VA caught “gaming the system”
While Ric Shinseki prepares to lie to Congress again about stuff he knew and stuff he didn’t know, CNN uncovers another whistleblower who says that he was told to “game the system” by bumping veterans (patients) in Wyoming whose appointments will be more than 14 days from the time they were put into the appointment system;
David Newman admits that it’s “gaming the system” but that veterans should know the rules of the game, you know, even though it’s a secret list of patients, so how are veterans supposed to know the “rules”?
John McCain is calling for jail time for the people involved, according to Stars & Stripes;
“If these allegations are true, there a violation of law. It’s not a matter of resignations, it’s a matter whether somebody goes to jail or not,” said McCain, evoking thunderous applause from the crowd of more than 100 people.
Yeah, well, I’ll believe it when i see it. Shinseki has ordered an internal investigation and we’ve seen these investigations at the VA before, so this is me not holding my breath. Meanwhile, we’ve been distracted from the backlogged claims problem, aren’t we?
The VA clinics in Austin and San Antonio have found a way to deal with whistleblowers according to Stars & Stripes;
The agency Friday identified the employee as scheduling clerk Philip Brian Turner. He told CNN on Wednesday that he had worked to make it appear as if wait times were shorter than they were at both clinics.
But Marie Weldon, director of the South Texas Veterans Health Care System based here, told the San Antonio Express-News that the worker had recanted his claim that he had altered medical records at the clinic here in a bid to hide long wait times.
She said his story changed after the clerk talked with an investigator, but did not know if he had also backed off from his claim concerning the clinic in Austin.
“As soon as he brought that to our attention, we sat down with the employee and did a fact find where we interviewed him as well as some of the other staff and we could not substantiate his allegations. In fact, he ended up retracting his comments about South Texas,” Weldon said.
“It was clear to us as well that he was somewhat confused about the process himself of scheduling patients and he was given refresher training as well,” she added.
No mention whether waterboarding was used in his “re-education” process.
Category: Veterans' Affairs Department
Maybe Shenseki will issue an edict that all VA folks have to wear berets as a means to improve their performance and morale?
Mandate a Shinseki beret
The kind that you find in a Chinese hat store
Shinseki beret
But when it is worn, they won’t do any more
Shinseki beret
Yeah, that will fix things . . .
If there is a possibility of people going to jail, why hasn’t the FBI been called in? Especially since it now looks like they are illegally retaliating and/or influencing whistleblowers. If that is true, it’s no longer incompetence, which sadly is almost expected from a government agency, it has crossed into a RICO case.
Best advice I would give someone dealing with their medical clinics would be to record and document every interaction with them over appointments. Don’t give them the opportunity to fudge the numbers.
“retaliation” is happening at the medical level as well…doctors are striking out at veterans who complain more than once or question them…my friend was diagnosed, tested, by a VA in North Carolina and proven to have an incurable disease which has acute, not chronic, pain as a hallmark symptom…the doctors put him on a regimen of a variety of medications, all which helped reclaim his independence…he was treated for three years, with copious doctors notes, modalities used that failed, etc etc…anyway, he moved to arkansas and his PCP, who’d never met him, abruptly changed his meds saying they were too high or unecessary!…that’s with no new testing, no new diagnosis, no new team of specialists AND they totally dropped his mental health care…in NC, he was seen once a week by a clinical psychologist…he asked for the same at the VA in little rock and was sent to a social worker!…when he complained, they sent him to an ‘orientation’ meeting and told him he could pick from one of a few types of treatment that wuld last ony a few months and NONE of them allowed for his one on one therapy…iow, there was NO medical continuity of care whatsoever!…that was LAST YEAR and this VA MH STILL hasn’t set him up with mhc…when he inquired they lied and said it was HIS fault for not seeing a psychologist, nevermind they told him the wait for one would be SIX months…he complained again, and some dude from mh called, on 3 way with some woman from the hospital, that he could take what they were offering OR ask for care outside the VA, but if the VA denied it he would lose all right to future mh care….for god’s sakes dom’t move to Arkysauce or venture into the LR VA…who were busted back in 2008 for doing R & D on veterans WITHOUT their knowledge or consent…the VA’s are infested, btw, by members of the Mason’s and that’s been on the uptick since about 2001…he asked for different doctors…ome dr. sent him a letter the day before Memorial Day saying… Read more »
The DEA is also practicing medicine, nationwide. The ‘war on drugs’ in the 80’s and 90’s failed miserably, so they set their sites om doctors.
Doctors in the VA are given a financial bonus of $1500 for patients they ‘take off of drugs’. Notice the language here. “drugs’ in DEA lingo means legal and not. The hype about ‘junkie veterans’ on ‘too many pain killers’ is just that. The fact is, the AMA says one of THE worst medical crisis in the country is UNDER treated pain, not over.
The question is: if doctors can’t prescribe the medicine made everday for medical use, WHERE will it go, WHO will get it, and WHO will make the profit? Once sold, the pharm company already made their money. NOW the gubbmint steps in to seize it all and put it….where? NOW thousands of people in bad pain do what organisms in pain do: they kill themselves or go insane in some other way. Oh, and excuse us whole we privatize and build even more ‘for profit’ prisons.
But, you know, it’s all just a big coincidence, amirite?
Traitors and cowards
walking around in suits
while everyone pretends
they’re not all in cahoots…
I agree with docstew. In past dealings I’ve had (and still have from time to time) with vets from Iraq/Afghanistan first thing I tell them is to keep copies of everything, take notes, dates, names. Specifically, I teach them the W’s. Who, What, When, Where and Why. Living on the border of two congressional districts when I was living in Texas made things easy too. Poe & Brady have aides that are *quick* and take no prisoners.
Here’s an idea: How’s about paying no bonuses to VA employees. Ever.
Anyone wanna bet that if anyone was caught playing games like this with the healthcare of welfare flunkies or illegal aliens, B.Hussein 0bama & Company would be on them like stink on road kill?
“No mention whether waterboarding was used in his “re-education” process.”
My thoughts exactly. They pressured the hell out of this employee with threats and everything in their bag. Everything from, “you were 5 minutes late to work once last year and three times you took an extra 10 at lunch, those are firing offenses ya know.” To, “hey, how bout we bump you up to say…oh…GS13 maybe 15 even, how’s that sound?”
Anytime a whistle blower recants after speaking with an “internal” investigator, I am suspect.
All veterans should protest at every VA clinic in the USA, and keep up the pressure until we run the rats back into the sewers. Also, why is only McCain speaking out? Where’s the rest of the elected? I recommend also berated any of them for failing to also demand investigations into their state’s VA offices. A few thoughts to my fellow vets: Having spent time working in DC, I saw the smoke & mirrors games up front like a few of you on here have as well. In the movie ‘Too Big to Fail’ (see it if you haven’t), the end message was that the entire Wall St system was never investigated because the ‘powers that be’ don’t want to be regulated. To answer somebody asking, ‘Where’s the FBI,’ is that the ‘system’ doesn’t WANT to be regulated; they want to keep getting away with murder. When you see such evil behavior run rampant and start doing whatever the fuck they want, its because they have no fear of being found out. The VA carried this façade of evil nation-wide. I personally know veterans who have languished for months & years trying to get help, and they sure as hell needed it. Also, if you notice with all the corruption happening within each federal agency…and also society, the evil fuckers set up their fiefdom exactly like a game of chess. In the far, far back, you have the 1%, the King and Queen holding court, while the majority of those around them are nothing but cannon fodder against attack. The pawns are(employees) in the VA, and the same in every layer of the federal agencies and military branches. The enlisted get killed first, the lowest ranks charge into battle, not the Generals. Same model in the VA. So, the employees will be blamed, investigated, fired and jailed first. Shitbag Shenseki will not fall on the sword himself, but lay the blame on all the VA employees because they submitted to the almighty dollar. I have also witnessed the ‘coward’ pawn in the workforce. They submit to unethical orders, harassment,… Read more »
No surprise.
It would appear the epidemic is spreading.
Willie Clark.
Western Area Director
Tell him what you think.
Willie Clark: 602-627-2746 (Unpublished Government Number)
“John McCain is calling for jail time for the people involved,”
From Shitstinki down.
Hey, a guy can dream, can’t he?