Administrative Negligence at VA Hospital Prompts Investigation

When you’ve been hurt as the result of another’s carelessness, a personal injury attorney knows that there may be remedies under the law.

In the case of a professional relationship, an attorney can work with experts or other industry professionals to establish the level of care that was owed. If that duty was breached and caused injury, a victim might be able to obtain compensation for those injuries.

Nowhere is the importance of a competent level of professional care so visible as in the medical setting. That visibility may explain why staff at one medical center allegedly attempted to cover up their administrative oversight.

According to a report, the staff at a VA medical center falsified data about their patients’ average wait time. Even worse, the staff may have failed to put an estimated 1,700 patients on the wait list for primary care appointments. In fact, several patients died while waiting — so they believed — for their turn to see a VA doctor.

The oversight is so serious that it may have prompted the resignation of former Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki. An investigation is underway to see whether the patient deaths were attributable to the delay in receiving care. If negligence did play a role, an attorney that focuses on wrongful death lawsuits may be able to advise surviving loved ones of their options. An attorney can be a great resource in that regard, helping survivors with both legal and practical matters that surface during such a time of tragedy.

Source: The New York Times, “Severe Report Finds V.A. Hid Waiting Lists at Hospitals,” Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Michael D. Shear, May 28, 2014