Soldier lives with wounds from outside the war zone

Former Utah National Guard Sgt. Russell Bridges wasn't hit by enemy gunfire or a roadside bomb, yet he could be considered a twice-wounded soldier.

The first injury came doing a mundane but strenuous task at Fort Bliss, Texas, while preparing to head to Iraq with the Utah-based 148th Field Artillery in the summer of 2004. He herniated a disk in his back loading heavy canvas tents onto a Humvee.

The second happened when, according to Bridges, a surgeon performing an L-5, S-1 fusion at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso apparently misplaced a screw along his spine, which damaged nerve roots that control his leg muscles.

Subsequent to the surgery and a follow-up operation to correct what his medical records describe as a "malpositioned" screw, the 28-year-old married father of three has almost completely lost the use of his legs. He has told doctors the back pain goes away only when he's under anesthesia.

A man of few words, Bridges sums up his plight succinctly: "It sucks."

Because Bridges was on active duty at the time of his injury, he has no legal recourse against the government even if he could prove mistakes were made in his surgeries.

A 58-year-old U.S. Supreme Court ruling known as the Feres Doctrine gives military hospitals and their staffs immunity from lawsuits, including medical malpractice. Courts have applied the ruling to any injury related to active-duty military service.

"It's basically a decision that says members of the armed forces can't sue the government for negligence," said Geoff Corn, a South Texas College of Law professor and retired Army colonel.

The Army, Corn said, figures the lifetime of veterans compensation Bridges will receive satisfies any kind of financial obligation it might have to him. "But it's nothing like he would get from malpractice," he said.

The Veterans Administration considers the wheelchair-bound Bridges 80 percent disabled. The rating, which he petitioned to increase from 50 percent, earns him $1,657 a month in disability benefits. He also receives free VA health care.

"We're not money hungry," Bridges said from his room at the VA Hospital in Salt Lake City where he had undergone surgery for the 10th time. "We don't want to see this happen to anyone else. There are lot of soldiers who end up in some bad situations they should have never been in."

Tangling with the VA maze added insult to injury. Bridges constantly fights the system for compensation. Disability ratings are often subjective. The VA currently is evaluating him to determine whether his rating should be upped to 100 percent, which would increase his monthly payments.