In May, 2008, 75-year-old Jim Workman, a retired Air Force colonel, entered an emergency room at a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital in Biloxi, Miss., complaining of shortness of breath, coughing and fever.
A chest X-ray was ordered, and the radiologist discovered a two-centimeter mass in Workman’s lung. He didn’t tell Workman directly but noted the finding, and recommended an immediate follow-up in an electronically signed note sent to Workman’s primary care doctor at VA.
But that doctor never bothered to look at the note, nor the X-ray. Nearly two years later, Workman was diagnosed with lung cancer. He died in January 2011.
“This should never have happened,” Workman’s widow, Sheila, told International Business Times in an exclusive interview. “Jim would have lived a lot longer if it weren’t for VA. They dropped the ball. I miss my husband every day.”
As he was dying of complications from his surgery, Willingham wrote this note to his daughter, Sydney Schoellman. It reads: “The VA is responsible for this!!! Whatever they are doing is deceptive and illegal. Do something Syd” Courtesy Willingham family
That’s the VA Way. We can certainly attest to that from our own personal experience. 🙁
Wait until Obummer care takes over the VA
You are better off having an apple a day than going to the VA.