SPOTLIGHT

A Message from the Assistant Secretary of Defense For Health Affairs
DoD Provides Professional, Ethical and Humane Care to All

The Department of Defense takes strong exception to two recent articles in professional medical publications that question military medical ethics and actions of military medical personnel in the war on terrorism and during Operation Iraqi Freedom. These articles, published in the New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet, are not based on fully substantiated investigative findings, but rely instead on selected media reports, excerpts from congressional testimony and allegations from a few former detainees.

These articles tarnish the reputation of the thousands of medical professionals -- physicians, nurses and corpsmen -- who have provided outstanding medical care to U.S. coalition forces and to the general Iraqi population over the last 18 months, serving honorably, often under difficult circumstances. Indeed, it was the military health community that assisted the Iraqi Ministry of Health in its overwhelming task of rebuilding its healthcare infrastructure to overcome 30 years of neglect and corruption under Saddam Hussein.

As a matter of service policy, military medical personnel routinely are trained in the Laws of Armed Conflict, the Geneva Conventions and service regulations pertaining to the care of prisoners. Medical care provided to prisoners and detainees in U.S. custody is based on professional judgment and standards comparable to those for U.S. personnel. In fact, the lives of dozens, if not hundreds, of insurgent Iraqis and terrorist detainees have been saved by superior care and treatment provided by U.S. military medical personnel.

I want to assure you that I have no evidence that military healthcare providers failed to provide Iraqi or other detainees appropriate medical care, or that they assisted interrogators in abusive techniques. The leadership of the Military Health System continues to ask questions, to seek clarification of the Department's completed investigations and to ensure that the facts support appropriate conclusions, not just innuendo or unproven allegations.

Several investigations continue. If transgressions of Geneva Conventions, Department of Defense directives or Service regulations governing the care of prisoners have occurred, those responsible will be held accountable. Until we have all the facts, I want the Federal health community and all Americans to know that the Military Health System and its leadership are committed to outstanding medical care, the highest standards of medical ethics, and humane actions in all situations.