A report submitted to the White House by an independent Federal agency says that a pulmonologist at the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System (CAVHCS) falsified records of at least 1,200 patients.
According to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, the Montgomery VA pulmonologist duplicated the readings from previous patient tests, rather than recording new ones, likely resulting in “inaccurate patient health information being recorded.”
Shockingly, even after confirming the allegations were true, both the VA Office of Medical Inspector and the CAVHCS Director downplayed the severity of the Montgomery pulmonologist’s actions, saying patient health was not proven to be “endangered.” For this reason, the pulmonologist is still employed by CAVHCS.
“I’m not sure how anyone can say that the falsifying of more than 1,200 pulmonary records does not endanger anybody,” Rep. Martha Roby (R-AL02) said in response to the news. “The director of CAVHCS in Alabama, as well as the medical inspector for the VA, both said that lives were not endangered and therefor it’s not a bid deal. These are people’s lives that we’re talking about. These are our veterans. They’re the ones that we should take the best care of. So my office continues to work day after day to get to the bottom of this. What we’re finding matches up to the stories we’re being told in the press. We’re hearing the same things. So we applaud the office of the Special Counsel for continuing to dig down deep on this and doing what the VA administrators and the inspectors in the VA have not done.”
These most recent findings come on the heels of revelations that several members of the CAVHCS staff had falsified documents to keep long wait times a secret. A federal audit released earlier this month included Alabama among 84 VA facilities nationwide cited for unethical practices.
CAVHCS director James Talton then told Rep. Roby that offending staffers had been fired, a claim that Yellowhammer was the first the uncover was untrue.
“I believe I was misled,” Roby said. “If a Member of Congress can’t get a straight answer from the VA, just think what our veterans go through on a daily basis.”
Roby followed up by dispatching two of her top D.C.-based staffers to Montgomery to investigate the growing scandal.
A final report from the U.S. Office of Special Counsel is expected to be released in two weeks.
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
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