5 Million VA Malpractice

[Berta]

https://madisonrecord.com/stories/511597648-judge-awards-5-million-in-damages-in-va-medical-malpractice-case

Apparently his VA  doctors were not independent contractors- so the family could sue-

as in the "  it could happen to you " info in our FTCA forum. 

Independent contractors are filling our VAMCs as health care professionals  and the VA holds no accountability over them, if they damage or kill a veteran.

The best a veteran could do is either sue the independent doctor  in a district court or maybe sue the contracting firm they work for.

Section 1151 isn't even available for  compensating  any harm an independent contractor might do to you... because they are not considered VA employees.

In the case I posted in the FTCA post- it took the General Counsel 8 months to find out the malpracticing doctor was not an employee of the VA- but an independent contractor.

By then the veteran's FTCA statute of limit in California had run out to sue the doctor a different way.

This is what you all served for?  It is unconscionable!  I think vets have the right to know if their VA doctors are NOT VA employees.

I do not believe it should take 8 months for the OGC to determine whether a doctor, nurse, etc is a VA employee or not.

Then again, I dealt with the OGC. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Buck52]

If VA Dr are getting paid by the VA  Say a GENERAL MEDCINE Doc like a PCP With an Annual Salary of 103.000.00 year..that don't make them independent contractor.

Now a few years ago Dalllas VA or North Texas Health System For Veterans  the Dental Clinic was way behind  like 12 months behind before they could see a new patient...ok the VA Called in some independent Dentist that were just starting out and did not have their private practice started up   they used them for about 2 years I think...but now they are using Resident Student Dentist  and that is scary.

[Buck52]

I do have compassion for the MH Dr's because they can only go by what a Veteran who has been diagnose with PTSD or Even Chronic PTSD...Tells them..some Veterans can be on the verge of killing them self and keep it to them self  or give the Dr some wrong answers  when they ask the Veteran Questions ect,,,ect,,,

  I mean a Dr can't look into the mind and see what a Veteran is thinking ?  no one can do that  but the Psychiatrist are well train to look for clues without asking questions and a lot of the VA Dr's don't do this.

if a L.C.S.W. sets with a Veteran and ask the veteran questions and the veteran answers them   who is to say that the Veteran is not being truthful? 

Now eye contact and body language plays a heavy roll in assessment but if that Veteran went home and hung himself   would the L.C.S.W.  be responsible for the Veterans death?

Who would have thought Navy Sniper Seal veteran Chris Kyle friend was bad enough to do what he did to Chris...even though this Veteran that shot Chris was diagnose with PTSD  But was allowed to go target shooting. WHOS AT FAULT HERE?

A PTSD Veteran in my opinion can flip out at any given time  just like this good old boy of Chris Kyle friend did .... no one had a Clue this would happen..so are the VA MH Dr's responsible here?

Look at all the school shootings all the needless deaths that occurred   who is responsible for those? Mental Health is a tough one to understand. jmo

some people are good at hiding their emotions and well being.

  I had a cousin just a few weeks ago took his life at age 42...not one indication he was mentally disturb , a good old boy he had lots of friends enjoyed his work , he lived life to the fullest  loved his family worked hard everyday  laugh and just fit in with everyone he met. & ..just out of the blue he went home while everyone was a t work kids at school ect,,ect,, he called 911 told the dispatcher to send an ambulance to his address he was fixing to shoot  him self.& Hung up....he did  it  when they got there 5 min later they found him crunch over in a chair pistol still in his hand he had shot himself in the temple.DOA

Edited October 16, 2018 by Buck52

[broncovet]

In "regular" law, that is, non-VA law, there is something called the "reasonable man" theory.  

It goes something like this:

If you slipped and fell on someones sidedwalk, and injured yourself, for example:

1.  A "reasonable man" would get up at a reasonable hour and clear the snow from his sidewalk.  

2.  However, this reasonable man probably would not be able to prevent this snow from melting and running back down on the sidewalk and refreezing.  

     The liability of "who's at fault" would probably turn on the reasonable man theory.   As I said, the reasonable man would not get up at 4 am, shovel the walks, and install a complicated system of roofs and drainage so that the ice would not re freeze.  

     However, if the homeowner did not shovel his walk for 3 days, the snow packed into ice, and a passer by was injured, guess who would be liable?  

      In this instance, a "reasonable man" who went to his VAMC, observed the doctor within this facility treating him, alongside other VA employees, it would be reasonable to assume this doctor was an employee at the VA.  The VA wouldnt likely permit me to practice medicine in the waiting room diagnosisng and treating patients unless I was not only a doctor but hired by VA.  

      Therefore, I think this likely meets the reaonsable man theory, where one could assume that this doc was a VA employee working at a VAMC.  I think the VA should have to identify personel that are non va employees or else the VA is liable.  Was this doctor wearing a badge and presenting himself as working for VA?  It sounds like he was.  And, the VA "controls" the actions of this 3 party contractor, deciding not only the practioner's hours, but also has many VA rules this doctor must follow, such as the prescriptions:

The VA only fills prescriptions on VA approved prescription lists.  Out side (private) docs can write a prescription and are not limited by VA approved scripts.  Example:  Marijuana.  VA prohibits physicians from prescribing marijuana even tho it may be legal in that state.  So, if I wanted prescription marijuana, I could only get it prescribed outside of the VA.  For these reasons, the 3rd party contrator is "under the control" of VA rules and the VA should be liable.  

[Buck52]

Good points  broncovet

Ms Berta It would be a reason most Veterans & Family's are just not that well educated to know how to take action or have a frame of mind LIKE>>  we don't have a chance standing up the  the US Gov.

So no action is ever taken ,even some attorneys are like this and they are well educated. 

I bet there are countless times no actions was taken  in wrongful death suites caused by the VA or the VA Dr's   because of this simple reason.

[Buck52]

broncovet   here in Dallas  female  Police officer went home after her shift,  went to her apartment and open the front door seen a  black man in the front room ..she pulled her gun out and started shooting  ...>the black man died...ok after this happen the police officer was not at her  apartment door she was on another floor and thought she was at her apartment door...she was at the wrong door and was at the black man door...she had thought she was at her door and a black man was in her apartment burglarize her apartment. so she shot and killed him...

this case is still not settled  the police chief did let her go or fired her but the case is still pending ,  they don't know what to charge her for  manslaughter but this is actually murder in the first degree

[Berta]

Buck, you made a good point-

 "most Veterans & Family's are just not that well educated to know how to take action or have a frame of mind LIKE>>  we don't have a chance standing up the  the US Gov.

So no action is ever taken ,even some attorneys are like this and they are well educated. 

I bet there are countless times no actions was taken  in wrongful death suites caused by the VA or the VA Dr's   because of this simple reason."

You are, in my opinion ,100% correct!

I just ran into a friend while at the food store whose brother had a complete cardio workup ( 41 yrs old) and suddenlly died 2 days later of heart disease. The family didnt get an autopsy and still wonders why he died. 

He was not a veteran but still, if a family wonders about a veteran's cause of death,they should take action.

Autopsys cost m,oney but they are free at  least here in NY if the veteran is an organ donor.Probably in other states as well.

Even without an autopsy , a good IMO doctor can make a valid determination of the cause of death-and if it is malpractice, they will have no problem getting a malpractice lawyer.

So far the pathologist in Fayetteville caused 3 deaths- they have only reviewed part of the medical records  for the 20,000 plus vets he might have malpracticed on. Some of the other vets are on line at News outlets- waiting to find out if anything serious  is really wrong with them.

Fayetteville Public Affairs told me they are giving any vets or survivors that are victims of malpractice from the pathologist, information on FTCA and 1151.

Even if they are not doing that lawyers have attended their Town Hall VA meetings on this and talked to many there, who had pathology reports done by him.

Unfortunately what I often see here from widows who feel VA caused their spouse's death, is probably not a wrongful death at all. Then again they often do not answer my questins ( the same questions a FTCA lawyer would ask) and on the other hand, I bet there are many deaths of veterans that are never questioned at all- that should have been.

If the VA fills all of their medical care openings with independent contracting doctors, the VA will never have to worry about malpractice much anymore...

FTCA and Section 1151 only applies to VA employees.

I griped here over the years about these independent C & P doctors- they might be the very ones VA is getting to handle VA health care in VAMCs.

I felt these C & P exams sometimes bordered on malpractice-but they dont -as the C & P doc does not diagnose and treat- but many some of them do by now.It has been difficult for me to find much info on how many of these non VA employee doctors VA has hired. Some of them might be superb doctors- and some might not be competent at all.