Veterans Administration: Faces of Delay - Dereliction of Duty

Faces of Delay!

Part One: Delays, denials by VA deliver 'death sentence' to cancer victim,  By Mark Flatten 08/18/14

After years of missed warning signs by VA doctors, a Pennsylvania veteran's prostate cancer has gone from treatable to terminal. The first in a five-part series…..Read More…

Part Two: A fatal level of trust in Veterans Affairs care, By Mark Flatten  08/19/14

'A good man' dies after Veterans Affairs doctors dismissed his pain and rectal bleeding as constipation and hemorrhoids. The second in a five-part series…..Read More…

Part Three: Korean War veteran dies after Veterans Affairs hospital ignored his medical history, daughter says, By Mark Flatten 08/20/14

A fatal chain of events unfolds after California man seeks treatment for a sore on his toe. The third in a five-part series…..Read More…

Part Four: Treatment at a Veterans Affairs hospital nearly killed an agency whistleblower, By Mark Flatten 08/21/14

An Iraq war veteran says she lived through the patient care and retaliation scandals now plaguing the VA -- barely. Fourth in a five-part series…..Read More…

Part Five: Missed leukemia diagnosis by Veterans Affairs leaves vet who put his trust in doctors living 'day to day', By Mark Flatten 08/22/14

An Indiana man faces an uncertain fate after warning signs went unnoticed in six years of VA medical screenings…..Read More…

Dereliction of Duty

Day One: Fraud rampant in veterans preference contracts, By Mark Flatten  08/05/13

An estimated $12.3 billion in federal contracts went to firms last year that received the preference because the owner claimed to be a service-disabled veteran….Read More…

Day Two: 'Trust me' is federal policy on policing preference fraud, By Mark Flatten  08/06/13

Lying won't get you banned from a federal program that gives preferential treatment in government contracting to companies owned by veterans with service-connected disabilities. If one agency catches you misrepresenting your qualifications, you can simply move on to the next one, which is... Read More…

Day 3: VA slow to clean up broken veterans preference contracting mess, By Mark Flatten  08/07/13

Recent studies by the Government Accountability Office and the VA's inspector general question the agency's claims that it has rooted out hucksters who lie about their service records or control of businesses to win lucrative federal set-aside and sole-source contracts.….Read More…

Day 4: Veterans preference fraud widespread but government prosecutes few cases

By Mark Flatten  08/08/13
Veterans preference fraud cost taxpayers billions of dollars every year, but federal prosecutions are rare. Investigations by the VA IG, which has been the most aggressive in policing the program, have led to 16 convictions in recent years. Part four of a five-part series….. Read More…

Day 5: Few in Congress seem to care about veterans preference fraud, By Mark Flatten  08/09/13

The tough task for lawmakers is striking a balance that will prevent fraud but not harm legitimate service-disabled veterans with overly burdensome regulations. Last of a five-part series……. Read More…

More.....

• Faces of scandal
• Delayed tests, inadequate care linked to 23 cancer patient deaths at VA hospitals
• Nothing stopped VA's fat bonuses, not even dead vets, dirty hospitals
• VA bureaucrats shuffle paper as dying Marine grows weaker
• Three more veterans die after improper VA medical treatment
• Millions of tax dollars in 'sordid' bonuses paid to top VA administrators despite phony wait lists, patient deaths
• Claims errors, long appeals still haunt disabled veterans
• VA purged thousands of medical tests to 'game' its backlog stats
• Failing VA officials collected massive bonuses for years
• The man picked to clean up VA scandals
• The surprising thing VA admitted while asking Congress for $18 billion more