Politics As Usual

Why are these people being mistreated? It's bad enough that they are fighting a useless war. Then they come home to be so horribly treated, then abandoned in a sea of paperwork and obstacles? What kind of people, as a nation, are we?

There is your "War on Terror," Mr. Bush. Veterans coming home to being misdiagnosed for no reason at all. Fix that terror, and the others will fall into place. Remember, charity begins at home.

This is unexcusable. How many more like this are out there? It's time for our President to take care of the troops and let some heads roll. Results Mr. President not more lip service.

Inexcusable. We owe our veterans better than this!

This story is so full of lies and inaccuracies its pathetic. Typical liberal abc news garbage that offends me greatly. I am a severely disabled veteran. The VA has treated me and my family with honor and integrity each and every time that I have been there; which is frequent. They even treat me well when I do not treat them well because of my physical pain or illnesses. ABC are the insurgents of America. Liars = ABC. Spewing hate towards your own American citizens with this vile garbage.

The VA is closing a perfectaly
Good VA hospital in Knoxville Iowa that could be put to very good use to take care of the Vetrans,but No body will listen. Some thing is Terribly wrong

Patron of Healing: I have to agree. We seem to be more concerned with people outside our borders. This country needs to turn inward to its own.

how many patients does the VA treat per year? how many in other hospitals? How many accidents happen. 100k a year get staph infections if non va hospitals.

How many stories like this do we have to endure before something other than a dog and pony show by the VA Director and his boss? Too much incompitance for too many years. Do they not know the full meaning of "Support Our Troops"?

Marinescallmedoc if ABC is bad as you say it is,then why do you still come and read the abcnews and comment on the stories and say negative things. I have seen you a few times and each negative. Just do not come to abcnews if it is so bad for your taste and leave us alone with the negativity. Hope you have a great day.

My husband goes to the VA in Martinsburg, WV. He has not always been treated fairly or well, but he has me to cause enough noise to get what is needed. There are many Vets who do not have anyone to make noise for them. Although there are many instances of good VA care, there are just as many instances of bad VA care. ABC is correct in this report. The Vet in questions is a real person. Yes, it also happens outside of VA hospitals, but the government is supposed to take care of Vets and sometimes it doesn't seem to care.

shakespearetobe - clearly youre misinformed.. I live 30 minuets from Marion IL. This is exactly what happened. My boyfriend.. an Iraqi war vet (so yea i know about the paper work and the lines, not to mention having to drive to St. Louis, a 2 hour drive, to get a physical) So I think your just choosing to whine about ABC here!

excuse me that was to MarinesCallmeDoc.

I'll bet you the top dogs, from Majors through Generals, get better care than our regular army. What a disgrace. Another black mark to add to this administration and it's haphazard methods of leadership, if that's what you want to call the mess.

The soldiers must be treated with respect, and taken good care of. The following question needs to be addressed by the government and presidential candidates: How to quality control care given to veterans, and provide competent care? How to streamline the process for veterans to get their benefits so that they can live and get better without being run through the bureacracy ?

"The top two administrators at the Marion, Ill., Veterans Affairs Hospital have been reassigned to other facilities as the government investigates why there has been an increase in the number of deaths after certain surgical procedures." byline LEN WELLS - Courier and Pres Saturday, September 15, 2007

The administration, that Americans elected, was known to be incompetent before 2004.

But because of fear, ignorance, and greed, the administration was reelected, supposedly be self called Christians.

America has only itself to blame for this mess.

We knew long ago that Saddam Hussein was no threat to America as proven by far greater leaders, B sr, Powell, and Schwartzkopf, than those you elected from 2000 thru 2004.

And the democrats have stood by and done nothing.

Vote them all out America. Vote each and every one of these incompetent, racist, bigoted, arrogant, traitorous officials out of office.

I do not understand why America cannot see how incompetent and ignorant Bush is. Cheney is just a unsatisfied and full of hate kind of human being.

Is America itself really this stupid and fearful?

This article is completely inaccurate. I am 61 years old, a Vietnam era vet and the VA health care I have received in the last three years is the best I have ever received in my entire life. I was not a war hero just a company clerk but the Doctors, Nurses and administrators at the VA treat me like one. I haven’t been able to work for 20 years because of severe rheumatoid arthritis but now I am looking for a job.

After being discharged from the service with a medical disability years ago I too went to VA Hospitals because I was broke and companies that I worked for placed exclusions on my medical insurance (typical of todays corporate management that hate US Veterans). Just to see a VA doctor was an all day event. If you are unlucky enough to be admitted to a VA Hospital then you had better be good at self diagnosis of your ailment. They will take so many tests and tell you nothing. After a week of tests I had to tell my VA doctor what to proscribe me so I could get out of there. Now I have a job that doesn't discriminate against Veterans on their Health Insurance. I am very glad I don't have to visit the VA Hospital anymore. But if you are too sick and cannot get out of the Poverty Cycle (no one will hire you), then you are stuck with the VA and its quagmire.

When you have the wrong persons in charge this is the result. Get the right guys in charge in Washington to clean up the VA administration - it needs a complete overhaul immediately.

The VA refused to properly treat and to properly diagnose my chronic Lyme disease. The VA will not treat Lyme disease: that is their nationwide, unwritten policy.

This is simply a case of doctor error. It can happen to anyone at any hospital. My grandfather was misdiognosed at a private hospital and ended up almost bleeding to death. The fact of the matter is, we just hear about this one incident because it is in a government hospital. If you look at independent ratings of VA hospitals compared to private, on the whole, they are rated better than private hospitals in almost all categories. i.e. doctors, sanitation, ect.

It seems that there are some good VA hospitals out there with dedicated, competent staff. The problem is that there are far too many that seem to hire doctors who don't know a hypodermic needle from a toilet plunger. These are the ones that give VA hospital care a black eye, and they're the ones that need serious attention. Any doctor, nurse, or orderly who is found to have provided substandard care to a veteran should be made subject to a malpractice lawsuit and criminal charges. Perhaps that last is the key: make providing inadequate medical care to a veteran of the US armed forces a criminal offense. Maybe that would shake up the DVA and those who work for it.

Doctor error my butt! Ever heard of "Iatrogenic Disease"? It means your condition(s) were caused by a doctor or doctors.

I know, first hand, how shoddy VA and military care is. I was discharged from the U.S. Navy in 1986, but, not after I had 3 Congressional Investigations against the Great Lakes Naval Hospital for the crappy care I recieved. And yes, I had them on "malpractice", hands down.

However, since my discharge, I didn't get a whole of satifaction from the Marion, IL VA Medical Center until I came across a "contract doctor". He listened to me and the "ordeal" I went through in the Navy and reviewed my medical records. He diagnosed me with "Iatrogenic Disease" and it is part of my permanent record with the VA.

Some of you fellow veterans who are coming up "complaining" that this is a some type of conspiracy by ABC News, I suggest you get over your severe case of crainial rectal inversion and in a HURRY too!

This does happen, it has happened and will continue to happen.

We have a military veteran friend who was honorably discharged during the Vietnam era. He served in the US Navy while having dual citizenship (Canadian/US). He was born in Canada and his family moved to New York when he was a child and became dual Canadian and US Citizens.

After discharge my friend worked in the US for over 3 decades, paying US taxes and Social Security. When it came time to retire and apply for his pension he was informed that the US Department of Homeland Security had revoked his US citizenship and did not recognize his Canadian citizenship.

The Social Security Administration will not begin his pension payments until his citizenship issue is resolved. He has been trying to work this matter through the VA, his local representatives in government (congressional level) and directly through the Social Security Office. No one seems to know what to do, who should take action and who has responsibility. The DHS will not reply to his inquiries. Any ideas?

THIS IS WHY COUNTLESS VETS DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT GO TO THE VA HOSPITALS.