AFTER SURGICAL DEBACLE, VA LAUNCHES VOLUNTARY PROGRAM TO TEACH VA DOCTORS THEIR LEFT FROM THEIR RIGHT
An Air Force veteran has filed a federal claim [official policy on federal claims for V.A. compensation is that all claims are always denied the first two times after lengthy "investigation periods" in hopes that the veteran will die before adjudicating the case] after an operation at a Veterans Administration hospital in which a healthy testicle was removed instead of a potentially cancerous one.
Benjamin Houghton, 47, was to have had his left testicle removed June 14 at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center because there was a chance it could harbor cancer cells. It also was atrophied and painful.
But doctors mistakenly removed the right testicle, according to medical records and the claim, which seeks $200,000 for future care and unspecified damages. He still hasn't had the other testicle removed.
"At first I thought it was a joke," Houghton told the Los Angeles Times. "Then I was shocked. I told them, 'What do I do now?'"
[After getting no response from the doctors who cannot be sued for malpractice and therefore give a rat's ass, Houghton got an attorney to help him file a claim for 'non service-connected disability']
Houghton, his wife, Monica, and their attorney, Dr. Susan Friery, said they hoped to get the VA's attention by going public with the situation. [It's really very difficult to get the V.A.'s attention, even after they butcher you]
Dr. Dean Norman, chief of staff for the Greater Los Angeles VA system, has formally apologized to Houghton and his wife. "We are making every attempt [a blatant lie] that we can to care for Mr. Houghton, but it's in litigation, and that's all we can tell you," he said. The hospital changed practices as a result of the case, he added. [Which means it's business as usual at the V.A. butcher shop]
Benjamin Houghton, 47, was to have had his left testicle removed June 14 at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center because there was a chance it could harbor cancer cells. It also was atrophied and painful.
But doctors mistakenly removed the right testicle, according to medical records and the claim, which seeks $200,000 for future care and unspecified damages. He still hasn't had the other testicle removed.
"At first I thought it was a joke," Houghton told the Los Angeles Times. "Then I was shocked. I told them, 'What do I do now?'"
[After getting no response from the doctors who cannot be sued for malpractice and therefore give a rat's ass, Houghton got an attorney to help him file a claim for 'non service-connected disability']
Houghton, his wife, Monica, and their attorney, Dr. Susan Friery, said they hoped to get the VA's attention by going public with the situation. [It's really very difficult to get the V.A.'s attention, even after they butcher you]
Dr. Dean Norman, chief of staff for the Greater Los Angeles VA system, has formally apologized to Houghton and his wife. "We are making every attempt [a blatant lie] that we can to care for Mr. Houghton, but it's in litigation, and that's all we can tell you," he said. The hospital changed practices as a result of the case, he added. [Which means it's business as usual at the V.A. butcher shop]
Tags: Youtube, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Dept of Veteran Affairs, veterans issues, V.A. butcher shops, U.S. military veterans, shabby treatment, Air Force veteran butchered, V.A. stalls on compensation, testicles, surgical debacle, West Los Angeles VA Medical Center, non service-connected disability, Dr. Dean Norman, shill, blatant lies, business as usual, veteran mistreatment, James Jarvis
Issues.
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