BUSTED: VA Cancer Patient Fights Back With Smart Phone, Records Doctor
One veteran armed with a cell phone secretly recorded his doctor visit after the Phoenix VA medical system failed to timely diagnose his cancer.
And guess what? The system at Phoenix just as broken now despite claims of improvement after “restructuring.” Surprised? The recording revealed that patients are not being afforded unobstructed access to qualified medical doctors for conditions like cancer. It also revealed the Phoenix VA system has been lying to the public about the success of its restructuring.
VA CANCER PATIENT
To keep wait times down, the recording suggests Phoenix VA apparently sabotaged its phone system so veterans cannot call in for appointments with their primary care providers. The option was possibly removed from the call options.
In a way, this post can also be aptly titled:
Dear VA – Every Veteran Is A Citizen Journalist Armed With A Recording Device
One veteran armed with a cell phone at Phoenix VA blew the lid false claims that the VA is a successfully “restructured government healthcare agency” by recording his doctor visit.
Veteran Steve Cooper got the run-around when he tried to access health care for cancer. Cooper is a retired Sgt 1st Class and recently diagnosed with late stage prostate cancer that VA allegedly failed to timely diagnose.
In one exchange, the nurse can be heard saying,
- Nurse: “Have you ever tried to call in here?”
- Cooper: “Yeah, it does not work and there’s no number to press for primary care.”
- Nurse: “No. And it just irritates the living hell out of me.”
Then, the doctor Cooper was assigned to see reported that VA gave him 500 new patients in May, a work load that has made his job impossible, “I can only do what I can do. I’m given 500 patients on May 23rd, 500. So it’s impossible.”
Impossible expectations with 500 patients per doctor? A call center that does not let you contact your primary care provider? And Bob McDonald tells us Phoenix is fixed?
WHAT CANCER PATIENT RECORDED
In his recording, VA clinicians can be heard acknowledging wait time problems that VA is apparently trying to fix by not properly accepting incoming calls for appointments.
This summary came from Channel 12’s coverage of the story:
– A nurse calls the patient phone scheduling system “a nightmare,” admitting that even as an employee she can’t get a person on the phone line.
– The doctor who saw Cooper admitted he’s “not a fan of the VA” and complained his patient load doesn’t allow him enough time with patients.
– The doctor said that, as a new employee, he is still trying to understand how the “Choice” program works.
– The doctor expressed a desire to check Cooper’s heart and lungs but said he misplaced his stethoscope. The doctor ended up not using a stethoscope at all, but nonetheless stated that “key exam findings” on Cooper were negative.
VA RESPONDS TO CANCER PATIENT RECORDING
In response to the recording, Phoenix VA director Deborah Amdur said:
“The Phoenix VA Health Care System is committed to providing the highest level of patient care, and all employees are expected to uphold our core values. It appears the manner in which our provider staff communicated and interacted with this patient on this day was not in keeping with our values.”
Notice the tightly crafted ‘isolated incident’ type language she uses to minimize any belief that the problem is more systemic – – “this patient” and “this day”.
When questioned by Channel 12 News, Congressman Matt Salmon said he was not buying it.
“With this tape it was very, very clear the doctor he was dealing with did not understand the choice system. And I think the doctor frankly was not doing his job the way he needs to.”
It’s curious how VA is now being rebranded as a “restructured government healthcare agency.” This move is similar to the rebranding strategies used by Walter Lippmann when he rebranded the Tammany Hall Party in the 1930’s.
“This is not the old Tammany Hall your grandfather knew.”
What is Tammany Hall? That is the corrupt group of politicians in New York that were in the pocket of big business. Back then, it was apparently a small bunch. Now, we call them “Democrats” and “Republicans”, so maybe Lippmann was correct.
VA ON SMART PHONES AS RECORDING DEVICES
VA has bemoaned access to recording devices like this because they have no control over what the veteran does with his or her property. Though, the Denver VA system did try to ban iPhones last October when we busted them on DisabledVeterans.org and Facebook.
VA quickly apologized for the unauthorized violation of the Americans with Disability Act, which allows veterans access to accommodative systems like iPhones to help with memory loss.
RELATED: VA Apologizes For Smart Phone Ban
As for Phoenix veterans, I would be on the lookout for new policies from Phoenix VA about smart phones similar to what we saw in Colorado last year.
Good catch Channel 12. Keep an eye out for the smart phone ban if it happens again.
Source: https://www.12news.com/news/local/valley/va-cancer-patient-secretly-records-doctor-visit/307185216
UPDATE:
Hours after posting this, and two days after Channel 12 ran its piece, Deborah Amdur announced her retirement citing health problems that started after she began working at Phoenix VA this past winter. https://www.disabledveterans.org/2016/08/26/phoenix-va-director-retires-recording/
There’s no improvement at the Phoenix VA. If anything, I think it’s gotten worse. I’ve called the VA at least 4 times in the last 6 weeks to schedule the appointments my physical therapist told me to schedule. I never received a returned call from who is usually an older lady up front. I finally got in touch with someone today at the specialty clinic and they said that my consult has since been cancelled and I have to go back to my Primary Care Physician, who has been replaced by another doctor. This statement translates to, “you must start all over and reinvent the wheel if you wish to be treated for what ails you.” So just like every other time, I expect that I’ll receive my first treatment under this consult in oh….about September. Except the next time I can be seen is in June, so that’ll be pushed out to October maybe. It takes at least 4 months to receive any kind of treatment inside the VA or approval to an outside provider through Choice. With Choice, I can look forward to receiving bills and harassing calls by the providers for service connected disability because the VA doesn’t handle it properly. I can look forward to devoting work time towards fixing the billing problem, which takes anywhere from 3-8 weeks to resolve. And round and round we go, for the last decade since I was medically discharged. I guess I should thank my lucky stars I only have spine and pelvic issues. I can’t imagine having cancer and not being provided care and consideration in a timely manner. And to think, American citizens want a single payer health system. The feds can’t even handle 4 million veterans. LOL!
The Phoenix,AZ. hospital had me wait 9 months before a surgery for lung cancer. They ended up removing 40% of my lung.I had good Doctors and all is well, except I have a hard breathing right. Perhaps it could have been no removal using a different procedure with more haste. they blamed smoking which I hadn’t did for 25 years prior, Agent Orange was never mentioned and I slept in places a few days after thy sprayed. And they asked me to re-up for more of the same . I laughed at the re-up Sqt’.
To Crazy Elf- Salute to Hangman, glad he was smiling at the end of his road. To Red Turtle- Keep that brilliant mind of yours hopping, it is a good one. Namnibor, I still want to laugh about the soap getting lost when he had to wipe that ass,,, oh hell! Good one! Wish we had more Stations like channel 12, telling America what is going on behind closed VA doors. Fun to see them scurry like cockroaches when the full light of day hits their lying arses.
psss,,,9 out of 10 times,,,no Doctor ,,or V.A employee will want to end up in a court of law,,,Now a days,,they prefer to correct the problem in private,,,,the last thing a Doctor or V.A. wants is to end up in a court of law,,thus privately recording will not even be an issue other then your true reason for doing it in the 1st place,,,which was to ensure your body got proper medical care to save your own life,,mary
Like it or not Ben facts are facts so I am going to set you straight Ben, See 18 U.S.C. 2511(2)(d)
Remove spaces for complete link
McDermott found guilty and fined for wiretapping
https:// www. seattlepi. com /local/article/McDermott-violated-House-rules-with-leak-court-1226493.php
Minority leader awarded 1 million for violation of privacy
https:// www. cnn. com /2008/POLITICS/04/01/boehner.call/
Court settles illegal wiretapping
https:// www. npr. org /templates/story/story.php?storyId=9946755
You should NOT be telling Vets or giving them the idea that this is legal
@Daniel. You are obviously confused or being dumb on purpose.
I am not telling readers to engage in UNLAWFUL WIRETAPPING of conversation of which they are not a party. That is what McDermott got in trouble for, or did you not read the article carefully enough to compare the difference?
Steve Cooper was obviously a party to his conversation with the doctor and recorded it. That is NOT WIRETAPPING unless he was in a dual party state and did not inform the other parties. I provided a link on how to ensure veterans know when to record their own conversations in a legal manner.
I am in no way advocating veterans engage in unlawful “WIRETAPPING” or other surreptitious recording schemes that are generally illegal across the country. McDermott was not a party to the conversation that was recorded and neither was the reporter. By definition, that is an unlawful wiretap. Duh.
McDermitt ≠ A Party…. ||| Steven Cooper = A Party. See the difference?
You are engaged in a straw man argument, which is a logical fallacy, that appears to be for the purpose of scaring my readers. Your goal no doubt is to keeping them from protecting themselves by recording conversations in a legal manner within their state so long as they are a party to the communication.
Again, McDermott was NOT A PARTY to the recording in question. He also knew or should have known that the recordings he passed on were obtained in an illegal manner by someone who was not a party to the conversation recorded. What McDermott did is illegal. What the reported did who recorded conversations to which he was not a party was also illegal. You are comparing apples to oranges.
I am advocating for veterans to record their interactions with VA personnel so long as it is legal in their state. If they are a party to the conversation in “single party” states like Minnesota, there is generally nothing unlawful in doing so.
You are conflating what McDermott did and the reporter did, both of which were illegal, with totally LEGAL means of recording interactions with an agency known to cover up things unless they are recorded. What Steve Cooper did appears to be legal in most states that are “single party” states.
Get your facts right.
…and YOU should not be using clear wiretapping cases to compare to a veteran recording a doctors appointment.
WTF do you not understand about illegally intercepting and recording a CELL PHONE CALL?
I disagree,,,if ,”Ben” is relating his jmo,,of recording/video ,what ever,,read my post ealier,,,RECORDING my doctors nurse lying,,,SAVED MY LIFE!!,,rather then facing a lawsuit,,the nurse who willfully lied ,, in essence hurting me medically,,,was fired because of me secretly recording her lies,,,and my life medically was literally saved because I choose to record in secret…Just because u record doesn’t mean you’ll have to use,,but it does mean u have proof in your back pocket,should YOUR LIFE was/will be put in danger because of a incompetent lying medical personel,,,Personally i choose the ,”spy pens,” off of ebay,,,they work well,,and have a lot of memory,,jmo,,mary
I’ve done the same thing, recording conversations w/ V.A. in single party consent state. One time, an administrator with Outsude Care Office got flustered & said, “You only have proof of this call if you are recording this call.”, after she said I was insulting her staff by saying they needed to be more proactive when it comes to Choice Act.
Now if only I could get Mr. Krause to return the calls, emails, & even a text msg, I could get some guidance on how to deal with VA facility denying me a surgery I desperately need.
Ballpark, how many days’ delay in diagnosing a cancerous lesion constitutes failure to timely diagnose cancer? If a VAMC does fail to make timely diagnosis, and covers it up long enough to get past the FTCA statute of limitations, does a veteran have any other recourse?
Please elaborate more about the FTCA statue of limitations. Exposure problem here. Thanks
Nothing to elaborate.
It’s passed.
So, ballpark, how many days’ failure to diagnose cancer = failure to make a timely diagnosis?
Thanks.
I caught the same minimizing wording as you did Ben…this veteran…on this day. The VA are Masters at minimizing any situation to the point of blatantly lying. Veterans can see the lies clearly, then the VA wonders why we have zero trust in them.
As for the Choice program, I have a letter from a Veterans Choice official clearly stating a veteran using Choice for any reason will have Medicare, other primary payer or their private health insurance billed first before Choice will pay anything, regardless of service connection. I had a congressional aide confirm that for me yesterday.
In other words, this has been a huge fraud and scam perpetrated by Congress on veterans claiming it was passed to reduce wait times. It was not. It is no wonder so many veterans have been billed or had their credit ruined by this disaster of a program.
On the ADA and recording, it would be helpful if you write a separate column on this Ben explaining how ADA allows this, and how veterans can use this at their VA appointments under the ADA.
Imagine the accountability improvement at the VA if thousands of veterans began recording all of their appointments. I imagine quite a few providers would be a damn sight more careful about the treatment they provide.
Imagine the AFGE thugs demanding the VA create policies banning any recording, in direct violation of the ADA.
Your column on this would really help educate veterans since I’ve read a number of posts on this at VA is Lying questioning whether it is allowed.
As they state you can hire new top management over and over. But the old management is still in charge and they are not going to change.
They are God’s and act like it. You have people who will put their own mother under the bus.
The good buddy system. Were top management hires people they know. That will do their bidding. No matter who it hurts.
Let’s look at fort lyon vamc ? They closed it. Because the VA had to pay out so much money to employees making claims against the facility. Where employees were being targeted by management.
They did not fire those manager’s. They closed the facility and dispursed management throughout Colorado to Run the cboc’s.
These people are like a cancer. The VA operated to try and take the cancer out. They took out the good amune system
But left the cancer and it spread all over Colorado. These employees are former fort lyon employees whom caused the facility to shut down.
Any veteran who questions them or had dealing with them when fort lyon was open will attack the veteran or former employees they did not like.
The Denver vamc covers up for them and will hurt the veteran.
Try and cure this cancer which is VA management. Their terminal and this cancer spreads to other employees.
Remember. Management holds the purse strings and thise that want to be manager’s. Will kiss so much but and do anything their told to do. !!!
If a veteran gives you any crap. Write them up and we will report them to the disruptive committee
You don’t even need to write it down a phone call is all we have to do. Hell. The committee will fix them it’s a given.
These dam veterans don’t know what we can do to them. So let them moan and complain. We’ll fix them.
500 patient’s in may. Don’t think so.
They may have scheduled that many and only did so to cook the book’s once again. See we scheduled them. !
A little off subject.
Hey, Seymore Klearly, got something you may want to compare and contrast.
It’s the “Teapot Dome Scandal” of the 1920’s vs. the “Uranium Deal Scandal” of Hildabeast’s doing, as Secretary of State, a few years ago.
I looked up both. I’d like to get your opinion.
Does it, or would it, be a violation of the “Dobbs’s Act”?
When I read the article, on the ” Teapot Dome Scandal”, it wasn’t the “money transfers which were illegal”, it was the “contracts” which were illegal!
Remember, the “Uranium Deal” is taking land away from ranchers and farmers west of the Mississippi at an alarming rate! Where the Clinton Foundation enriched themselves!
Idaho, Oklahoma and Northern Texas were the last states I could find on the web. Where the owners were fighting the BLM’s, (Bureau of Land Management’s)! Other states include, Nevada, Oregon, Washington (?) Montana and a couple more.
The “Teapot Dome Scandal” had to do with “Oil Reserves”! Which brought into play “Sinclair Petroleum Company” in California and I can’t remember the other state, right off hand.
Both seem pretty similar, in my opinion. Especially when it comes to “(illegal) Contracts” between two entities, (the United States and a company in Russia and Canada for Uranium. And California and the other state for oil), Yet, the MSM isn’t correlating them together, yet!
When Former New York Mayor Rudy Guliani spoke at Mr. Trump’s campaign rally in both Florida and Mississippi yesterday or the day before, he referenced both the “Teapot Dome Scandal” and the “Nixon Tapes”!
On the “Nixon Tapes”, he was referencing how Nixon stupidly “…kept the tapes…”, whereas Hildabeast tried to “…delete her emails”.
Which, by the way, the NSA “…hacked…” and turned over to the FBI, (A Fact Chris Wallace can’t bring himself to admit to), and Wikileaks, (somehow), brought them out into the “…light of day!”
How Wikileaks ended up with Thousands of these emails is still a secret!
I did thee exact same thing w/my hospital..in Milwaukee,,There was a nurse ,my doctors nurse,,who did not like me for some reason,,1st she claimed I was filling my meds early,,,well dahhh,,the pharmacy has a record of every time u fill your meds,,My meds prescriptions is mailed out,,living 3 hours North of Milwaukee,,,records indicated she was 1 week late every month for 2 years..Then she tried to claim I called my Doctors office excessively,,again dah…got the phone records,,1nce a month for 2 years to simply ,”call in ,” my meds,,,At this point I knew this nurses motive was to get me kicked out of Pain Management,,,Soo every time I called in my Meds,,, I recorded it,,,every time I called in my meds,, I asked,,,do I need an appointment,,,,Nope,,,this nurse would reply,,,for 2 years she replied NO,,,2 YEARS AGO I GOT THE DREADED LETTER,, the letter no chronic pain humanbeing wants,,,your discharge from pain management due to lack of appointment,”’ x-mas eve,, I received this letter..Try getten a hold of any one on x-mas,,,Every time I called his office she would lie,,or literally refuse to put me in contact w/my doctors,or not even answer the phone..Finally,,like I did when sher pulled the early script lie,,and the excessive phone call lie,, I sent my Doctor a registered letter w/24 recording in it of asking for an appointment..This was BEFORE,, Dr.Government cdc tortureous /genocidal guidelines,,,New Years day,, I get a phone call from my doctor,,telling me to come in,,, I was back in pain management,,the nurse was fired!,,See the nurse personally believed I was faking it,,however my doctor knew better,,seeing as though he was thee anestethieologist for the surgeries to place chest tubes,because my left lung kept collapsing,,he found a tumor w/in my thorcic spinal cord,pressing against the heart,the lungs,,and just recently emergency surgery for pancreatits,,50 pounds worth of edema thru-out my body,,,both ducts were close,ie pancreatic/bile,liver,pancreas,gallblader ,heart 3 times their normal size..The gallbladder was soo full of stones and calsified,full of more tumors it was the size of a softball,,and had to be removed,,gee do u think that aided in a collapsed lung,thoracic physical pain,,Almost died 2ce under anastethia trying to fix thee whole mess.Point being,,,record,video,,whatever u gotta do,,to literally save your own life..Now at every appointment I bring in a ,”spy pen,”,purchase off of ebay for 10 bucks,,videos and records,,,fyi,maryw
@Ben- Great to hear and see a story where the evidence speaks for itself and the VA cannot redefine it as some sort of fluke. “Cannot find my stethoscope”…you wonder how that Dr. wipes his ass each day and if he even bothers to wash his hands afterwards because you know, soap is such a hard thing to find as well. 🙂
It is a systemic problem with the VA. Phoenix just happens to be one of the many “poster-childs”. I hope this gains traction and pray for the recovery of this Vet and safety of all Vets using the VA Deathcare.
I had a close friend, a “brother”, who died of “Stage 4 Prostate Cancer” a few months ago. I’ve mentioned this before!
The VHA in Daytona Beach, Fl was responsible for NOT diagnosing it in time. As a matter of fact, they didn’t diagnose it at all. All they kept harping on was “diabetes”!
When he began losing massive amounts of weight, he went outside, and by using Medicaid, found he didn’t have diabetes, he was in the early part of “Stage 4 Prostate Cancer”!
He kept telling VA physicians about the pain he had in his lower back. All they would do is ‘up his pain medication’!
In his “last month”, my “brother” was in so much pain, the meds were administered very frequently, almost hourly!
The day he died, his wife said a “smile came upon him!” As though “he was set free!”
At least that was something good. His pain was no longer a problem!
At his “Wake” we did what he wanted. We partied! That’s because he was a “true biker!” Not a “motorcycle enthusiast!”
He and I worked on quite a few bikes together throughout the years, mostly Harleys!
His “name” was “Hangman”! He was out of California!
This is what the VA will do to sabotage access to healthcare with a mere phone menu system, now just think what kind of bowel blockages the VA can concoct with a few Billion in IT $$$.
This new VA OIG was yet another deck chair nailed down to the deck of the V.A. Titanic, and it’s part of the “culture” at the VA and they ATTRACT THE SAME …ILK. Sludge attracts sludge. The system needs purged.
Social Security definitely runs a much tighter ship. Like another Veteran posted this week, you do not see billboards being put up about the SSA Lying across the USA do you?
Also, anyone remember the VERY DAY or TWO before 9/11, Rumsfeld came on a news blip before Congress and he expressed orchestrated “outrage” that the Defense Dept (DoD) had NO IDEA where like $3 Trillion$$$ went to? Poof!
I mention that because we have had a few instances of that since with DoD and the VA seems to consume that much $$$ and more and STILL shows absolutely no signs of improving nor even wanting to improve the sinking ship!
What I am questioning again is, where’s all the money going if the turds are still in the punch bowl??
Yes, word of the week for me is, ‘Turd’. Why? Because the poop deck on the V.A. Titanic is so full it’s causing the off-balance to point is is spinning around in the water as fast as the Spin Dr. at VA Public Relations.
Rant out and RECORD ON! Hell, use video as well. Resolution is great on the cheap these days. Record On!
Hey Namnibor,
You asked: “What I am questioning again is, where’s all the money going if the turds are still in the punch bowl??”
With the VA’s Genome project and other resent advances in how to utilize Veterans Health care as a non-human subject research pool. I am guessing I know where some of the money is going.
Check out an article from yesterday in Bloomberg’s legal.
“VA RESEARCHERS TESTING CHEAPER CLINICAL TRIALS USING TECH”, by Alex Ruoff, Aug 25, 2016
“https://www.bna.com/va-researchers-testing-b73014446881/”
They are now opening access to all Veterans Medical Records across the country to researchers. In fact they have made the major investments of updating all the software no doubt using money meant for improvements in Veterans health care.
Now any one who is receiving health care through the VA is a lab rat.
Here is the opening of the article.
”
“Clinicians across more than 30 VA medical centers are taking part in a $10 million randomized clinical trial meant to compare two common treatments for hypertension. These doctors will not, however, noticeably change how they’re treating their patients or how they collect data about them.
In fact, after veterans are enrolled in the trial, they and the doctors already treating them will primarily be asked to continue managing their blood pressure, unlike the vast majority of clinical trails, where patients are treated by new doctors and overseen by study staff.
The clinical trial that kicked off earlier in August is a test case in an initiative that’s trying to revolutionize how clinical trials are performed through the use of health information technologies, researchers told me. If successful, they could save the federal government millions of dollars on research each year and make it easier to answer long-standing questions about efficacy of certain medicines.
“There are many questions in medicine, and big trials could give us answers, but they can be expensive and take a long time,” Frank Lederle, an internist who heads the study and works in Minneapolis for the Department of Veterans Affairs, told me.
By taking advantage of the VA’s integrated electronic health record system and informatics staff, the administrative costs of Lederle’s trial won’t increase with its sample size, as is typical for most clinical trials, Lederle said.”
”
You know that it cost big bucks to set up that computer software. Of course if you are a veteran trying to schedule an appointment for Stage four cancer the software is incompatible.
Namnibor,
I forgot to add that I cannot for the life of me find any appropriations from congress to update the research software used by the VA. I wonder where that money came from.
What is really sad is the VA response will be to punish the employees who were critical of the VA. Maintaining a false front of ‘everything is fine here’ is what keeps the VA from getting to authentically good customer care where the employees are happy to work there.
ICARE values, but never ‘make the VA look bad’ by speaking the truth. The VA is doing its own job of that.
That said, it still does work well for the overwhelming majority of veterans. But I won’t rest until it works for everyone with no one left out.
I FIND IT HARD TO TELL THE RIGHT PERSON OR WRONG PERSON TO TELL MY LIFE AND TIMES WITH THE va AND ANYONE WHO IS PART OF THAT SYSTEM WHY LOOK AT IT MONEY MAKES ALL OF THE DEALS IN THIS SYSTEM. YES EVEN THE dav IS HOOKED UP INIT. WHY I SAY SO THE 100 YEARS THEY ARE SAID TO BE PROUD OF FIGHTING FOR THE VET RIGHT IS A JOKE IF THEY TOOK ALL THAT TIME AND WAIST OF MAN AND WOMEN POWER TO SO CALL FIGHT FOR US AND DID MORE FIGHTING FOR THE TRUTH ABOUT THE va AND THAT THEY HAVE BEEN DOING FOR MANY YEARS AT LEAST OVER 90 YEARSTHE SYSTEM WOULD BE FIXED AND THE VET WOULD NOT NEED TO FIGHT WHAT THE COUNTRY AND GOVERNMENT TOLD US WHO DID THEIR WORK AND WELL UNTIL THE GOVERNMENT PUT THEIR HAND INTO FIGHTING A WAR AND STOP IT BEFORE IT WAS FINISHED AND NOW MORE MEN AND NOW WOMEN WILL DIED FOR THEIR LACK OF LETTING THOSE WHO FIGHT FIGHT TILL ALL THE WORK IS DONE WITH THE LEAST AMOUNT OF US GETTING HURT OR KILLED BECAUSE THEY KNOW BEST HOW TO KILL MORE OF US THAN THE ONES WE FIGHT FOR THEM, TO HAVE OVER 22 VETS A DAY KILL THEM SELF IS THE WEIGHT THEY WHO PUT THEM TO DEATH WILL PAY FOR FOREVER IN HELL AND ONLY HELL WHERE THEY BELONG. tHE DAV AND ALL VET ORG.ARE AT FAULT TOO BECAUSE THEY BARE IN IT AS DEEP AS THE VA AND THOSE WHO MAKE MONEY OFF THE DEATHS OF US AFTER OUR TIME IN HARMS WAY. IF YOU ARE REAL SEND ME A RETURN TEXT NOT JUST GIVE ME A STORY OF HOW YOU ARE FOR US AND DO SOMETHING FOR A CHANGE IF NOT YOU HAVE MY INFO AND YOU ARE PART OF PROBLEM AND I WILL LOSE MY VA AND OTHER BENIFITS I HAVE FOUGHT FOR AND THEY GAVE AFTER 22 YEARS OF FIGHTING WITH THE VA FOR WHAT I AND EVERY VET WHO DID THEIR JOB SHOULD GET JAMES M. HANRAHAN
This is from a case brought against a non VA company, to bad the same logic isn’t applied to VA employees……………
“Companies must never benefit by using public officials to obtain a competitive business advantage,” said Stephen D. Anthony, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Cleveland Office. “The FBI will continue to root out corruption at all levels.”
“This meaningful agreement holds the corporation accountable for the conduct of its leadership,” said Michael J. Missal, Inspector General, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General (VA OIG). “A $12 million penalty along with 90 months of prison time for related case subjects is a strong deterrent against defrauding VA. We will continue to diligently and aggressively pursue fraud, waste, and abuse for the benefit of our nation’s heroes.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Antoinette T. Bacon and Paul Flannery following an investigation by the FBI and United States Department of Veterans Affairs-Office of Inspector General.
Hondo,
I like how Michael J Missal act as though he had something to do with the investigation and prosecution. Truth of the matter is the case against Cannon Designs was done by the FBI as part of their Cuyahoga County corruption investigation.
As a result of the FBI wiretapping the phone of a former Cuyahoga County Commissioner named Jimmy Dimora.
As a result of the wiretap the former director of the Cleveland and Dayton Veterans Affairs Medical Center, William D. Montague, was sentenced to 57 months in prison. He plead guilty to 64 counts, including Hobbs Act conspiracy, conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud, violating the Hobbs Act, money laundering, multiple counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, disclosing public contract information, and other charges.
The VA tried to sweep the investigation and wrong doing at the VA under the rug but the FBI pursued it.
A little bit on who he was working with from wikipedia about the investigation:
“
In July 2008, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents began raiding the offices of Cuyahoga County Commissioners and those of a wide range of cities, towns, and villages across Cuyahoga County.
The investigation revealed extensive bribery and corruption across the area, affecting hundreds of millions of dollars in county contracts and business. The investigation led to the arrest of county commissioner Jimmy Dimora; county auditor Frank Russo; MetroHealth vice president John J. Carroll; former Strongsville councilman Patrick Coyne; former Ohio District Courts of Appeals judge Anthony O. Calabrese III; former Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas judge Bridget McCafferty; Cuyahoga County Sheriff Gerald McFaul; former Cleveland City Council member Sabra Pierce Scott; Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas judge Steven Terry; and a wide range of attorneys, building inspectors, consultants, contractors, school district employees, and mid and low level county workers.
”
They all were caught because of wire-taps on Jimmy Dimora’s phone and after they got indicted they all started flipping on each other and more crime that covers the whole county.
When the Feds had everyone flipping on Montague, the wiretaps and paperwork the VA had to work with the FBI against Montague.
Other wise the VA would have let it go as just another day of doing business the VA way.
I think it’s gonna be business as usual at the VA, and not just the Phoenix hospital…untill they start firing and putting people in jail when the defraud the US taxpayer by wasting tax dollars and not doing their jobs….I’ve always found that the cure for bad behavior is SWIFT AND TERRIBLE RETRIBUTION…
I am going to agree with you Don it is the same old stink just a different day at the VA.
In fact, an article posted today by Alyssa Canobbio in the Washington Free Beacon opens with: “In a 2008 speech in Charleston, West Virginia, then-Sen. Barack Obama told a story of an 89-year-old World War II veteran who committed suicide in the parking lot of a Veterans Affairs hospital after he was constantly denied help.
Obama called it a betrayal of the ideals for which troops that risk their lives.
“We’ve all heard what it is like to navigate the broken bureaucracy of the VA. The impossibly long lines, the repeated calls for help that get you nothing more than an answering machine,” Obama said”.
After reading Ben’s article about Veteran Steve Cooper and the problems with his health care and after reading another article about 76-year-old Veteran Peter A. Kaisen. The Veteran who shot himself out side of a VA Medical Facility after being denied care this past Sunday.
It is clear that nothing has changed at the VA. Same exact stink different day is all.
Sources:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Flashback: Obama in 2008 on ‘Keeping Our Faith With Veterans’”, by Alyssa Canobbio, Washington Free Beacon, published August 25, 2016
“https://freebeacon.com/politics/flashback-obama-2008-keeping-faith-veterans/”
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“76-year-old veteran commits suicide in VA parking lot”, By Jessica Chasmar – The Washington Times – Thursday, August 25, 2016
“https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/aug/25/peter-kaisen-76-year-old-veteran-commits-suicide-i/”
Obama is great at “words”!
Where and What the fuck has he done to correct the VA in the past 7 and 1/2 years?
I’ll tell you what he’s done, not a damn thing, except play golf or go on vacations, or how about that “Apology Tour” he took. Where he made all of America a laughing stock. Or how about that $1.7 BILLION he just gave Iran since Jan 2016! Google it. He gave 13 payments of millions of $$$$ on top of the $400 Million for the release of those captives! The way it went down was $1.3 Billion + $400 million = $1.7 Billion! Congress was not involved, or so they say!?
This was reported by WND two days ago!
How about all the other bullshit crap he and others in his administration have done. They’ve done nothing but lie to the American Citizen, and that includes veterans!!!!! I could add a lot more, only y’all get the big picture!
Like namnibor and others have said, Titanic has hit the iceberg, we don’t have much time left.
I hope many VA employees start jumping ship the closer we get to November.
I’m waiting for the next set of ’emails’ Wikileaks is planning on releasing in Oct. or maybe sooner. This last batch really hurt her chances! Even Democrats are calling her out. That’s bad!
“Hildabeast” was in Reno last night. Didn’t take any questions!
She gave out chocolate! She’s actually hiding from the press. At least the press that doesn’t cater to her bullshit!
Rant out for now!
I’d be very careful in doing that as the VA could sue. Under federal law, which they are suppose to follow; you cannot make a recording of another person without their knowledge and you cannot disperse it. Jim McDermott (D) Washington State was found guilty of federal felony wiretapping when he took an illegally recorded conversation and gave it to the press. He was fined over 1.5 MILLION dollars and just recently lost his bid to have this removed from his personal and Congressional record.
Now if they can sue a US Congress member for dispersing a recording that others didnt know they were being recorded, care to guess what they can do to us little people?
@Daniel Gray, I’m going to nip this in the ass right away before you scare the hell out of veterans without good reason. Rather that spread myths, please do your homework next time when you post here.
https://www.rcfp.org/reporters-recording-guide
TRUTH. Federal law is “single party” consent and not “dual party” consent as you suggest. Generally speaking, this means you do not need the consent of the other party so long as you are party to the conversation. There may be some exceptions.
At many VA locations, the land was annexed by the Federal government. In others, it is leased by the Fed, but the rules vary regarding whose recording laws apply.
The veteran needs to be aware of the laws in his or her state before recording, each is different. Some states like Illinois and California are dual party where you need consent of all parties to the communication.
Minnesota allows recording so long as the person making the recording is a party to the conversation making it a “single” party state. Most states are “single” party states.
Do your homework before you record. If you have any questions, be sure to consult a lawyer to avoid ending up with anecdotal and incorrect advice.
Good work Ben.
BTW, Florida is a “dual party” (recording) state also.
I’ve checked this out last year. There’s been no change in the law – YET!
I forgot something.
When anyone calls you, here in Florida, all you have to say is; “Good Morning, this call is being recorded.”
IF the person continues speaking, the recording becomes legal in court!
That’s part of this “dual party recording law!”
Is it possible to violate State Statute while on VA Property? Does any jurisdiction other than Federal apply? Can any statute, municipal, county, or other be applied to a,person on Federal property? If so, how does statute differentiate between two individuals (one a employee and one not) who do the same thing?
I mean, if it is illegal for me to record, is it illegal for them to do so in the same room? Is this not sort of a Constitutional conflict? Two Americans, both in the same room. Both recording without telling anyone else. One is committing a crime. One is not. Am I reading this right? I define a crime as that action which will result in arrest.
This is a good explanation Ben, and is how I have typically understood the process.
What I would like to hear more on is how recording fits under the ADA as an adaptive technology for those with memory problems.
I suspect there would be serious pushback from VA on this, even in single party states, unless a veteran can claim it is a violation of the ADA to not allow it.
It wouldn’t be the first time the VA has lied to veterans on what the law truly is.
TO ALL YO WINO VETS JUST GO GET A COLD BREWSKI VA DEATHCARE IS GOING TO TAKE CARE OF YO PENDEJO VETS REAL GOOD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dan,
I record my telephone calls with VA. They even put into my record that I do so and they state in my record a refusal to speak with me on the phone because of it.
Tsun Tsu said that if I know myself and know my enemy then I will prevail. He also said a lot of other things I was required to read in OCS. Mostly he said, “Do not be stupid.”
It took about fifteen minutes and an iPad to determine from Oregon Statute that I had every right to record my calls from home. It took another four minutes to determine that a pblic servant refusing services for excersizing my rights is committing a class C felony under Oregon Law.
So I took a leap of faith that in twenty minutes I had learned from cross referenced resources what my rights were and what the law was. My enemy is not VA. My enemy is tyranny. Tyranny simply cannot exist in the light of day. There are too many peasant folk like me. Simple folk who know what end of the bull the hay goes into. I know my enemy and I know that it cannot defend against the light of day.
I recorded several sessions of tyranny on my phone in which I was asked to dispense with my Constitutional rights gifted me by America. The mouthpiece for tyranny was a VHA psycologist. He allowed me to record several calls and therefor no longer works as a mouthpiece for tyranny. I gave those recordings to the press and the light of day was shone upon tyranny. It retreated briefly. Good.
I knew how to proceed because I know my enemy. Tsun Tsu also spoke of (for lack of a better translation) “spies”, but not so much the spies like James Bond, but more like the kind that sows distrust, fear, and misinformation.
These kind of spies are pretty easy to spot. Tyranny is not the dragon on the hill, it is more of a soap scum spot.
pPENDEJO VETS VA DEATHCARE ONE BIG BIG BIG FEDERAL RICO CRIME RACKET RUN FOR @ BY AFGE UNION CONTACTS STUPID DUFUSS VETS AND YO THOUGHT VA DEATHCARE WAS FOR YOUR HEALTH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SILLY DUFUSS VETS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wrong Wrong Wrong! You can record any conversation secretly as long as at one point your voice
is in the conversation. You do Not have to tell the other party you are recording!!!