diabetes Can The Va Be Sued For Malpractice?

[AB2WK]

A buddy of mine has been complaining to his Dr about stomach pains. They sent him to Buffalo for a cat scan, but when he got there they said he wasn't scheduled for anything. They did a quick exam and sent him home. He went back the next day to the VA clinic in Dunkirk complaing of the same thing. They set up another CT scan in Buffalo and sent him home. The pain got so bad that he was rushed to WCA hospital in Jamestown. 2 hours after he got there his colon burst open due to severe impaction. He almost died from infection (sepsis) They rushed him into surgery and did what they could to fix it. The Dr at WCA refuses to transfer him to Buffalo because he is not stable. Since being admitted to WCA they found he has congestive heart failure, and diabetes. Is there a lawyer that will take on a case like this? Thanks, John

[rentalguy1]

Yes, you can sue the VA for malpractice. It falls under the FTCA as a tort claim. Search this site for the term "FTCA." You can also file an 1151 claim, which is essentially a claim of malpractice that is resolved within the VA system. The 1151 claim is much quicker, but the monetary awards are limited. I believe both of these types of claims have strict deadlines, so look into it as quickly as possible.

[Berta]

When you say 'his doctor' I assume you mean a VA doctor -

this sounds to me based on what you said here a Prime Facie case of absolute bonafide malpractice.

He should get an Independent medical opinion first-(ASAP)and he will need all of his VA med recs for the opinion.

Then based on the findings he should have no problem whatsoever in getting a malpractice attorney to take his case.

There are plenty on the net- maybe some of them could assess his case on line and recommend a malpractice attorney-

I know for a fact that Medical Opinions on the net has malpractice doctors-

that is -doctors who support malpractice claims.

IMos are expensive ,I didnt have an IMO or an attorney and I won wrongful death FTCA case against them.

These days things are different-

in those days I just kept fighting them with medical evidence and they actually read it-

although the FTCA settlement award took three years to get-

I studied medicine all that time to combat many denials their doctors made to my charges of malpractice.

This is too difficult for a disabled veteran to do-

it is well worth it to get an IMO supporeting the charges and then a lawyer will often likely handle the case on contingency basis - meaning they only get paid if and when the vet wins.

This is a disgrace. The VAs in Bath and Syracuse caused my husband's death-but ironically the Buffalo VA saved his buddies life after Bath VA misdiagnosed this vets cancer as hemmoroids.

They had both worked for the Bath VA in Dietetics-and both had PTSD from Vietnam -the PT VA scuttlebutt going around was the VA was killing off the crazys in dietetics.

Sure looked that way.

Tell hm to ask them for MILLIONS when he gets a lawyer-

there is a 32 year Statute of Limits-he must file formal SF 95 within 2 years after his awareness of the malpractice.

I used to attach the SF 95 here and tell how to fill it out-he can do that himself to stop the SOL-

but this a better job for a lawyer to do-they will get paid for that anyhow if he succeeds.

[Pete53]

I would be looking for a lawyer as we chat.