RE: http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,161051,00.html

As a credentials manager, doctors are supposed to go before a credentials function review before being credentialed. If an adverse action has been reported by previous investigations, it will show up on a NPDB/HIPDB query. The query will show if a provider has any adverse actions against them. References should be checked closely before a provider is hired. Some docs do not like to give out information (or private practices) against another doc. This should change. Because all docs should be ethical and tell the truth regardless if there are any investigations or adverse actions against any provider. Deaths can be prevented if a doc is checked out before they are hired.

It is time to ask the question; Would their be ANY "Congressional Inquiry" going on about this subject if the Congress had not changed hands in 2007...?

Not a CHANCE, and I think we all know it.

Welcome to the future of Universal Health Care.

In the First place: wHY does the VA hire doctors who are under investigation in another State? GEEE's. Doesn't seem any one cares about quality care to me. It seems everytime I go to the VA anymore there aren't any caucasian doctors, and in the minority. It seems they are all foreigners. Not that I'm prejudice, but I know gentile doctors who are in need of jobs and would fit right in with the VA policies and procedures and who are AMERICAN CITIZENS. Any doctor can screw up, but why hire one that has already screwed up? BUT I have receiveD NOTHING BUT THE HIGHEST CARE IN THE BOISE VA MED. CENTER
AND IN THE HUNTINGTON wv MED. CENTER

VA care is marginal any many locations for lack of experienced doctors. DenverVAMC utilizes graduates from University of Colorado as interns and they operate under supervision of staff doctors. I have seen a staff doctor on about 7 occasions in the 17 years I have sought care at this hospital. A couple of orthopeadic procedures were not successful and a couple of visits were wasted because the intern did not know a procedure. Also had a young female intern reduce my disabilitiy 10%. She was far too young to have the experience to judge disability, especially on one that was determined to never improve. According to her it improved over a ten year period. So much for VA care.

quote:

Originally posted by 12075110:
RE: http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,161051,00.html

Some docs do not like to give out information (or private practices) against another doc. This should change. Because all docs should be ethical and tell the truth regardless if there are any investigations or adverse actions against any provider. Deaths can be prevented if a doc is checked out before they are hired.

You sort of hit the nail on the head. Generally speaking, VA doctors cover for for each other. Of course this is extremely unethical, and this practice occurs more often in "teaching hospitals" run by the VA. The Miami VA, from which I just retired from, was a teaching hospital. I know of plenty of cases where rookie doctors screwed up, and the patient either suffered needlessly, lost the wrong limb, or died. And this occured while the attending was present. He might be holding a conversation with another staff member and not seeing what the resident is doing, or sometimes the attending is not even in the o.r. suite. But screw-ups would happen, and to protect everybody at fault, lies would be put on paper. Most times the family of the patient bought it.
But these sort of things were not the same at every VA. VA's differ, depending who the Chief of Staff is, or the Director, the Head Nurse over the o.r.suites, etc.
But coverups are a common thing among providers.

One more thing. I want to make it clear that in my opinion, VA's across the country do great work for our veterans! There is always going to be the occasional screw ups, just like in the civilian sector, but I have trusted 4 different VAs to perform surgical procedures on me...with no problems.

I just wanted to make that clear.

Maybe it is time for universal health care in the U.S. Think about it: count all the folks on Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare, social security, VA, civil service or other gov't workers- the gov't is running their health care. These groups represent millions of people...the infrastructure is there already. It would just mean bringing all the other HMO's under one wing, one set of rules, etc.
Historically, too, the military has had a lot of foreign doctors, especially from Asian nations which we fought on or with in WWII. Since you don't have to be an American to join the military, it was a great opportunity for these folks to get over here and get training. HOWEVER...it does seem wrong when the only military hospital we can go to is a teaching one! Having said this, and I'm not sure of the statistics, but the VA isn't any worse than the civilian world for these errors. The fact is, people need to take their family in there with them and those folks need to advocate for their sick ones...civilian or military or VA hospital. A sick person is in no state to advocate for themselves and for too long in the US, doctors were "god" who could not be questioned. We need to remember that fifty percent of every class of doctors that graduates graduated in the bottom half of the class!!

What is the VA doing about these situations?. I have gone for a check up at the VA hospital and although my regular doctor was there another doctor who is not familiar with my case decided to see me. He did not pull up my chart on the computer and kept asking me questions. I asked him if he is looking at my case and he said no. I said to him that I am not supposed to tell him that and walked out of his office. This guy has no knowledge of what he was doing and this needs to stop. They are not highly trained or they are interns and working by themselves. The VA has a system that where ever you go and all they have to do is put your soc in the computer and they could tell everything about you. This guy was even asking me what type of medication I am taking. I got so mad and told him that since he has no knowledge of my treatment he shouldn't be seeing me. How many other Veterans did he mis-diagnose that day. These things needs to be reported to the higher authority so that no one gets hurt.

"Why was this allowed to happen, given Dr. Jose Viezaga-Mendez's track record? How did the system fail my husband and several other veterans at the hands of this doctor? How many other veterans are going to have to lose their lives before we, as a country, can offer them more reliable health care?"

Good questions, all of them. One word, negligence. A lot of people will dispute that, but facts don't lie. Somebody, somewhere at the top(hiring)had to have known about this guy's track record, and if they didn't because they failed to check him out or over looked it(his track record)then they were negligent. I fear our VA's are riddle with people that care more about the bottom line than they do about human life. Congress have their hands full and it will take them years to clean this up.

The political system is so corrupt at this point that there is no fixing it. We as Americans have turned our heads for too long. I fear for my grand children, for if things continue to go unchecked, bars on our windows, and armour platting on the front of our homes, will not be enough.

There is an important Legal issue involved depending on if the Doctor who operates on a Veteran in a VA Hospital is an actual employee of the VA Medical system or just a consulting or contract doctor that isn't a full time employee.

When the Doctor is an actual full time staff employee of the VA, the patient has Federal Tort protection available for malpractice of the Doctor and all services provided by the VA .

If the doctor is a contractor or a contract consulting doctor just performing the operation or providing services at or for the VA Hospital for a fee per patient or an agreed number of procedures per contractual agreement, then there isn't any Federal Tort protection for any Doctor errors or malpractice. The Doctor when not an employee of VA can still be sued for malpractice independent of the VA's Federal Tort protection.

It is possible to win an award from both the VA and an independent doctor with two separate legal actions against the VA and the non employee Doctor.

The separate legal action against the non employee doctor must be paid for by the patient or surviving family member.

Note: Federal Tort Protection is different in every State for medical lawsuits as the Federal District Courts utilize the rules and regulations of the State where the Federal District resides for medical. This is because every state has separate and different medical laws, requirements, licenses, Etc., similar to how different rules and laws apply to divorce cases are different in different states.

Bottom line: Every state is different for Medical Malpractice decisions regardless of if the Doctor is an employee not

Warning: Don't trust that you will get the truth when you ask if the doctor is an employee or not. Many employees including administration, staff, nurses and doctors working is some capacity within the VA medical system don't know the difference or why the issue is important for you or your survivors legal protection.

As a state case example, research the VA Hospitals in Texas alone and you'll be very shocked.You will be surprised when you find out frequently operations are performed at VA hospitals by non employee doctors.

The shortage of qualified medical providers in the entire VA system is at critical low level.

As with any self perpetuating government agency, they will always try to make themselves look better than they really are.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has promoted an arena of abuse of amny veterans, especially those vets who have complained of abuse, being refused medical care, mal-pratice, harassment, intimidation, and reversed race discrimination. The Office of the Inspector General in Washington will close cases of vets who file complaints as they promote more abuse and mismanagement at VA Hospitals.

Veterans suffer the consequences when they make any effort to exercise their earned rights and the vets who are not of minority status have been put on the back burner in areas of government hiring with federal, state, and local governments. Disability benefits are too often based on race.

The McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia has to be one of the worst hospitals for mistreating vets. They get away with it since they know they will not be held accountable for their actions. This hospital hires a majority of minoritie personnel and foreign doctors. A representative once said that many of these doctors working for this hospital can't get a job anywhere else. That the VA system and their lax policies.

All VA Hospitals involved in mistreating vets should be exposed to the media and all concerned vets and their family members should contact their congressmen and let them know how they feel about turning their backs on our nations veterans. Illegal immigrants have more rights in tis country and those from various countries with visa's. Nothing will change unless all vets get involved. I have written 8-10 letters to various newspapers pertaining to abuse of vets and my letters were submitted in the papers, but when a TV stations shows up at the VA Hospital, the Chief of staff and medical staff deny charges of abuse and that is usually the end of it.

We have earned health care, rights to government jobs, and other benefits. The more vets who get involved, the better the chances of bringing about a positive change. Let your congressman know that you won't vote for them unless they start protecting our rights and launch an investigation into abuse and mismanagement by the Department of Veterans Affairs and VA Hospitals. The same applies to VA Regional Offices that cheat us out of our benefits and hold benefits over our heads. Cowards and worthless personnel at the VA and the hospitals need to be replaced.

quote:

Originally posted by Weatherguesser:
It is time to ask the question; Would their be ANY "Congressional Inquiry" going on about this subject if the Congress had not changed hands in 2007...?

Not a CHANCE, and I think we all know it.

No, we all don't know it. Your blind hatred for this Administration shows through in every post you make. This hatred borders on a psychotic obsession, and it is not helathy!

This is a physician who should never been allowed to practice anywhere in the U.S. He was required to surrender ALL medical licenses he had according to public documents. See links.

State Board Of Medicine Takes Disiplinary Action

State Of Illinois

RAO Board Update 15 Nov 07
Deadly year.

Legal Medicine

Having worked in 3 VA hospital this type of physician is all to often employed the VA because the can't practice any where else. Again it shows how slack the VA is when it comes to checking complaints against health care providers and in verifying their credentials.

What is most distressing is that when staff do report problems with physicians, the administration labels the staff as trouble makers.

Time to get the care we earned and deserve. This is a physicianThis is a physicianThis is a physician

quote:

Again it shows how slack the VA is when it comes to checking complaints against health care providers and in verifying their credentials.

What is most distressing is that when staff do report problems with physicians, the administration labels the staff as trouble makers.

Time to get the care we earned and deserve. This is a physicianThis is a physicianThis is a physician

And again I say, it depends in which VA a patient is being treated. NOT ALL VAs ARE THE SAME! Just like there are crummy hospitals in the private sector, nobody is saying that all those hospitals are inept also.

Use your heads, folks!

What you say is true. There are bad practitioners in every hospital, but the VA has long been know to be a fairly safe haven for them. Mostly because there is such a lack of leadership and such poor performance in the checking of credentials.

If you will look at the link, RAO111507, you will find the following statement. "VA PHYSICIAN QUALIFICATIONS UPDATE 01: Testifying before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Veterans Affairs officials, on the defensive over several deaths connected to one former VA doctor, told a Senate panel 6 NOV that three other surgeons at the Illinois hospital where he worked were recently placed on leave. The VA officials did not offer specifics about the three surgeons, but Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said the news is unfortunately a developing pattern of problems of the surgical staff at the VA in Marion IL. VA officials called their response to the Marion deaths swift and their credentialing process for doctors the envy of the health-care industry. But the top official present, Dr. Gerald Cross, also expressed some concerns about the agency's ability to keep tabs on doctors once they've been granted privileges to treat VA patients. Under questioning from Durbin, the officials said they also have begun to review the qualifications of all 56,000 independently licensed health-health-care providers in the VA system. They flagged 17,000 of those providers, or about 30%, for further review because of their answers to questions on credentialing forms. They flagged 17,000 of those providers, or about 30%, for further review because of their answers to questions on credentialing forms.

The Board accepted the resignation of Dr. Veizaga-Mendez’s right to renew his license to practice medicine. His license expired in February 2007. Resignation is a disciplinary action that permanently removes a physician from the practice of medicine in Massachusetts. Dr. Veizaga-Mendez’s resignation also requires him to resign any other state medical licenses he may hold, as well as to withdraw any pending applications for licensure.
as copied from: http://www.massmedboard.org/public/pdf/press_releases/rel110707.pdf
------------------------------------------------
The problem here in America is you have the GOOD
'Old boys Club! They like our corrupt politicians stick together! Why is there not National legislation that would prevent these LOUSES from practicing any where in America! I have worked in the O.R. for 28 years, it is each and every Medical employees' Responsibility to report negligent behavior and practices!!! Our Professional oath is first and foremost to the PATIENT! To serve, protect and ALL means do NO Harm! Not only does this individual need to have his credentials and license stripped from him. They must throw his butt behind bars for his lack of Compassion and arrogance to perform procedures on INNOCENT Victims!
The VA Health care system is not a place to perform, blatantly Bad Medical Practices! Nineteen unsuspecting individuals our most precious citizens were treated horribly! There must be JUSTICE and a FIX in the system that would prevent future atrocities!
BY the BY, It is only my opinion but National Health care system would not be the Answer! Just my personal opinion!
Another news worthy Issue!
*Subject: BREAKING NEWS - Nation**

** Army Blocks Disability Paperwork Aid at Fort Drum by Ari Shapiro*


Stephanie Kuykendal Former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna
Shalala, who co-chaired President Bush's commission on veterans' care,
says the whole disability rating system is broken and needs to
change.

Morning Edition, January 29, 2008 · Army officials in upstate New York
instructed representatives from the Department of Veterans Affairs not to help disabled soldiers at Fort Drum Army base with their military disability paperwork last year. That paperwork can be crucial because it helps determine whether soldiers will get annual disability payments and health care after they're discharged.

Now soldiers at Fort Drum say they feel betrayed by the institutions that are supposed to support them. The soldiers want to know why the Army would want to stop them from getting help with their disability paperwork and why the VA— whose mission is to help veterans —
would agree to the Army’s request.

'A Worn Pair of Boots'_

One disabled soldier, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he fears retaliation from the military, says it feels like a slap in the face.

“To be tossed aside like a worn-out pair of boots is pretty disheartening," the soldier says. "I always believed the Army would
take care of me if I did the best I could, and I've done that."

At a restaurant near Fort Drum, the soldier described his first briefing with the VA office on base. According to the soldier, the VA
official told a classroom full of injured troops, "We cannot help you review the narrative summaries of your medical problems.” The
official said the VA used to help soldiers with the paperwork, but Army officials saw soldiers from Fort Drum getting higher disability
ratings with the VA's help than soldiers from other bases. The Army told the VA to stop helping Fort Drum soldiers describe their army
injuries, and the VA did as it was told.

It's unclear why the Army wanted to stop the soldiers from getting help with the disability paperwork. Cynthia Vaughan, spokeswoman for
the Army surgeon general, says the VA was not doing anything wrong by helping soldiers at Fort Drum.

“There is no Army policy on outside help in reviewing and/or assisting soldiers in rewriting their narratives during the 10-day period which
they have to review them," Vaughan says.

She says the officers who asked the VA to stop helping Fort Drum’s soldiers were part of what the Army calls a "Tiger Team"— an ad-hoc
group assigned to investigate, in this case, medical disability benefits.

According to Army spokesman George Wright, the Tiger Team thought the VA should not be helping soldiers with their medical documents. The
Army delivered that message to VA officials in Buffalo, N.Y., who went along with the request, even though the VA's assistance complied with
Army policy.

The Army declined to provide any information about the Tiger Team members’ identities or their motivations in asking the VA to stop
reviewing the soldiers' paperwork. However, private attorney Mara Hurwitt points out that the Army has a financial incentive to keep
soldiers' disability ratings low.

“The more soldiers you have who get disability retirements, the more retirement pay is coming out of your budget," Hurwitt says.
Another question is why the VA would go along with the Army's request.

Tom Pamperin, deputy director of the VA's compensation and pension service, believes VA officers are not qualified to help with
soldiers’ disability paperwork.

“We do not train our employees in the intricacies of the Defense Department’s disability evaluation system, so we would feel that it would be inappropriate for our employees to apply VA standards to a Defense Department process," Pamperin says.
But Hurwitt argues the VA is more equipped than anyone to help soldiers with their paperwork.

"VA counselors understand the disabilities, what the different kinds of conditions are, how they should be properly described in the
paperwork," Hurwitt says.

She points out that VA officials have to look at a soldier's medical history anyway to counsel him or her on VA benefits, which are separate from Army benefits.

"Really what it comes down to is you're just helping the soldier get what he’s entitled to under law," Hurwitt says.

‘_System 'Unfair’_

This is just the latest in a string of controversies about disability payments for injured veterans.

Former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, who co-chaired President Bush's recent commission on veterans' care, says
stories like this one show how the whole disability rating system is broken and needs
to change.

The system is "fundamentally unfair," according to Shalala, "and that's the point about the need for reform in the system. It has to be
reformed for everyone."*


--

God Bless Our Troops, Our Veterans, Our World Leaders, & America!

Respectfully,
Christina Finn


"I have learned that in order to bring about change, you must not be afraid to take the first step. We will fail when we fail to try. Each and everyone of us can make a difference." Rosa Parks