...cont.. The problems and scandals in the Veterans care system are as old as the United States and continued unabated to grow through all Presidential and congressional sessions...through political parties from Whig.. Federalist.. Democrat. Republican.. Or the whatever party.. Back through Obama, Bush, Clinton,bush, Reagan, Carter, richard( Im not a crook) Nixon.. Etc ad nauseam...>>>....1970s -- Veterans grow increasingly frustrated with the VA for failing to better fund treatment and assistance programs, and later to recognize exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange by troops in Vietnam as the cause for numerous medical problems among veterans. 1972 -- Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic, the subject of the book and movie, Born on the Fouth of July, interrupts Richard Nixons GOP presidential nomination acceptance speech, saying, according to his biography, Im a Vietnam veteran. I gave America my all, and the leaders of this government threw me and others away to rot in their VA hospitals. 1974 -- Kovic leads a 19-day hunger strike at a federal building in Los Angeles to protest poor treatment of veterans in VA hospitals. He and fellow veterans demand to meet with VA Director Donald Johnson. The embattled director eventually flies to California to meet with the activists, but leaves after they reject his demand to meet in the VAs office in the building, according to Johnsons 1999 Los Angeles Times obituary. The ensuing uproar results in widespread criticism of Johnson. A few weeks later, Johnson resigns after President Richard Nixon announces an investigation into VA operations. 1976 -- A General Accounting Office investigation into Denvers VA hospital finds numerous shortcomings in patient care, including veterans whose surgical dressings are rarely changed. The GAO also looked at the New Orleans VA hospital, and found ever-increasing patient loads were contributing to a decline in the quality of care there, as well. 1981 -- Veterans camp out in front of the Wadsworth Veterans Medical Center in Los Angeles after the suicide of a former Marine who had rammed the hospitals lobby with his Jeep and fired shots into the wall after claiming the VA had failed to attend to his service-related disabilities, the New York Times reported at the time. 1982 -- Controversial VA director Robert Nimmo, who once described symptoms of exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange during the Vietnam war as little more than teenage acne, resigns under pressure from veterans groups. Nimmo was criticized for wasteful spending, including use of a chauffeured car and an expensive office redecorating project, according to a 1983 GAO investigation. The same year, the agency issues a report supporting veterans claims that the VA had failed to provide them with enough information and assistance about Agent Orange exposure. 1984 -- Congressional investigators find evidence that VA officials had diverted or refused to spend more than $40 million that Congress approved to help Vietnam veterans with readjustment problems, the Washington Post reports at the time. 1986 -- The VAs Inspector Generals office finds 93 physicians working for the agency have sanctions against their medical licenses, including suspensions and revocations, according to a 1988 GAO report. 1989 -- President Ronald Reagan signs legislation elevating the Veterans Administration to Cabinet status, creating the Department of Veterans Affairs. 1991 -- The Chicago Tribune reports that doctors at the VAs North Chicago hospital sometimes ignored test results, failed to treat patients in a timely manner and conducted unnecessary surgery. The agency later takes responsibility for the deaths of eight patients, leading to the suspension of most surgery at the center, the newspaper reported.
Posted on: Thu, 29 May 2014 14:34:10 +0000
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