Saturday, January 3, 2015

Will anyone be held responsible for the VA’s criminal negligence?

Coach is Right ^ | January 3, 2015 | Jim Emerson, staff writer 

According to Medical data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by the Washington Free Beacon, the Veterans Administration admitted that more than 500 military veterans died as a result of errors made at Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals across the country between fiscal years 2010 and 2014. During this time the VA admitted there were 1,452 “institutional disclosures of adverse events” that resulted in the deaths of 526 patients.
The VA identifies “adverse events” as cases in which improper care results in the serious injury or death of a patient. They are defined as “…untoward incidents, diagnostic or therapeutic misadventures, iatrogenic injuries, or other occurrences of harm or potential harm directly associated with care or services provided”. Although 1,452 is not a large number when compared with all of the patients treated at VA medical facilities each year, there is still no excuse for more than 500 deaths to be caused by “accidents” or “untoward incidents.” The VA claims that the disclosure reveals the full picture of medical mistakes effecting Veterans enrolled to receive VA medical care nationwide. And certainly no one connected with the VA would tell a falsehood.

The report contained routine mistakes made by civilian hospitals in which reports of the fatal delays of cancer diagnoses and follow-up treatments triggered the investigation that lead to the VA waiting list scandal.
(Excerpt) Read more at coachisright.com ...

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