Monday, January 26, 2015

Can the VA Police Itself?

Unfortunately, concerns about the VA being able to investigate and fix internal problems are justified as the Washington Examiner reports today that the VA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) suppressed information.  http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/watchdog-report-on-veterans-affairs-kept-secret-for-years/article/2555128 In 2008, the Examiner reports that the VAOIG investigated and substantiated the falsification of wait times in Phoenix’s VA Medical Center.  Then the VA marked the report “restricted” ensuring it was not deceminated to the public and the Phoenix VA hospital’s problems continued to increase (http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/va-hospital-scandal).  Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL), the chairman of the House Veterans Committee, chastised the VAOIG for finding only one case of deliberate manipulation of wait times out of 21 investigations of the problem over the past 10 years. 

Sadly, this newest revelation will lead to even more mistrust of the agency tasked with taking care of “those who have borne the battle.”  If the VAOIG cannot be trusted, to whom can the veteran turn?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/veterans_law/2015/01/can-the-va-police-itself.html

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