VA Hospital

14 Stories

Charges: VA Nurse Got at Least $150 per Vaccination Card

Informant posed as a buyer during investigation

(Newser) - Since coronavirus vaccination cards became a feature of pandemic life, authorities have said they've thwarted schemes to sell fake cards . Investigators say a Veterans Affairs nurse in Michigan was selling the real thing, going so far as to provide her customers with genuine lot numbers. Bethann Kierczak was arrested...

They Died at Veterans Hospital. It Turns Out They Were Killed

Both men died from insulin injections

(Newser) - As many as 11 deaths are under investigation at a VA medical center in Clarksburg, W.Va., and two have been ruled homicides. The family of George Nelson Shaw, Sr., was "floored" to learn last month that his April 2018 death at Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center had...

VA Hospital Employee Under Review After Facebook Photo

Facebook post says 2 veterans were mistreated at VA hospital

(Newser) - A former Marine and his wife say the scene inside a Veterans Administration hospital in Durham, North Carolina, was so shocking that they felt compelled to take pictures and post them to Facebook. Now thousands of people are expressing outrage, and the head of the medical center says an employee...

Vet's Body Left in Shower 9 Hours, Inquiry Says

Florida VA employees accused of trying to cover up incident

(Newser) - Following a death in the hospice unit of Bay Pines VA Healthcare System in Florida in February, a veteran's body was moved to a hallway, and then to a shower room. There it sat unattended for nine hours before hospice officials realized and attempted to hide their mistake, a...

Vet Freezes to Death Days After VA Hospital Visit

'I need help,' admitting records at Iowa facility show Richard Miles said

(Newser) - When Richard Miles went to a VA hospital in Des Moines on Feb. 15, he told the admitting staff that he needed help. After the 40-year-old Iraq war veteran was diagnosed with "worsened PTSD," as well as insomnia and anxiety, the hospital gave him meds and told him...

Lawmakers Strike Deal to Overhaul VA

Announcement today comes ahead of recess

(Newser) - Congressional negotiators have hit on a deal to address the serious issues reportedly plaguing Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals. The agreement in negotiations led by independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and Republican Rep. Jeff Miller comes in the wake of disagreements over dueling Senate and House plans, the Washington Post notes....

VA Report: 1.7K Vets Left Off Hospital Waiting List

McCain calls for Shinseki ouster following damning report

(Newser) - At least 1,700 veterans awaiting treatment from the Department of Veteran Affairs' now-infamous Phoenix medical center were kept off of any official waiting list, putting them "at risk of being forgotten or lost," according to a damning initial report from the department's inspector general. What's...

Obama: 'I Will Not Tolerate' VA Abuse

Urges patience despite calls for 'swift reckoning'

(Newser) - President Obama's silence on the reported VA hospital scandal is over. Speaking today, he said he "will not stand for" alleged misconduct, including "cooking the books" to hide delays in care, some of which allegedly led to patient deaths. "If these allegations prove to be true,...

Obama's Mad About VA Scandal? Yeah, Right

This controversy isn't GOP-concocted: Ron Christie and Eugene Robinson

(Newser) - Columnists on both the right and left are fuming about reports of secret Veterans Affairs hospital delays said to have resulted in 40 deaths. Both Ron Christie and Eugene Robinson note that while issues like Benghazi and IRS targeting may have been "witch hunts," this is a genuine...

House Subpoenas VA Chief, Alleged 'Cover-Up' Emails

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki subpoenaed, too

(Newser) - Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki has remained defiant amid calls for his resignation in the wake of a report on a "secret waiting list" and veterans dying over delays at some of its hospitals, particularly one in Phoenix . But as the fever pitch grows, the House Veterans Affairs Committee...

Suspect Arrested After Shooting at Ohio VA Center

At least one person injured

(Newser) - A shooter has reportedly been arrested at a Veterans Administration hospital in Dayton, Ohio, after shooting at least one person. One VA worker told reporters that a little after noon a man pulled out a gun in the lobby "and everyone started running," according to WLWT 5 . On...

Vets' Hospital: Please Stop Sending Quilts

Quilters say it's because of the bedbug scare

(Newser) - Enough with the quilts already. That's the message the Minneapolis VA has sent to local quilters, even if there's disagreement on the reason why. As the Star Tribune explains (in a story spotted by Pat's Papers ), the VA says it simply has no more room for...

VA Doctors Can't Prescribe Medical Pot

New Mexico allows it for PTSD, but veterans can't get it there

(Newser) - New Mexico is the only state that explicitly allows people with PTSD to smoke pot under its medical marijuana law—and that's created a conundrum for the VA, which does not allow its doctors to prescribe pot because the drug is illegal in the eyes of the federal government. If...

VA Doc Botched 92 of 116 Cancer Operations

Philly prostate patients routinely had treatment placed in wrong organ

(Newser) - The VA Hospital in Philadelphia performed 116 operations to treat prostate cancer before an investigation found that 92 of the them had been seriously botched, the New York Times reports. The VA considered Dr. Gary Kao an expert who didn't need oversight, and allowed him to cover up his mistakes...

14 Stories