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On the 13th of
October, 2008, VA Watchdog dot Org broke the story about documents
found in shredder bins at the VA's Detroit Regional Office.
A number of those
documents were critical to veterans' disability claims.
As the story
unfolded, VA finally began to release information on the incident
and we learned that more than one Regional Office was involved in
this shredder scandal.
The VA's Office of
Inspector General (VAOIG) is investigating.
VA has instituted new
guidelines regarding handling of documents.
As the story
continues, we will post all relevant information on this page.
The newest
information is at the top of the page.
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VA SHREDDER SCANDAL & MISHANDLED DOCUMENTS ARTICLES:
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VAOIG CLOSES DOOR ON VA'S
DOCUMENT SHREDDING SCANDAL
(10-01-09)
Although report finds fault with
Regional Office mailrooms, says controls are in place to prevent
shredding of important claims documents.
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VAOIG REPORT BLASTS VA
FOR MISPLACED, LOST CLAIMS FOLDERS
(09-29-09)
VAOIG estimates that claims folders
for 296,00 vets were misplaced and 141,000 folders were lost, a
total of 10 percent of all folders.
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LETTER FROM VA SAYS
EMPLOYEES REMOVED EVIDENCE FROM CLAIM FILE
(09-16-09)
Profanity-laced letter from VA's
Montgomery Regional Office tells widow that VA employees
deliberately removed medical records from her late husband's file.
Now, VAOIG is investigating widow.
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SHAKE-UP AT VA'S MONTGOMERY
REGIONAL OFFICE
(07-15-09) Internal email
from manager begs staff to get to work and states, "We are NOT
providing quality service ..."
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VA'S LAX SECURITY OPENS
DOOR TO BENEFITS FRAUD (07-01-09)
VAOIG report says opportunities exist to bypass internal
controls to generate fraudulent large benefits payments.
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UNDER THE RADAR: MORE
MISHANDLED VA DOCUMENTS
(05-06-09)
VA whistleblower says he found ten
boxes of old mail and a widow's claim from September of 2007.
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REMINDER: THERE'S
STILL TIME TO RE-OPEN A CLAIM USING VA'S "MISSING DOCUMENTS" PROGRAM
(03-15-09)
After the shredder scandal became public, VA started a special
program that will allow vets to re-open some claims until Nov. 17,
2009.
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VIDEO UPDATE: THE VA IS A BUREAUCRATIC MESS
(03-05-09)
From the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, Wednesday, March 4,
2009.
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UPDATE: JOINT
CONGRESSIONAL HEARING FOCUSES ON VA'S DOCUMENT SHREDDING AND
MISHANDLING
(03-04-09)
DAV calls for prosecution of VA employees who fraudulently
withhold benefits or destroy records: "The message must be
clear...you will go to jail."
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UPDATE: VAOIG REPORTS
ON DOCUMENT DATE-SWITCHING AT FOUR VA REGIONAL OFFICES
(02-28-09)
Report says "inaccurate dates were
unintentional errors" and "no veterans or their beneficiaries
received incorrect or delayed benefit payments."
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GOV. UNION CLAIMS VA'S
DISABILITY BENEFITS EMPLOYEES NOT PROPERLY TRAINED
(02-24-09)
AFGE in Cleveland says, "Employees
are being placed on case production shortly after the hiring
process, and the only training many specialists receive...only
covers the basics..."
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UPDATE: "DOCUMENT
TAMPERING" PROBE NOW TO BE JOINT SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING
(02-19-09)
The Vets' Subcommittee on Oversight
and Investigation to join with Subcommittee on Disability
Assistance and Memorial Affairs for hearing.
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UPDATE: SUBCOMMITTEE
CHANGES DATE ON VA DOCUMENT MISHANDLING HEARING
(02-18-09)
Hearing: Document Tampering and
Mishandling at the Veterans Benefits Administration now scheduled
for March 3.
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CONGRESS TO HOLD FORMAL
HEARING ON VA SHREDDING AND DOCUMENT MISHANDLING
(02-07-09)
Formal hearing, not a roundtable, to
be held by the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and
Memorial Affairs on February 25.
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SEN. HILLARY CLINTON
BLAMES NEW YORK VETS' WOES ON VA CORRUPTION
(12-10-08)
Clinton blames delays in claims
processing on corruption at the VA Regional Office in New York City.
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VA EMPLOYEES "FIND" 700
VITAL DOCUMENTS DURING "AMNESTY" AT NEW YORK OFFICE
(12-05-08)
The irregularities in the New York
office are only the latest in a string of embarrassing revelations
about the handling of veterans' claims.
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OUT OF HARM'S WAY: VBA
PROMOTION SENDS WRONG MESSAGE
(12-04-08)
In the wake of the shredder scandal,
manager of the Cleveland Vets' Service Center gets promoted to VA's
Central Office.
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VA HAS A LONG HISTORY
OF LOSING PAPERWORK
(11-30-08)
Registered mail? A VA worker signed
and it vanished. Fax? VA claimed it never arrived. Regular mail?
Don't even ask.
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VA AUDIT FINDS OVER 50%
OF CLAIMS AT NEW YORK OFFICE HAD DATES CHANGED
(11-24-08)
Employees told VA investigators that
their supervisor had instructed them to enter incorrect dates, and
that the practice was widely known.
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VA SHREDDER SCANDAL:
LIKE AN OLD SOLDIER, IT WILL JUST FADE AWAY
(11-21-08)
Unless given new life by Capitol
Hill hearings, expect the VA shredder scandal to quietly disappear.
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HOUSE ROUNDTABLE ON VA
SHREDDING PRODUCES FEW SURPRISES
(11-20-08)
VBA chief promises to take care of
vets whose VA claim documents have been "mishandled."
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VA'S "SHREDDER"
TIMELINE AND EXPLANATIONS NOT BELIEVABLE
(11-19-08)
A primer for those attending or
viewing the House Vets' Committee roundtable discussion on VA's
document handling.
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FILNER TONES DOWN
RHETORIC ON VA SHREDDER SCANDAL
(11-18-08)
House Vets' Committee email changes
name of shredder "roundtable" and website has no info at all.
VA OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCES
POLICY TO RE-OPEN CLAIMS AFTER SHREDDER SCANDAL
(11-18-08)
VA Secretary Peake says, "Benefit of
doubt for vets, accountability for VA staff."
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SHREDDER SCANDAL FORCES
VA TO ALLOW RECONSIDERATION OF CLAIMS
(11-17-08)
Temporary VA rule will allow
some veterans to re-open claims where vet says "lost" paperwork
affected decision. But wait, there's a catch.
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HOUSE VA SHREDDER
"ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION" WILL BE WEBCAST
(11-14-08)
Committee spokesman verifies there
will be a live audio feed, and perhaps live video.
FILNER'S SHREDDER
"DISCUSSION" WILL NOT BE RECORDED OR AVAILABLE ON WEBCAST
(11-14-08)
House Vets' Chair's "roundtable
discussion" on VA document shredding will have no cameras or
microphones.
FILNER'S VA SHREDDER
HEARING DISAPPEARS, TURNS INTO "ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION"
(11-14-08)
House Vets' Chair's promised hearing
on VA document shredding will now be an informal "discussion."
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VA CONFIRMS EMPLOYEE
COMPUTER TAMPERING AT REGIONAL OFFICE
(11-13-08)
VA says someone intentionally
entered veterans' claim documents with incorrect dates, called
"backdating," into an internal database.
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VETERANS DAY
EDITORIAL: VA PUTS CREDIBILITY THROUGH SHREDDER
(11-11-08)
St. Petersburg Times:
"Documents such as key medical assessments may get destroyed as
a way to make denials easier."
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VA RESPONDS TO SERVICE
ORGS' RECOMMENDATIONS ON DOCUMENT HANDLING (11-07-08)
VA developing policy that affords
veterans the benefit of the doubt as to whether they had a
document or evidence lost or improperly handled.
VIDEO: VETS' ATTORNEY TALKS ABOUT MISHANDLED VA DOCUMENTS
AT COLUMBIA, SC
(11-07-08)
From WACH-TV News, Fox 57, Columbia, South Carolina -- Friday,
November 7, 2008.
A LOOK AT VA'S DOCUMENT
PROBLEMS IN COLUMBIA, SC
(11-07-08)
VFW: "We don't know how many, we don't know why it happened. It
will be interesting to find out."
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MISHANDLED VA DOCUMENTS CAN BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH
(11-04-08)
Sign at VA's Indianapolis
Regional Office warns of danger.
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VA SHREDDER STORY GAINS
NATIONAL MEDIA ATTENTION
(11-02-08)
U.S. News & World
Report: It will be nearly impossible to figure out how many
documents had been incorrectly destroyed in the past.
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VA MEETS WITH VETS'
SERVICE ORGS ON SHREDDER SCANDAL
(11-01-08)
Provides list of what
documents were found and where...also offers draft of action
plan.
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VA DOCUMENTS:
COMPUTERIZED FILES SUBJECT TO TAMPERING (10-31-08)
A denied VA claim is just a click away. Altering files and
changing dates all too common.
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VA DOCUMENT SCANDAL --
WHAT WAS MADDENING, IS NOW CRIMINAL
(10-28-08)
Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland:
"The issues at the VA have reached critical mass. The only fix is an
investigation by the Department of Justice."
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VA'S MAILROOM MADNESS AND
FILEROOM FOLLIES (10-27-08)
At the core of the VA's shredder
scandal is a "Who Cares" attitude when it comes to handling mail
and properly filing documents, problems the VA is studiously
trying to minimize.
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HOUSE VETS' COMMITTEE
TO PROBE VA SHREDDER SCANDAL (10-25-08)
Rep. Bob Filner: "This completely
shatters confidence in the whole VA system. These documents are
matters of life and death."
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NEW VA FIGURES SHOW
NATIONWIDE PROBLEM WITH SHREDDING CRITICAL DOCUMENTS (10-23-08)
VA finds hundreds of documents
critical to veterans' claims in shredder bins across the country.
FILNER COMPARES VA TO
"KEYSTONE COPS," TO HOLD HEARING ON SHREDDING IN NOVEMBER (10-24-08)
DAV SAYS THEY ARE
"OUTRAGED" BY VA SHREDDER SCANDAL
(10-24-08) "The
DAV urges the VA to take prompt corrective action...[and] that
individuals found to be responsible are held fully accountable."
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HISTORY OF DECEPTION --
VA ATTORNEYS CONVICTED OF DESTROYING DOCUMENTS (10-22-08)
In 1995 two VA attorneys were
sentenced to federal prison for destroying documents critical to
veterans' claims.
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DOES THE VA HAVE ALL
THE CLAIM DOCUMENTS YOU SUBMITTED? (10-21-08)
Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland
explains how to make sure your claim documents are not MIA... and,
how to make your voice heard in Washington.
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FEDERAL JUDGE FINES VA
FOR SHREDDING CRITICAL DOCUMENTS ... IN 1987 (10-20-08)
VA's decades-long history of
document destruction and falsified performance reports comes back to
haunt.
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COMMENTARY -- THE VET
IS JUST ANOTHER PIECE OF PAPER
(10-19-08)
"Any training the VA does as a
result of this latest incident needs to address the handling of
people's lives, not the handling of sheets of paper."
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VA'S SHREDDER
PROBLEMS JUST A "SNAPSHOT IN TIME," NOT THE WHOLE STORY
(10-18-08) VA spokesperson: "We're still trying to get a handle on how
widespread the problem is and I can't say with certainly that
this has never happened before."
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VA'S REGIONAL
OFFICES IN TURMOIL AS MANAGERS SEARCH FOR "MISHANDLED" PAPERWORK
(10-17-08) VARO management teams to spend weekend "dumpster diving" --
VAOIG looks to expand investigation -- Congress briefed, may
investigate possible criminal intent.
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SHREDDER
SCANDAL SPURS VETS' OUTRAGE AND CHANGES IN VA PROCEDURES
(10-17-08) VFW chief: "The question that begs to be asked and answered
is how many veterans had their disability
and compensation claims disappear down a paper shredder?"
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WHO GOT
DELAYED? WHO GOT DENIED? WHO DIED?
(10-15-08) The Detroit VARO
"shredder" fiasco poses some very important questions to which
veterans may never have answers.
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WILL VA'S WALL
OF SILENCE QUASH "SHREDDER" INVESTIGATION?
(10-14-08) VA
Secretary Peake's
obligation to veterans is clear cut. But, will he "do the right
thing" as he promised?
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BELOW
IS THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE THAT BROKE THE SHREDDER STORY --
SHREDDING OUR TRUST IN THE
VA (10-13-08)
VA investigators find entire
claims and other critical documents in shredding bins at Detroit
Regional Office. VA official will only say, "I can't talk about
that."
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