"VA has held 41 employees accountable for these events and has initiated disciplinary action, with additional investigations still underway."

by Larry Scott, VA Watchdog dot Org

-------------------------

We have been reporting on the VA's contaminated equipment problems since the story broke earlier this year.

All information is on this page ...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/contam
inatedequipment.htm

So far, 57 veterans have tested positive for hepatitis B, hepatitis C or HIV since undergoing an endoscopic procedure at three VA facilities.

The latest tallies are on this VA page ...
http://www1.va.gov/opa/fact/endosco
pic_notification.asp

Also, an "UPDATE" from the VA recently appeared on that same page.

With little fanfare, the VA has announced that, "VA has held 41 employees accountable for these events and has initiated disciplinary action, with additional investigations still underway."

They sure did this quietly!

Now, the question is:  What does "accountable" mean, exactly?  And what type of "disciplinary action?"

Loss of job?  Demotion? 

We may never know.

If investigations are still underway, then we can expect to hear more from the VA's Office of Inspector General (VAOIG) in the future.  But, will we know exactly what action was taken against those responsible?  Unlikely.

VAOIG reports on this matter are here:

VAOIG FINDS FUNDAMENTAL DEFECTS IN VA HEALTH CARE (06-16-09)   On contaminated equipment: The failure of medical facilities to comply on such a large scale with repeated alerts and directives suggests fundamental defects in organizational structure.

VAOIG: VA'S CONTAMINATED EQUIPMENT COULD BE WIDESPREAD (06-16-09)   Leaked VAOIG report states only 43% of VA facilities had proper training and guidelines in place for endoscopic procedures.

VAOIG: FOLLOW-UP REPORT ON VA'S CONTAMINATED EQUIPMENT (09-18-09)   Among the 129 facilities inspected in August, all 129 were compliant with respect to SOPs.

-------------------------

TOPICS: veterans, veterans' benefits, VA, Department of Veterans' Affairs, contaminated equipment, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV