Medical Services is the biggest "political football at Peace Corps. The Congress needs to mandate, that is legislate new rules for Peace Corps bastion of injustice. First of all, Legislate that volunteers can not be separated through medical services. If there is a recommendation of separation than they will have to go through a Separation Board or an attorney that works for the volunteer solely. This attorney for the volunteers must be legislated through Congress too. Why is this needed? Because medical malpractice has been taking place there for years. They are not a hospital and they don't let you use your own Doctor's. Oh, they have there own, for there own sinister reasons and until you go through it you have no idea of the Consequences. In Sam Farr's bill, he should have an open amnesty law for Peace Corps, that anybody can challenge there former medical file with Peace Corps. If they have been thrown out for the wrong reasons, or diagnosed wrong then they should be able to be paid, for all the problems Peace Corps created. Yes, we have to go back because they are still doing it to people. Susan Fagan was sent home without a COS blood test. She died of Malaria. There are thousands in the Peace Corps family who are not being cared for correctly, diagnosed incorrectly and not helped by the bureaucratic morass at FECA and the Department of Labor. Sam Farr's bill needs to address this fundamental goal. If we are going to create Peace and understanding abroad we should be able to do it here too.

By Anon RPCV on Sunday, October 27, 2002 - 12:11 pm: Edit Post

As an RPCV I absolutely have to agree with the assessment of the medical teams often creating rather than alleviating fiascos. I've seen PCVs 'medically separated' for office politics, given inadequate support, and even blamed for the oversights of their PCMOs. How the PCVs were treated seemed to me to be largely based on the personality preferences and convenience factors of the PCMOs and APCMOs. Under the guise of "we want to do what's best for you" PCVs have been led to believe that small problems are practically life-threatening and that serious problems can wait until it's more convenient for the medical officers.

Too, I once observed a female PCV medically separated because they wanted to keep her apart from her assailant -- a fellow PCV. They couldn't separate him (for lack of evidence) so they separated her because she was "distraught" over the incident. Imagine if our public high schools and universities decided to take on this policy for reasons for expulsion! Can any medical much less human resources law agree with these actions?

As a medical student now studying medical ethics I see how many breaches have been made by medical personnel. More importantly, serious injustices have been committed by the OMS - often making bad situations worse. When the dignity of adults is so thoroughly undermined with the implication that a stranger holding a medical degree knows better than the individual what's best for him or her, there's a serious problem of ethics in this community and a foregoing of the Hyppocratic Oath of "first do no harm." Primarily because it causes the iatrogenic conditions it leaves in patients tend to be emotionally and financially worse than any physical or mental illness ever left them.

By bankass.com on Saturday, July 12, 2003 - 7:14 pm: Edit Post

God Bless you my friend for that input. You have said things I totally agree with but could not put on paper. Keep writing about these medical problems at Peace Corps.