Last month, the Department of Veterans Affairs
Office of Inspector General insisted, after a close look at
manipulated and secret waiting lists at the Phoenix Veterans Health
Administration facility, “we are unable to conclusively assert that
the absence of timely quality care caused the deaths of these
veterans.” Yesterday, a
hearing before the House Committee on Veterans Affairs got a
bit heated as lawmakers pushed Inspector General Richard
Griffin and Assistant Inspector General John Daigh to concede that
confining sick veterans in bureaucratic limbo while they wait for
care “contributed” to the untimely deaths of some. Chairman Jeff
Miller (R-Fla.)
says he got the concession, and in Daigh’s case he clearly
did.
Rep. David Jolly (R-Fla.): Did the wait lists
contribute to the deaths of veterans?
Daigh: Yes. Yes, no problem with that. The
issue is cause, or a direct relationship.
Griffin probably thinks he hedged his way out of a tight corner,
though he seems none too happy with his subordinate. Decide for
yourself from the exchange
embedded below.
Katherine L. Mitchell, M.D. Medical Director, Iraq and
Afghanistan Post-Deployment Center, Phoenix VA Health Care System,
and retired VA doctor Samuel Foote directly
linked the gamed waiting lists to patient deaths in their
testimony.
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