II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1347 

To amend chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code, to allow members 

of the Armed Forces to sue the United States for damages for certain 

injuries caused by improper medical care, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2009 

Mr. SCHUMER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code, 

to allow members of the Armed Forces to sue the United 

States for damages for certain injuries caused by improper medical care, 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 ‘‘Carmelo Rodriguez 

5 Military Medical Accountability Act of 2009’’. 


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•S 1347 IS

1 SEC. 2. ALLOWANCE OF CLAIMS BY MEMBERS OF THE 

2 ARMED FORCES AGAINST THE UNITED 

3 STATES FOR CERTAIN INJURIES CAUSED BY 

4 IMPROPER MEDICAL CARE. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 171 of title 28, United 

6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘§ 2681. Certain claims by members of the Armed 

9 Forces of the United States 

10 ‘‘(a) A claim may be brought against the United 

11 States under this chapter for damages relating to the per12 sonal injury or death of a member of the Armed Forces 

13 of the United States arising out of a negligent or wrongful 

14 act or omission in the performance of medical, dental, or 

15 related health care functions (including clinical studies 

16 and investigations) that is provided by a person acting 

17 within the scope of the office or employment of that person 

18 by or at the direction of the Government of the United 

19 States, whether inside or outside the United States. 

20 ‘‘(b) A claim under this section shall not be reduced 

21 by the amount of any benefit received under subchapter 

22 III (relating to Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance) of 

23 chapter 19 of title 38. 

24 ‘‘(c) This section does not apply to any claim arising 

25 out of the combatant activities of the Armed Forces dur26 ing time of armed conflict. 


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•S 1347 IS

1 ‘‘(d) For purposes of claims brought under this sec2 tion— 

3 ‘‘(1) subsections (j) and (k) of section 2680 do 

4 not apply; and 

5 ‘‘(2) in the case of an act or omission occurring 

6 outside the United States, the ‘law of the place 

7 where the act or omission occurred’ shall be deemed 

8 to be the law of the place of domicile of the plaintiff. 

9 ‘‘(e) As used in this section, the term ‘a negligent 

10 or wrongful act or omission in the performance of medical, 

11 dental, or related health care functions (including clinical 

12 studies and investigations)’ has the same meaning given 

13 that term for purposes of section 1089(e) of title 10.’’. 

14 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

15 The table of sections for chapter 171 of title 28, United 

16 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

‘‘2681. Certain claims by members of the Armed Forces of the United States.’’. 

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

19 this section shall apply with respect to a claim arising on 

20 or after January 1, 1997, and any period of limitation 

21 that applies to such a claim arising before the date of en22 actment of this Act shall begin to run on the date of that 

23 enactment. 

Æ 


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