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VA LOOKING INTO NINE DEATHS AT MARION HOSPITAL
--
Sen. Durbin: "They felt that Marion was
performing
surgeries beyond the normal types of surgeries
you
would expect given the capacities of the
institution."
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)
For more about the troubles at the Marion VA,
use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/ses
search.php?q=marion&op=and
Story here...
http://www.chicago
tribune.com/news/local/chi-ma
rion04oct04,1,1563674.story
Story below:
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VA looking into 9 deaths
Senator briefed on hospital's woes
By Deborah L. Shelton
Tribune staff reporter
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs revealed Wednesday that there
were nine deaths at the Marion VA Medical Center in a period that
normally would have seen just two, according to Sen. Dick Durbin, who
was briefed on the matter.
VA officials also disclosed that a surgeon who lost his license to
practice medicine in Massachusetts last year was involved in the patient
deaths now under investigation, Durbin said.
The VA announced last month that inpatient surgeries at the Downstate
hospital were being suspended after a computer analysis detected an
unexpected spike in patient deaths, though officials did not reveal how
many deaths were involved.
In a private meeting, top VA officials told Durbin on Wednesday that
nine patients died at the Marion VA between October 2006 and March 2007,
a number considerably higher than the two deaths they would have
expected to see during the time period.
The meeting came after Durbin and fellow Sen. Barack Obama sent a letter
to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs asking about the agency's response
to the deaths.
Durbin said it was not clear from comments made during the meeting
whether Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez had operated on all nine patients or
what the extent of his involvement in their deaths was. But he said VA
officials confirmed that Veizaga-Mendez, who worked at the hospital from
January 2006 until August 2007, had some role in the patient deaths.
"As these investigations continue, we're hoping to find out to what
extent he was involved," Durbin said after the meeting.
Matt Smith, a spokesman for the VA in Washington, would not comment
about the meeting or confirm details about the early findings from the
federal investigations.
"Any issue with the quality of care at the VA, even an isolated case, is
a major concern, and we'll take the necessary steps to correct any
issues," he said.
Questions also have been raised within the VA about whether the
surgeries that led to the patient deaths at the Marion VA should have
been performed in the hospital at all, Durbin said.
"They said these were very aggressive surgeries for this hospital, very
complex surgeries," Durbin said. "They felt that Marion was performing
surgeries beyond the normal types of surgeries you would expect given
the capacities of the institution."
Durbin said VA officials were notified Veizaga-Mendez was barred from
practicing medicine in Massachusetts. That action happened after he
started working at the Marion VA hospital.
Veizaga-Mendez had been under investigation by Massachusetts licensing
authorities for providing "grossly substandard care" that led to patient
deaths and complications when he agreed to surrender his state license
in July 2006.
"We have a case of a doctor that never should have been allowed to
practice until all the questions had been answered," Durbin said.
Veizaga-Mendez resigned from the Marion VA hospital on Aug. 13, three
days after one of his patients there bled to death after routine
gallbladder surgery. The VA shut down inpatient surgeries at the
hospital shortly afterward.
"Early evidence indicates that some bad decisions were made about
surgeries," Durbin said. "There were surgeries that should have taken
place at a much larger hospital, an academic medical center or a
research hospital that had better capacity. Nine patients may have died
as a result of those bad decisions."
Four top officials, including the hospital director and chief of
surgery, have been reassigned or placed on administrative leave as part
of the shake-up at the medical center, which serves veterans from 52
counties in southern Illinois, southwestern Indiana and western
Kentucky.
dshelton@tribune.com
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Larry Scott --
