IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  24 March 2015

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20140011011 


THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE:

1.  Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any).

2.  Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any).


THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant requests payment of Traumatic Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (TSGLI) for a hospitalization resulting from a spider bite. 

2.  The applicant states he qualified under the TSGLI standards and was denied payment.

3.  The applicant provides his TSGLI application and supporting documents.

COUNSEL'S REQUEST, STATEMENT AND EVIDENCE:

1.  Counsel requests payment of the TSGLI in the amount of $25,000.

2.  Counsel states she disagrees with the decision to deny TSGLI benefits in this case because all of the available evidence indicates that this was an injury from an outside force.  The applicant was bitten by a poisonous spider leading to multiple surgeries and lengthy hospitalization.  This was determined to have occurred in the line of duty 

3.  Counsel provides:

* Letter from registered nurse, dated 5 June 2014
* DA Form 2173 (Statement or Medical Examination and Duty Status) 



CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant, an Army National Guard sergeant, was mobilized and deployed to Afghanistan on 2 March 2010.  During transit he developed a lump on the back of his right thigh.  This became increasingly painful and he went to sick call at the transit center at Manas (the capital of Kyrgyzstan) where he was given antibiotics.

2.  He continued on to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.  The lump became an abscess which was lanced and debrided but the wound proved to be infected with antibiotic-resistant organism(s).  The applicant was soon medically evacuated to the United States through Landstuhl, Germany.

3.  The applicant's medical records are not available for review.  All available medical information was provided by the applicant and counsel with this request.  These include about 35 pages of medical records that show:

	a.  A patient history entered on his 11 March 2010 Patient Movement Report states, "45 yo Army NG –While at Fort Polk pre-deployment training stayed in tent with many spiders, thinks he may have been bit by one.  On 2 Mar departed for AOR-felt lump behind right thigh on the plane which became progressively more painful…" 

	b.  The next reference to a spider bite which appears in a 19 March 2010 medical note that reads, "…has a history of cellulites of right leg, possibly related to a spider bite…"

4.  The DA Form 2173 states in item 15 (Details of Accident or History of Disease) reads, "45 y/o male admitted on 4 Mar 10 for I&D procedure to remove boil w/cellulites on posterior of right thigh.  Area became infected resulting in another I&D on 5 Mar 10 in Bagram, Afghanistan.  Patient complained of numbness and tingling of right foot."  Item 31 (Injury is Considered to Have Been Incurred in the Line of Duty) is marked YES.  It is dated 13 December 2010 and signed by Jack D.  J____, Captain, Medical Service Corps.

5.  The applicant submitted a TSGLI application signed on 10 July 2013.  The item entitled, "Traumatic Injury Information," reads, "(the applicant) was deployed to Afghanistan when he was bitten by a highly venomous spider and was hospitalized from 3 March 2010 to 23 March 2010."

6.  Counsel also submitted a 5 June 2014 letter from a registered nurse who contends the applicant was bitten by a brown recluse spider and that a spider bite it just as much an injury as the bite of a dog or a wild animal.  She 
notes that the "injury " was determined to have been incurred in the line of duty.  She also points that part B of the TSGLI application cited a spider bite based on a hospitalization report from Landstuhl Medical Center. 

7.  Medline Plus, an online medical reference service maintained by the United States National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health provides the following information on brown recluse spider bites:

	a.  "When the spider bites you, you may feel a sharp sting or nothing at all.  Pain usually develops within the first several hours after being bitten, and may become severe.  Children may have more serious reactions.
Symptoms may include:

* Chills
* Itching
* General ill-feeling or discomfort
* Fever
* Nausea
* Reddish or purplish color in a circle around bite
* Sweating
* Ulcer in the area of the bite

	b.  The webpage includes this photograph showing the distinctive bite mark described above.



8.  Public Law 109-13 (The Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005), signed by the President on 11 May 2005, established the TSGLI Program.  The TSGLI Program was established by Congress to provide relief to Soldiers and their families after suffering a traumatic injury.  TSGLI provides between $25,000.00 and $100,000.00 to severely-injured Soldiers who meet the requisite qualifications set forth by the Department of Defense.  As of 1 December 2005, TSGLI is included as part of a Soldier's SGLI coverage.  Any Soldier who elected SGLI coverage automatically receives TSGLI coverage.

9.  The VA is the agency tasked with final administration of TSGLI.  The VA TSGLI website provides the following information in accordance with Title 38, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), section 9.20, and Public Law 109-13:

	a.  The TSGLI rider provides for payment to Servicemembers who are severely injured and incurred a loss as a result of a traumatic event.

	b.  For the purposes of TSGLI, a traumatic event is defined as the application of external force, violence, chemical, biological, or radiological weapons, or accidental ingestion of a contaminated substance causing damage to a living being.  The term "traumatic injury" does not include damage to a living body caused by a mental disorder or a mental or physical illness or disease, except if the physical illness or disease is caused by a pyogenic infection, biological, chemical, or radiological weapons, or accidental ingestion of a contaminated substance.

	c.  A service member must meet all of the following requirements to be eligible for payment of TSGLI:

		(1)  have been insured by SGLI at the time of the traumatic event;

		(2)  have incurred a scheduled loss and that loss must be a direct result of a traumatic injury;

		(3)  have suffered the traumatic injury prior to midnight of the day of separation from the Uniformed Services;

		(4)  have suffered a scheduled loss within 2 years (730 days) of the traumatic injury; and

		(5)  have survived for a period of not less than 7 full days from the date of the traumatic injury (in a death-related case).

	d.  The TSGLI Schedule of Losses is comprised of two parts.  Part I lists specific losses that include items like loss of an extremity, an inability to speak or see, or hear.  Part II addresses the inability to carry out activities of daily living (ADL) due to a loss directly resulting from a traumatic injury other than a brain injury.

	e.  Each Uniformed Service will certify the eligibility of its own members for traumatic injury protection benefits based upon Public Law 109-13, section 1032, and Title 38, CFR, section 9.20.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Counsel contends that the applicant is entitled to $25,000 TSGLI because he was hospitalized for more than 15 days due to the bite of a brown recluse spider.

2.  The available medical record shows that the applicant claimed he might have been bitten by a spider before he deployed.   Yet, his TSGLI application reported that he "was deployed to Afghanistan when he was bitten by a highly venomous spider."

3.  There is no available evidence to show that he was actually bitten by anything and the medical records contain no description of the distinctive mark resulting from the bite of a brown recluse spider.

4.  The DA Form 2173 specifically cited by the applicant's medical spokesperson to substantiate their case stated the applicant was hospitalized to remove a boil. 

5.  The actions by the Army in this case were proper, and there is no basis for granting the requested relief.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___x____  ___x____  ___x____  DENY APPLICATION







BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable error or injustice.  Therefore, the Board determined that the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned.



      __________x_____________
               CHAIRPERSON
      
I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case.



ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20140011011





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20140011011



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