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| Dozens of Sick Veterans Dying Due to Inadequate Government Healthcare |
| 2014-02-03 |
| The Department of Veterans Affairs has linked the recent deaths of at least 19 vets diagnosed with cancer in 2010 and 2011 to appointment backlogs and delays at VA hospitals and clinics and resulting hindrances in care, according to an internal document. Specifically, those 19 deceased veterans are reportedly part of a larger group of 82 vets who have either died, are now dying or have sustained serious health consequences from the VA’s failure to conduct medical screenings like colonoscopies and endoscopies in a timely, or prompt, fashion. One South Carolina veteran described to CNN how he had begged his local VA hospitals for months for a colonoscopy appointment after suffering painful rectal bleeding in 2011. "I took it upon my own self to call the department that scheduled that and ask them about it. And they said this was the earliest appointment that I could get,” Barry Coates, a 44-year-old Army veteran, told CNN about the appointment he finally received–set for roughly a year after he first saw a doctor about the symptoms. “And I explained to the lady what I had already been through and how much pain I had, and I said if I wait this long there might not be ... (anything) we can do about it then. I could be even dead by then. And the only thing she could tell me was 'I understand that, sir, but I don't have any control over that.'" The VA noted scheduling delays previously reported to exist at its Augusta, Ga. and Columbia, S.C. hospitals sparked a national review that has since strengthened oversight and improved the system. "As a result of the consult delay issue VA discovered at two of our medical centers, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) conducted a national review of consults across the system,” reportedly wrote Dr. Robert Petzel, the VA’s under secretary for health. We have redesigned the consult process to better monitor consult timeliness. “We continue to take action to strengthen oversight mechanisms and prevent a similar delay at another VA medical center. We take any issue of this nature extremely seriously and offer our sincerest condolences to families and individuals who have been affected and lost a loved one." As for Coates, the colonoscopy he finally got reportedly revealed a baseball-sized cancerous tumor that now threatens his life - and for which he is now undergoing chemotherapy. "I don't know what my outcome is going to be," Coates told CNN. “I just try to live every day like it's my last day." |
| Posted by:Omavising Ebbemp9815 |
| #14 Dead is much cheaper long term when you're a cost, not a customer |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2014-02-03 17:44 |
| #13 For this "Administration," dead veterans are a feature, not a bug. >:-( |
| Posted by: Jusoth Elmusoter3480 2014-02-03 15:51 |
| #12 ...but, but, they're gun free zones. How could that be. /sarc off |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2014-02-03 15:44 |
| #11 Denver is a regional center. Here VA is building a new hospital, $1B(est), only 40% over budget. Surprise, bigger hospital, same staff, same waiting list once it's completed. New building looks good on paper only. Future Headline: Old Man goes nuts at VA hospital with shotgun. |
| Posted by: Cheang Ebbaviter2416 2014-02-03 15:15 |
| #10 |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-02-03 15:06 |
| #9 Delayed care and waiting lists resulted in an increased number of clinics in lower population centers, but they are unable to do more than push paper. Vets requiring care must travel to regional hospitals, where the backlog and lines are months, if not years, out. Often from out-of-state, out-patient care requires the vet gets a motel, transportation, and eat out and with the level of injury many have, family members must also take off work to care for them with handicap access. Motels do not have the specialty med devices that may be installed for a disabled vet at home. Many give up in frustration, unable to afford to temporarily leave home for extended cancer treatments that leave them so violently sick they can't get up to make it to the bathroom, with liquids and blisters on both polar orifices + the worry the family will be indigent and homeless, only to told there is nothing more they can do. Death by bureaucracy is a feature, not a bug. |
| Posted by: Flaiger Uneamp8181 2014-02-03 14:56 |
| #8 In what little I saw of the SOTU, they made a big deal of a wounded vet who had served in Afghanistan. Sorry, I didn't catch his name. But they all, Republicans and Democrats, gave him a standing ovation. FLOTUS was sitting beside him and she helped him to stand and led the applause. Well, of course he deserves their gratitude. But what made me mad as hell is they are all such a bunch of hypocrites. I believe there are very few if any of the people in that room who give a rat's ass about that brave young man or any of his fellow service men and women. If they really cared about that guy they would have pulled him and all of his buddies out of that worthless hell hole years ago. If they really cared about him they'd give him and all of the others like him who served so bravely and without question some decent health care instead of squandering the money on people who never lifted a finger to help this country. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2014-02-03 13:55 |
| #7 Perhaps you need to first ask for a 'Gender Reassignment' Cheang. Seriously - we are giving sex change operations to murderers and criminals but can't seem to take care of our own Vets. What the F-k is wrong here? |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2014-02-03 13:12 |
| #6 A national disgrace, now to be inflicted on the entire population! Progress indeed. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2014-02-03 13:08 |
| #5 I waited six years for back surgery caused by multiple helicopter shoot-downs in SE Asia. All the while getting only stronger and stronger meds until I was unable to function. Recent inquiry about a simple hernia repair that has grown four fold since first reported, they couldn't tell me what YEAR it could be addressed. Way to take care of the troops Champ! |
| Posted by: Cheang Ebbaviter2416 2014-02-03 12:48 |
| #4 Yes, the dispassionate bureaucracy of the extermination camps. Old medicine - care for the sick and dying. New medicine - check the box, move on. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2014-02-03 10:29 |
| #3 Sounds like the UK healthcare system, which so many liberals think we should be moving towards. My wife's friend from the UK lost her husband to colorectal cancer. They kept telling him it was nothing serious until it was too late. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2014-02-03 09:51 |
| #2 The canary in the cage for your wonderful future world of Obamacare. If they couldn't make the VA, military medical or Indian Health Care the model of medical care, why would anyone expect more for a nationalized health care system? |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2014-02-03 09:36 |
| #1 At least they've not begun gassing us: At 4:45 p.m., [July 28, 1932], commanded by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the 12th Infantry Regiment, Fort Howard, Maryland, and the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, supported by six battle tanks commanded by Maj. George S. Patton, formed in Pennsylvania Avenue while thousands of civil service employees left work to line the street and watch. The Bonus Marchers, believing the troops were marching in their honor, cheered the troops until Patton ordered[citation needed] the cavalry to charge them—an action which prompted the spectators to yell, "Shame! Shame!" Shacks that members of the Bonus Army erected on the Anacostia Flats burning after the confrontation with the military. After the cavalry charged, the infantry, with fixed bayonets and tear gas (adamsite, an arsenical vomiting agent) entered the camps, evicting veterans, families, and camp followers. The veterans fled across the Anacostia River to their largest camp and President Hoover ordered the assault stopped. However Gen. MacArthur, feeling the Bonus March was an attempt to overthrow the U.S. government, ignored the President and ordered a new attack. Fifty-five veterans were injured and 135 arrested.[12] A veteran's wife miscarried. When 12-week-old Bernard Myers died in the hospital after being caught in the tear gas attack, a government investigation reported he died of enteritis, while a hospital spokesman said the tear gas "didn't do it any good."[16] During the military operation, Major Dwight D. Eisenhower, later the 34th President of the United States, served as one of MacArthur's junior aides. Believing it wrong for the Army's highest-ranking officer to lead an action against fellow American war veterans, he strongly advised MacArthur against taking any public role: "I told that dumb son-of-a-bitch not to go down there," he said later. "I told him it was no place for the Chief of Staff." Despite his misgivings, Eisenhower later wrote the Army's official incident report which endorsed MacArthur's conduct. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-02-03 08:59 |