VA Hospitals Not Always Doing Right By Our Veterans

December 27, 2012

VA hospitals not always doing right by our veterans

Two long wars have left many U.S. military veterans in need of medical care, both physical and mental. Add these vets to the large population of aging veterans and their associated medical needs, and the amount of health care they all require collectively becomes staggering.

Most Americans expect the government to take care of them without question and in a professional, competent manner. However, news reports reveal that all too often the quality of care in our VA hospitals and clinics is not up to par and vets are being harmed as a result.

Take, for example, the recent case of Robert Metzler, an Air Force veteran who sued the federal government for medical malpractice after he got Hepatitis C allegedly from inadequately cleaned equipment used for his colonoscopy at the Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The agency sent him a warning letter after which Metzler tested positive for the disease.

According to The Miami Herald, a U.S. District Court judge found in November 2012 that the plaintiff's theory of infection was likely and awarded damages of $1.25 million to the veteran and his wife.

The article describes how thousands of veterans underwent these tests with dirty endoscopic equipment from 2004 to 2009 at three southern VA hospitals. Apparently the equipment was not sterilized properly, even to the extent of leaving behind "debris" in the irrigation tubes.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hepatitis C is a contagious virus that invades the liver, causing anything from no symptoms to a short, mild infection to a potentially permanent, chronic disease that can cause liver disease and damage, including liver cancer, liver scarring from cirrhosis and even death. Some patients may even eventually need liver transplants.

The Federal Tort Claims Act

Suing any governmental body can be tricky because of the doctrine of sovereign immunity, the legal concept that government should be immune from suit so it does not have to be constrained from acting as it needs to in the people's best interest by having to worry about being sued. However, when a federal employee negligently or wrongfully harms someone, the Federal Tort Claims Act waives immunity and allows a lawsuit.

FTCA claims are very complex and require adherence to procedural requirements like filing an administrative claim with the agency in question before having the right to sue in federal court. Deadlines and pleading requirements may be especially challenging and specific in an FTCA suit.

When medical malpractice harms a patient at a VA hospital, the victim (or his or her survivors in cases of death) should consult with a medical malpractice attorney with experience in FTCA claims. The lawyer can advise the patient of his or her rights and potential legal remedies, as well as any deadlines or other filing or pleading requirements. The FTCA helps us hold our government to a high standard of care for our vets as promised.

Article provided by Hartley Hampton, P.C.
Visit us at www.hartleyhamptonlaw.com