TBI scandal

Can An OIG Investigation Fix VA TBI Scandal?

TBI scandal

Benjamin KrauseRep. Tim Walz has called on VA OIG to investigate Minneapolis VA TBI scandal, but the agency blew off warnings from 2013 following an earlier VA OIG investigation into traumatic brain injury (TBI) back then.

So how can Rep. Walz be so sure that VA employees and leadership even care about what OIG says? The answer is the agency does not care and everyone knows it except Congress, apparently.

My investigation into Minneapolis VA and its TBI program started last November when I confirmed Minneapolis VA was using unqualified doctors to conduct initial examinations for traumatic brain injury. KARE 11 News revealed the scandal on the air in August. Since then, Rep. Tim Walz called for a VA OIG investigation, as if that somehow will accomplish anything.

Now, KARE 11 has revealed a historic wrinkle to this plan that should show Rep. Walz and others in Congress that VA needs more than a mere investigation. These investigations waste taxpayer dollars since no one will hold the agency accountable when it ignores the results.

In 2013, VA OIG investigated VA TBI assessments and benefits adjudications. The investigation revealed approximately 30% of TBI claims were incorrectly administered. The agency did nothing to fix the problem and instead proceeded to schedule more initial TBI assessments with unqualified doctors until we caught them at the end of 2014.

So why is Rep. Walz and the rest of Congress wise up and stop wasting our tax dollars? Instead, they should be holding the agency in contempt when it fails to follow the law or clear guidance. More investigations of known problems will do nothing.

Source: https://www.kare11.com/story/news/investigations/2015/09/23/va-brain-injury-exam-flaws-identified-in-2013/72714854/

 

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18 Comments

  1. My initial claim was rated 70% for Ptsd and 40% TBI. Last year when I submitted an increase for Ptsd and received the decision letter they said that they found a”clear and unmistakable error” with rating me for tbi with cognitive impairment. They combined my tbi to the Ptsd and said the the examiner was actually unable to differentiate the symptoms. I was blow up in 2004 by a mortar and knocked unconscious. In 2006 I was in a humvee rollover unbuckled and was again knocked unconscious. I have clear symptoms of tbi that have gotten worse. Is this just their way of covering their tracks to not pay me for what is right and possibly pay out more in benefits. I am overall rated at 90%. Also have pain issues (like all marine grunts do) and skin issues.

  2. Google this article in which I read in today’s (9/27/15) Stripes dot com, about The “CHOICE PRGRAM”, even with all the reported failures and rd tape, you will read how the VA paints it as a SUCCESS…and VA claims The Senate wants it permanent because it’s SO successful…WTF?!

    “[Veterans find VA ‘choice’ care program has delays

    By Wesley Brown

    The Augusta Chronicle (Tribune News Service)

    Published: September 27, 2015]”

    At the same time, Senator McCain has put forth a proposal to allow ALL Veterans to go to Civilian Medical and have the VA pay for it….guess it must be election time again…never mind the deaths in Arizona VAMC….these folk in D.C. are WAY OUT OF TOUCH.

  3. Y’all might like this article
    by, Brianna Buczkowski
    July 7, 2015.

    “How much does Trump love America?
    Almost as much as he loves suing people”

    1. Y’all might also enjoy the following from ‘The Blaze’.

      ‘Who Did This?!’: Senator Explodes on VA Officials Over ‘Reprehensible Reprisal’ of Whistleblowers

      Sept. 23, 2015
      by, Oliver Darcy

      Great article or maybe just another’ dog & pony show’!

  4. To y’all
    Google the following article by Sally Apgar
    April 24, 2007.
    Even though it’s an old article, it shows Mr. Trump’s patriotism.

    “Trump Settles dispute over flag”

    There’s also other articles concerning this issue. Please check them out!

  5. Neither Rep. Walz nor anyone else will wise-up because this is how they want it.

    And, VAOIG is a joke. If no one takes action on the relatively little amount of malfeasance it does find, what good are those findings to veterans?

    I contacted VAOIG about the falsification of a few official, albeit critical, reports made by VA examiners and placed in my file. VAOIG replied that it does not involve itself in the claims process.

  6. SORRY FOR THE CAPS. MY EYES. SEE THAT TO ME IS A DAMN INJUSTICE. “WHY? BECAUSE RECORDS WERE STILL MICORFISHED AS WELL AS PAPER FORMAT.” TRUST ME, I KNOW WHAT I SPEAK OF. FORGIVE MY MISPELLED WORDS. YUP! I THINK I ALSO SUFFERED A MINI-STROKE. BUT I KNOW MY BODY BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE. I HATE PILLS, DO YOU THINK PRICE GAUGING ISN’T GOING CRAZY? A MEDICATION I TAKE THAT WAS ABOUT $40.00 IS NOW $270.00?” BUT NEVER EVER TEST THE PATIENCES OF A RELATIVELY INNOCENT NATURE AND PRETTY DAMN FORGIVING. BUT THERE IS THIS EXTREMELY HARD BUTTON TO FIND AND IF YOU TOUCH IT? “YOU SHALL BE TOTALLY F-CKED WHEN I AM DONE.” INTUITION, SUCH A STRANGE THING TO DESCRIBE IT TO LACK THE “CIVILITIES OF MANNER AND CULTURAL HERITAGE I HAVE DECENDED FROM.” BUT AS I HAVE STATED I FEAR NOT, BUT YOUR “KARMA BITCHES SLAP IS ARRIVING KEEP YOUR SENSES OPEN IF YOU HAVE THEM?” FUNNY, I OSERVE, I LIVE WITH INTEL IN THE HOUSE. NOT JUST ANY INTEL GUY BUT ONE WHO STATED “THIRTY YEARS AGO THE GREATEST THREAT TO DATA COMMUNICATIONS IS EXACTLY WHAT DUHLIMMA ( ON PURPOSE) WE FACE TODAY.” IT WAS GETTING RATHER ANNOYING WITH ALL THE DAMN EXTENSIONS FOR FLOATS. WHY? “BECAUSE HE WAS A KICK ASS MENSA IQ LEVEL AND JUST LIKE ME THINKS OUTSIDE A “NORMAL BOX.” WHO KNEW???

  7. When God calls upon all responsible for their egregious acts. There will be time enough for retribution. HIS hand will be swift.

  8. To All, Please Google the following:

    “A Solution To The Government’s VA Problem”
    by; Jonah Goldberg
    Sept. 25, 2015

    I received this today from “Townhall dot com”
    I believe this MAY be a solution to the problem. He’s not saying to ‘privatize’ VA. He’s saying to turn it over to the “State”. This way we, veterans and taxpayers, can hold VA and our elected officials responsible for those egregious acts!!!!!

    What say y’all?????

    1. I should have said/stated it this way.
      Since the “State” would now be “in-charge of VA”, the State reps, from Governor down, would/could be held accountable for any egregious act(s) committed against veterans. It’s much easier to recall those individuals than ones in Congress or Senate.

  9. Why is Mr. Walz asking the VAOIG to investigate it? Why doesn’t he get the F.B.I. involved into investigating this? Could it be that he wants to limit the breadth of the investigation with just one agency (VAOIG), maybe to insure that members of Congress don’t come under any scrutiny for having known about the problems with these exams but chose to ignore them?

    1. That FBI), or even the Dept. Of Justice…The Attorney General’s office. Otherwise, this will be yet another “Horse & Pony Show”, as it’s already proof-positive that the VA OIG *and* Congress was and has been to now, two years later, STILL IGNORED BY THE VA.

      This situation should be the poster child for the ineffectiveness of the VA OIG…period!

      I am not so much a fan of “Concerned Veterans of America” because if you follow their money trail it leads right smack into the Koch Brothers, whom want to Privatize the VA…and can guarantee the deck will be stacked even more so against the Veteran if they get their way, but I DO AGREE with the spokesperson in the video here in where he asks, “Just HOW can anyone sleep at night knowing they are screwing Veterans like this?” (or messing with Veterans in ANY way that’s nefarious and adversarial)

      Interesting how VA Sec. McDonald promised a new transparency with the VA…did he mean that transparency was to be only ‘turned-on” when revealed by veteran deaths, whistleblowers, investigative reporting?

      Please tell me how we can see change we can believe in when the President has stated repeatedly that he, “…has full faith in Sec. McDonald and the VA OIG to do the ‘right’ thing…”?

      Why cannot this President place as much urgency and emphasis on Veterans being repeatedly screwed in so many ways under his watch as Commander In Chief as he places so much emphasis on sicking his DOJ on “other social injustices”…I will continue to repeat my mantra…VETERAN’s LIVES MATTER TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

      1. namnibor, speaker of the house, J. Boehner is stepping down Oct 31.
        On Hannity, when Rubio announced it, the house erupted in applause and cheers and a standing ovation for a long time! Boehner has screwed up for so long, I say, GOOD FUCKIN RIDDANCE TO THE BUM!!! There’s also a suggestion he and Pelosi have struck some kind of deal. Don’t know what, yet. But it will probably come out later….

      2. I am one of those veterans that did go through a whole lot of unbelievable hell and have paid the price for it like you cannot imagine. But, let me say methodical and can still do a faster than ten step dance with mind don’t even have to use my body and they have been on the hunt. trust me.” ANYONE ELSE GETTING CALLS FROM UTAH? FBI? FEEL COMFORTABLE SCAVENGERS THEY ARE IN MY EMAILS AND MAKE BULL SHIT CALLS THAT GEE I MUST SAY, I REALLY DID MY BEST MOVES AND NO ONE WAS HERE TO SEE IT.” BE IN TOUCH BEN. YOU SHALL SEE I WILL HAVE IT OUT IN A FLASH AND POOR VA IG AND COULDN’T BELIEVE SHE WOULD LIE TO CONGRESS SO BLATANTLY REGARDING THE NEED FOR MORE MONEY AND SCRAPE THE CARD THAT I WAS JUST OFFERED BY POTUS FOR AN IMPRESSIVE EMAIL? GEE LIKE SERIOUSLY TOO LATE FOR THE PARTY, AND MY HERITAGE POTUS YOU WERE GIVEN, AND AFTER A YEAR AND A HALF OF MY EMAILS ONE MAKES YOU GET NERVOUS BECAUSE THIS BITCH WILL NOT LET UP? I NEVER BELIEVED IN THE FIRST THANKSGIVING, IT MADE NO SENSE TO A SMALL CHILD THAT UNDERSTOOD THE CONDITIONS WHEN NOT JUST THAT ONE SHIP LANDED SORRY, DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. BUT 1635 I SAY I GOT A WHOLE LOT INVESTED IN THIS COUNTRY OF MY HERITAGE THAT BLOOD WAS LEFT ON THESE GROUNDS, SO WHAT DO I THROW OUT IS JUST A TASTE OF MORE, BUT IMPRESSIVE, SECRETARY OF THE NAVY, ANSWERS MY QUESTIONS. AND THAT DOCTOR CLANCY, I KNOW A SNAKE JUST BY THE WAY THEY WRITE. SORRY, CALL THEM TO LATE TO THE PARTY! ‘I BELIEVE I SENT OUT AN INVITE? OH WAIT THAT IS RIGHT YOU WERE NOT SENT ONE BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT ONE OF MY FAMILY AND MINE IS CERTAINLY AROUND THE GLOBE.” SERIOUSLY, THESE PEOPLE ARE JUST DUMB AS A BOX OF ROCKS AND DO NOT THINK THAT IT MIGHT BE POSSIBLE THAT THERE ARE SEVERAL WAY THINGS CAN GO OUT THESE DAYS. YOU HAVE EMAIL, YOU HAVE DISC AND THUMB DRIVES, AND YOU EVEN HAVE YOUTUBE TOO! DID I DO JUST ONE, TWO, MORE? “GUESS WE SHALL WAIT AND SEE, BECAUSE I LACK FAITH AND TRUST AT ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT, THIS GIVES ME SAFE PASSAGE TO GET HOME BE LEFT ALONE AND GET MY AFFAIRS IN ORDER, I HAVE MANY OTHER THINGS OF IMPORTANCE.
        “REMEMBER, MESS WITH ME OR MY FAMILY IN ANYWAY? YOU WILL LIVE TO REGRET IT, THEY HAVE ALL BEEN WARNED, AND LOADS OF MILITARY FAMILY MEMBERS, THEY HAVE THOSE THINGS TOO THAT INTERESTS ME NOT. HEALER BY NATURE, SUGGESTS I CARE, AND I DO VERY MUCH. BUT YOU JUST MET YOUR MATCH HICKEY. TRUST ME, NO ONE TELLS ME TO NEVER CALL A PUBLIC OFFICE WITH PUBLIC SERVANTS AND CIVIL SERVANTS.” BECAUSE I DO TAKE THAT CONSTITUTION SERIOUSLY.”
        SO YOUR WARNING IS HERE. BUT YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN THINGS CAN SHOW UP AND THE UNITED STATES IS NOT LOOKING SO HOT THESE DAYS TO OTHERS. NOT GOOD GUYS. BUT I AM AN AMERICAN DAUGHTER OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. I THINK THE FOCUS ON MEN AND SOME WOMEN WHO WISH THEY WERE MEN WITH BIG HUGE EGO’S NEED TO RECOGNIZED OFTEN THAT LAST EVENT CAN BE WHAT THE LEGACY IS ALWAYS REMEMBERED THE MOST. NO BRAIN MATTER STATUS NEED APPLY?
        SO MY DEAR FRIENDS, SINCE THE VA ENJOYS GAMES, MY GAME IS OVER. FINITE AND COMPLETE. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. AND “OH WELL, YOU SHOULD HAVE TAKEN ME SERIOUSLY FROM THE START. “BECAUSE OFTEN LESS LIKELY THAN NOT, REAL MEDICAL PEOPLE DO NOT APPLY EGO ON THE JOB, WE ARE HEALERS AND WE ARE CANNOT LET AN EGO LEAD US BECAUSE WE MUST FOCUS ALL SKILLS ON THE PERSON(S) IN FRONT OF US.”
        TAKEN IT FOR THE TEAM OF MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS. YOU ALL MATTER TO ME BUT YOU HAVE NO IDEA OF ALL MY TACTICAL MOVES. OBSERVER BY NATURE, TRUST ME, I GOT GAME, AND CALL IT EASY TO DO. I FIND IT OFFENSIVE WHEN PEOPLE IN POWER TRY AND DUMB ME DOWN? IS THAT THE BEST YOU GOT? USE WORDS THAT THE PERSON THAT IS TYPING IS A CRITICAL ERROR AND NOT AT ALL WHAT I STATED. AGAIN. YOU NEED PEOPLE WHO DO CARE ABOUT VETERANS. I HAVE MET ONE. THAT IS ALL. SO WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU?
        MY PLANNING IN THIS TOOK PLACE A LONG TIME AGO. NO ONE KNOWS HOW MUCH IT IT TIRED ME OUT, WORE ME OUT, WORE ME DOWN, COULDN’T TYPE RIGHT SPEAK RIGHT, DO YOU THINK WHEN THAT COP THROUGH A DISABLED WOMAN ON A THICK LAWN AND MY NECKLACE WAS BURIED IN DIRT? HE BROKE THE THICK CHAIN TOO? YOU SEE TH AT IS WHAT WAS MISSING, DETAILS ARE ALWAYS WHAT REVEALS THE MOST UGLIEST’S TRUTHS AND TRAITS OF HUMAN NATURE THAT IS IN A CONSTANT STATE OF CHAOS. TOO BAD BECAUSE I REALLY MEANT I WOULD HELP, BUT IF WHAT THEY SHOWED WAS HELP? THANKS, BUT NO THANKS. “I CARE AND IT IS WHO I AM. YOU MISSED MY DEADLINE AT A CHANCE TO BE ABLE TO DO JUST A FEW NORMAL THINGS, BECAUSE NOTHING IS EVER EASY OR PERFECT. BUT MY SIMPLE JOYS? HOW MUCH DOES ANYONE THING THEY ARE WORTH? SEWING, QUILTING, PLAYING MY CELLO. MY GRANDMA DREAMS OF WHAT I LOVE AND MUCH IS NO COSTS SIMPLE THINGS. WHAT IS THAT LOSS WORTH? LET ME KNOW IF ANYONE CAN ADD IT UP BECAUSE WITH WHAT IS THE END GAME HERE, IT IS THE FINAL GAME OVER AND NO I AM NO DAMN CHICKEN TO END MY OWN LIFE. STOP ASKING ABOUT DAMN KNIVES, MY DAMN JUICER IS HELL OF A LOT MORE DANGEROUS!

    2. He, like many politicians, is calling for it to make it appear something is being done by him knowing full well nothing will be done, or if something is found, it will either be so old it will be forgotten, ignored or he can harrumpf and claim something should be done about it.

      1. Yes, justice department needs to step in and charges filed and the employees should have their day in court, don’t know why though, they sure never granted me any way to defend myself. ! There should be jail time, with out them being able to defend themselves, what goes around comes around, sooner or later they will fill the rath of justice! They can’t hide forever!

  10. I sure hope their not be bluffing and those responsible have charges! I had to live 40 years not knowing I had an head injury!

    I know my life would have been easier if I had known!

    I went to the VA in 73 and was denied disability and therefore I was not offered any treatment and then the VA lost, hid my military records.

    Stating your records were destroyed in the st Louis fire! I was discharged after the fire, they were not in the building!
    Every time I applied for disability I was told we need more proof That you were shot, how is someone expected to provide they were shot, when they had all the evidence needed to prove I was shot.

    I had to higher a lawyer and all of a sudden they were found and as a result of them denying me they siphoned about 2.5 million in lost disability payments!

    They only payed from the last time I applied and not from when I told them back in 1973!

    Dirty shame!

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