the current policy of the Department of 

6 Veterans Affairs Insurance Center prohibits extend7 ing Traumatic Servicemember’s Group Life Insur8 ance benefits to those who have adverse reactions to 

9 vaccinations administered by the Department of De10 fense to facilitate military service in combat thea11 ters. 

12 (13) Lance Corporal Lopez and his family en13 dured undue financial hardship in the time imme14 diately following his traumatic injuries and during 

15 his recovery process. They were not able to mitigate 

16 the financial challenges they faced with assistance 

17 from the Traumatic Servicemember’s Group Life In18 surance program, which was created to provide as19 sistance to families of members of the Armed Forces 

20 when facing the challenges of traumatic events pre21 cisely like that experienced by Lance Corporal 

22 Lopez. 

23 (14) The policy of the Department of Veterans 

24 Affairs in effect on the day before the date of the 

25 enactment of this Act that denies Traumatic 


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1 Servicemember’s Group Life Insurance benefits to 

2 members of the Armed Forces who experience trau3 matic injuries as a result of being administered vac4 cines consequent to their preparation to serve the 

5 United States in combat is inconsistent with the in6 tent of the Traumatic Servicemember’s Group Life 

7 Insurance program, as enacted by Congress. 

8 (b) TRAUMATIC SERVICEMEMBERS’ GROUP LIFE IN9 SURANCE COVERAGE.—Section 1980A(b)(3) of title 38, 

10 United States Code, is amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the 

13 Secretary’’; and 

14 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub15 paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall not exclude under subpara17 graph (A) a qualifying loss experienced by a member as 

18 a result of an adverse reaction to a vaccination adminis19 tered by the Department of Defense, whether voluntarily 

20 or involuntarily, for the purposes of military accession, 

21 training, or deployment.’’. 

22 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

23 subsection (b) shall take effect as if included in the provi24 sions of and amendments made by section 1032 of the 

25 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, 


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1 the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005 

2 (Public Law 109–13; 119 Stat. 257). 

Æ 


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