Lawyer challenges VA to be more open

The lawyer representing the woman whose longtime companion died at the James A. Haley VA Medical Center on June 30 today challenged the hospital to be more open with the public on patient safety issues.

Largo attorney John Trevena criticized the Department of Veterans Affairs for failing to be forthright with the public about incidents of poor medical care.

His criticism comes as Haley officials are supposed to be meeting with Rep. Gus Bilarakis, who wants some answers about the death of veteran Richard Stecher, 64, of Tarpon Springs. Haley's chief of staff apologized to Stecher's companion after the death and admitted three doctors "missed opportunities" to treat the man.

But the VA refuses to discuss the 4 p.m. meeting , something Trevena said is an outrage. Bilarakis could not immediately be reached for comment, though his staff said it will release information when the meeting is completed.

"The reality is that all the secrecy, in the end, harms the veterans they are suppose to be protecting," said Trevena.

Trevena challenged the VA to release mortality rates at Haley so veterans can compare them to other hospitals, especially for the kind of gastro-intestinal surgery endured by Stecher shortly before his death.

He also said the hospital should release information about mistakes that may have contributed to the death of patients and that such general information can be provided without compromising patient confidentiality.

Haley spokeswoman Carolyn Clark said she did not know if the VA or Haley had a procedure set up to release information about medical mistakes to any regulatory agency.

As to taking up Trevena's challenge, Clark said, "You'd have to request something through the privacy officer" of the hospital, who handles requests for documents through the Freedom of Information Act, a process that can take months.

"This is a public institution that should be more willing to provide such information," Trevena said. "It's impossible to get any good information out of the VA. But they need to come clean."

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

The VA has refused to discuss specifics of the Stecher case, citing patient confidentiality. But Haley's chief of staff said the facility provides outstanding care to veterans and that mistakes happen in all large medical systems.

Trevena represents Mary Nicholl, who lived with Stecher for 19 years before he died of a perforated obstructed bowel.

Trevena said it is unlikely that Nicholl could file a lawsuit against Haley because she never actually married the Coast Guard veteran.

Comments

[patriot]

You contradict yourself in your later story.I thought reporters researched their facts before regurgitating their personal opinions. What a nasty thing to say about Bilirakis and the VA staff. I'd urge all Government employees to cancel their Times subscriptions immediately due topo your one sided reporting.You've beaten this sad story to death.Besides that ...This blog is the pits !

[Ajlouny]

It seems wrong for a hospital to hide medical errors. It should be mandated that mistakes are public record. This give opportunity to be well educated before you go in for any type of treatment.

[vet wife]

my husband is a vietnam vet. for 4 years he has been fighting the va over his disability. he caught a parasite in vietnam and it was not noticed for 40 years. once the diagnosis was made his care at the va went downhill. his primary doctors were changed 3 times in less than a year, they would not address his condition. 8 months ago he had a ct scan that showed his prostate was enlarged. they told him that it was normal for a man his age. we told him he could not urinate and they ignored it. he has an outside dr. who has seen him last week and has put him on meds for a year hoping it will shrink and if not will have to remove part of it. the dr said it was grossly enlarged and should have been taken care of when it was first noticed. 4 months ago my husband had a growth on his finger and asked the va dr about it. he was told it was a wart and she would have him set up with a dermatologist at james haley to have it frozen off. the appt. has not yet been made through the va but i made him an appt with an outside derm a month ago. 2 days ago a large portion of the skin on the finger was removed and cadavor skin was grafted on because it was a squamous cell carcinoma and was growing very fast. 2 years ago the va was supposed to schedule my husband for a test. we were told 3 times that they had to reschedule due to no availability to do the test at this time. we just were informed that the test is not available at the va and never has been. apparently it took two years for them to figure this out. his primary dr at the va just 3 weeks ago finally looked into his records on the computer and actually found all the information on his records of his condition and then called me and said,"it's all there. why did i not see this before?" maybe if a dr actually listened to the patient in front of them and addressed the concerns the patient has and waits until those are addressed before addressing their own concerns and does not try to get them out of the office like their competing in a race with other dr.s to see who can get more patients in less time out the door then the vets might actually get the care they deserve and just possibly live a little longer.