One of the most recent reports originates in St. Louis, where a VA official apologized to families and pledged reform after it was revealed that substandard care at a southern Illinois VA hospital may have contributed to 19 deaths.
There are other horror stories. A veteran who served at Pearl Harbor and narrowly escaped death was denied hospitalization at the Colorado State Veterans Nursing Home. Elroy Martinez, 88, suffers from dementia and Alzheimer's. His wife Stella, who is 83, has found that caring for her husband is overwhelming.
However, the facility has refused her husband care because, according to a report appearing in the Rocky Mountain News late last month, the family complained about his care during previous visits to the hospital. Reports indicate Martinez was last admitted for six days in 2006, and during a previous stay his family complained of abuse, and claimed that he may have been sexually abused, according to the director of nursing at the facility, Nancy Corsentino. The spokesperson adds the allegations were investigated right away, and that the facility has the right to refuse care.And then there is the tragic story of the late Carmelo Rodriguez, a proud Marine who enlisted in 1997 and served his country in Iraq. Rodriguez was felled by Stage 4 malignant melanoma—a diagnosis made in 1997 by a military doctor at the time he enlisted, but was never followed-up.
By the time he was re-examined in 2005, the melanoma site on his buttocks was enlarged, raised and oozing. The soldier was told to 'have it looked at' in five months upon the conclusion of his tour of duty.
By that time, it was too late. When CBS News cameras, invited by Sergeant Rodriguez, arrived for an interview in late January of this year, the now emaciated former Marine was minutes from death. Eight minutes, actually. He died before the interview could take place.
Sadly, because the misdiagnosis, and subsequent re-examination occurred while Rodriguez was an enlisted soldier, the Feres Doctrine bars his family from suing the United States Military for medical malpractice, a law passed by the Supreme Court in the early 1950s.
However, families of veterans do have legal recourse, provided care was administered at a VA hospital. The Federal Torts Claim Act (FTCA) provides that right.
Could this be the reason why a VA hospital in Illinois refused care, potentially in fear of legal reprisals by the family? Who knows?
However, it's probable that the VA hospital at Marion, Illinois may draw some legal fire. According to reports, it is alleged that the facility was ill equipped and not properly staffed to undertake surgical procedures too complex for their expertise, and was slow to respond to problems. While one surgeon was initially investigated, two subsequent federal reports have cited five other doctors.
The problems first came to light last August. Since then the active management team has either been replaced or reassigned, and in-patient surgeries have been suspended indefinitely.
An investigation determined at least nine deaths at the facility between October 2006 and March of last year were 'directly attributable' to substandard care at the Marion facility. The deaths were linked to two surgeons.
A further investigation into 34 additional cases found that 10 patients died after receiving questionable care, which complicated, and compromised their health, although it is not known if the care (or lack thereof) actually caused those deaths.
READ MORE LEGAL NEWS
George Washington once said that when you put on the uniform, you do not cease to be a citizen.
The appearance of substandard care in VA hospitals, refused care and—in the case of the late Carmelo Rodriguez of the United States Marine Corps a botched diagnosis that was never followed up—suggest that veterans are not always given the respect they are due.
Worse, it appears in some circles they are shown less respect than the average citizen who has never set foot in a war zone.
READER COMMENTS
phil
on