Posted on 06/18/2014 4:13:54 AM PDT by Kaslin
They don't care."
As Obama administration officials pivot like haywire jewelry-box ballerinas to divert attention away from the nationwide Veterans Affairs disgrace, a reader who has been fighting the system urged me to urge Capitol Hill and the American public to stay focused.
This former Special Forces soldier and medic served his country for 25 years. He worked in the health care field managing military field medical clinics. "I know how health care is supposed to run, even in austere or low-budget environments," he says. And in his nightmarish, ongoing experience, the VA is an epic, deadly, monstrous failure. He minces no words: "They're getting billions of dollars, and they treat veterans like s-t. There's no accountability, no buy-in, among civilian unionized employees. We mean nothing to them. It's like going to the DMV for your health care."
Over the past four years, the veteran tells me, he has been under direct VA care for two major line-of-duty-related injuries, including one combat-related injury. One of the medical centers that treated him -- or rather mistreated him and maltreated him -- is the Coatesville, Pa., VA. It's the same facility where four vets died due to medical malpractice, leading to nearly $1.4 million in settlements to vets' families, according to The Center for Investigative Reporting.
The harrowing cases included two fatal failures to monitor patients, improper management of a psychiatric patient, and wrongful diagnosis or misdiagnosis of a patient.
These details are all too familiar to my reader. "I have been misdiagnosed, had a missed diagnosis, and had delays of care lasting months," he says. "My records have been lost, changed, split and mismanaged." He has experienced firsthand the same "slow-walking" of care that millions of other VA patients have encountered and scores have died from -- a systemic modus operandi of "lie, delay, deny."
The vet gets a catch in his voice as he relates a horrible anecdote. After refusing to return to the Coatesville facility and seeking treatment at another VA clinic one day, he became nauseous. Instead of allowing him to lie down on a gurney, a nurse made him vomit outside so he wouldn't soil the bed. He believes the office was open not to treat patients, but as a front for nurses to pick up extra shifts. He has encountered similar degrading and condescending treatment across the VA system.
When he appealed for help and advocacy within the system, the veteran was met with a stone wall of "Not My Job"-ism. Through denials of care, contraindicated medications, repeated mistakes and delays of pharmacy items, he endured callousness, humiliation and stigmatization. "When I get angry, they call me 'crazy.'" Classic blame-the-victim tactics from the VA abusers.
Big Government politicians want to throw more funding at the VA, as usual. The veteran offers a scathing reality check: "There is ample money to address the needs of American veterans," he says. "The problem is far deeper and more dangerous than just secret waiting lists. The VA almost killed me; my health is worse now than it was when I entered care; my quality of life and living conditions have been nothing short of horrific as I have waited years for adjudication of my benefits case, which in the end was botched."
Again, the vet refuses to candy-coat the roots of the festering VA scandal: "The problem is not just waiting lists. It is utter fraudulent expenditure of enormous budgets, not on veterans, but on overpaid lazy, surly civilian employees that often make it clear that a) they do not like veterans and b) that the veteran is actually a nuisance. The problem is endemic, at every level, in the VA. The unfortunate fact of the matter is this: Veterans have become incidental to the process at the VA."
The system is "an enormous cash cow, warehousing tens of thousands of overpaid employees" who "keep the gravy-train rolling." The vet has a plea on behalf of all of his brothers and sisters who are drowning in the VA's "lie, delay, deny" abyss:
"Please, don't let this die."
CORRECTION: In last week's column, I erroneously stated that ProgressNow was responsible for an attack ad against Colorado GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo. The ad was sponsored by Protect Colorado Values, a separate Democrat-linked outfit.
Moslem Obama helps some armies. Just not that of the USA.
al Qaeda for example.
They get GREAT health care. Immediate.
Then they are released to Qatar for daily massages
even if they are al Qaeda Generals.
This makes me sick to my stomach. Are we a nation of selfish, Godless, apathetic, corrupt, ignorant, a$$holes? Based on what I read/hear on the news everyday including commentary like from this poor vet, combined with personal interactions in my daily life I would say, for the most part, yes.
Can someone make it stop cause I wanna get off this ride.
$1.4 million settlement? Tort Reform Now!
Seriously! The VA guy on the right could be looking at a porn site while "helping" the VET on the left.
Quick follow-up: I don’t think that the VA representatives are a collection of lazy ne’re-do-wells that look at porn all day. What i observed in the photo was service group that has erected walls between what they provide and the people they provide that to.
The VA-Rep on the right is likely a very conscientious gummint employee looking to help as many US heroes as possible. The problem rises from the appearance.
GOP, big business and conservatives freak out when leftwing Dems take power and screw with the country??!!! How can this happen??!!!! Who do we blame?!!!! Try big business. When big business make profit decisions that destroy jobs in the US and the GOP brought off with campaign donations remain silent, how can one be surprise when the unemployed turn to the Dems who promise them redistribution of wealth?? Bank bailouts, flirting with corporate desire to increase H-1B, supporting off shoring of jobs to China and India, result permanent unemployment/under employment of middle class America. Trend began before Obama took power, but it intensified as Obama added to the misery with higher taxes, and regs plus Obamacare. Brat kicked Cantor’s butt because of job related issues due to Obamacare, illegal immigration and expanding H-1B workers at the expense of American workers, as well as giving everything to Wall Street and sending the bill/job losses to the taxpayers on Main Street. If the Tea Party cannot convince the GOP and corporate America to change, then the voters will turn to OWS who will employ violence and intimidation to the offending rich. Face reform or face violence. Every nation except the US faced a workers revolt, the ruling class in this country better brush up on these histories. Good decision they survive, bad decision they and their family will be hung from lamp posts. That is my 2 cents and prediction.
Oh and let us not forget all the blacks the VA employees that can't spell cat if you spot them the c and the a. But boy are they snotty if you need to ask them to clean up. (WHICH IS THEIR DAMN JOB). 16.00 plus an hour btw.
“Are we a nation of selfish, Godless, apathetic, corrupt, ignorant, a$$holes?”
Yes. Like you mentioned, just look at your own personal interactions in life: many, if not most, “people” are first class a**holes. We can shield or insolate ourselves only so much: at some point, we have to interact with “them” at some level.
The older I get (and I’m not “old”), the less I like most people or being around them. And it seems like the rate of decline is increasing rapidly.
It really hits you just how gone it is here when you travel and come back. I see why most of the world hates Americans.
Barring extremely radical “solutions”, I don’t see any hope on the horizon.
I agree, there are days when it takes all I have to not snap and just start hitting people! Fat, smug, stupid, arrogant @$$holes!
My guess is that you did your FEDzilla work in a large urban area or a State Capital.
Act #1 of the Cletus Presidency: Recall and eliminate the Federal Executive-branch presence in the several States. No State offices or personnel related to the Executive Branch of Federal Government will continue in any single State. This action will preserve the autonomy of the member State and stay true to the intent of the Third Amendment to the Constitution.
A VA doctor questioned us about our satisfaction with VA.
agree
That's an accurate analogy. The VA healthcare system is what Obamacare will look like in full bloom as a government owned and operated single payer system.
You and me both. There’s only so much “take a deep breath, hold and exhale” you can do.
Have you noticed everyone has the “I’m right!” mentality? Everybody’s right.
So then, no one’s wrong?
If you ask most people that know me, they’ll tell you I’m fairly laid back, which I agree with. But, when stupid, smug ‘tards cross me, my first response is to go Hiroshima. I have no patience for G-D fools or their actions.
Sadly, there are thousands who aspire to that ethic so they can say, “I gotsme a job with the gummint”.
Those we call “low information voters”.
Vets have long ago outlived their usefulness to agenda-driven socialists/totalitarians. Witness the VA. (consider how many better options could be available)
I do not and need not explain everything to this little retard raised by his single mommy who let the little jerk tell her what to do. I am not having it! But the little genius can't remember to turn off a couple of monitors and which trash cans to set out for the cleaning crew!
What was that movie where Kevin Spacey was it? Just went off and started shooting people? I am close!
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