.

.

Maxwell Air Force Base Hospital.

Even after the Dayton Daily News published the disturbing series on the inadequacies of military health care, the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs maintains that the image of the U.S. Armed Force’s is not in need of repair. Yet Carollo’s investigative report is just the tip of the iceberg.

An article published in this week’s issue of the Air Force Times…not available on newsstands until the 15th of this month…outlines the case of an Airman First Class who is believed to have injected lidocaine into 22 infants and one adult over a period of months in 1988. Effects of the injection include sudden drop in heart rate, loss of breath and blueness due to lack of oxygen, and an alarming rise in blood-acid and blood-sugar levels.

The airman, who worked in the nursery of the Maxwell Air Force Base Hospital in Alabama, deliberately harmed patients so that he may appear heroic in attempting to save them. However, lidocaine causes irreversible damage to the central nervous system, and today, many of the children suffer from cerebral palsy and varying degrees of mental and physical retardation.

All as a result of the life threatening episodes that occurred at Maxwell. However the Air Force never charged the airman with the crimes. He was eventually removed from the nursery, and later court-martialed on unrelated charges in his personal to include child and spouse abuse.

While a number of the families have sued the Air Force, and some even been awarded settlements, the money is slow to come. Government lawyers are appealing to have the awards set aside. The fact that the military never charged the airman, and didn’t take appropriate measures to prevent this tragedy, indicates negligence on their part. If this isn’t enough to convince officials that the reputation of military health care is disintegrating, what is?

Officials at Maxwell Air Force Base and in the Surgeon General’s office in Washington, D.C. refused to discuss the case. After submitting queries in writing, a spokeswomen responded, also in writing, by saying that because the Department of Justice has filed a notice of appeal in this case, it would be inappropriate to comment. Response like this one alone indicate a need for image repair.