Unnecessary Amputations At Army Hospitals?

By Spencer Ackerman 05/15/2008 12:11PM

Goldsmith just said something I've never heard of before, showing a photograph of his buddy to the Congressional Progressive Caucus:

"That man went through the same Stop-Loss as I. He almost lost his right leg. The only reason he didn't is because in Germany where they were going to send him, they messed up his paperwork and flew him home. He's now able to walk. But they were going to cut his leg off as a quick fix. And that is what they're doing in the hospitals of Germany to who knows how many hundreds of American veterans."

After the revelations of Walter Reed, should we be surprised, if this is true?

Comments:

annie
Posted 05/15/2008 12:42pm with

I’d be surprised. Traumatic injury triggers complex mechanisms in the body. There are all sorts of factors which go into the decision about whether a limb or body part is salvagable.

There are quality assurance (sometimes referred to as M&M conferences – morbidity and mortality) which look at the rates of complications and deaths, which look at optimal versus actual outcomes and which apply peer review processes. The military healthcare system has a pretty reliable track record around trauma care and stabilization. You should be able to get statistics about amputations at all types of military medical facilities (CSH versus Evac tertiary care hospitals (Germany) versus stateside military hospitals). That’s where to start if you are so inclined as to investigate.