Veteran injured by vaccine ineligible for benefits

09-20-2009 • Kansas City Star

It wasn’t a bullet or roadside bomb that felled Lance Cpl. Josef Lopez three years ago, after just nine days in Iraq.

It was an injection into his arm before his Marine Corps unit left the United States.

It left Lopez in a coma, paralyzed and unable for a time to breathe on his own. He can walk now, but with a limp. He has to wear a urine bag, has short-term memory loss and must swallow 15 pills daily to control leg spasms and other ailments.

Yet the Springfield, Mo., man does not qualify for a special GI benefit of up to $100,000 for troops who suffer traumatic injuries.

2 Comments in Response to Veteran injured by vaccine ineligible for benefits

Comment by Trouser Chili

Entered on: 9/21/2009 8:57:04 AM

Lucky Red:

I believe most of the volunteers are quite young. How much did you really know of the world's issues when you were 18? Personally, I knew nothing.

But wouldn't you expect someone who is injured in the army to get compensation? I mean, if you are injured at work in the private sector there is insurance.

Comment by Lucky Red

Entered on: 9/21/2009 4:21:57 AM

Aren't they just human guinea pigs anyway? Whether their fighting for oil and the interests of the big corporations or just getting experimental shots, they volunteered for it so they better not complain.

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