Attempts by the Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general to absolve the agency of blame in patient deaths are either a whitewash or a cover-up, the whistleblower who first revealed falsified appointment lists in Phoenix said in written testimony released Tuesday.
Dr. Sam Foote, a former doctor at the Phoenix VA facility, also called for an independent investigation into patient deaths and the use of phony appointment lists to hide long delays in care.
Richard Griffin, the acting inspector general at VA, denied any wrongdoing. Controversial language that investigators could not “conclusively assert” patients died because of delays was added by the IG and was not requested by agency administrators, Griffin said in his own prepared statement.
Both Foote and Griffin are to testify Wednesday at a hearing of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, which is trying to determine why language clearing the VA in the deaths of at least 20 patients was inserted after the draft report on the Phoenix investigation was sent to the agency for comment.
“At its best, this report is a whitewash,” Foote said in his written testimony. “At its worst, it is a feeble attempt at a cover-up.”
Foote added the IG’s final report, issued Aug. 26, appears to be “designed to minimize the scandal and protect its perpetrators rather than to provide the truth along with closure to the many veterans and their families that have been affected by it.”
Foote first went to the IG in October 2013 with allegations that hospital administrators in Phoenix were using secret waiting lists to hide long wait times patients faced when seeking care. IG investigators seemed uninterested, he said.
At that time, 10 patients on the list had already died while waiting for appointments, according to Foote. They asked Foote to fax patient information to a phone number that did not work.
The office also did not respond as Foote sent emails asking for further instructions in December.
Finally, in February 2014, Foote grew frustrated with the inaction of the IG and took his charges to the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
The allegations were first revealed publicly at a committee hearing in April.
Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the panel, ordered the IG to investigate Foote’s claims fully and revealed that by then as many 40 patients may have died while on secret waiting lists.
The August report details the IG’s findings that the appointment logs were falsified and patients suffered from poor quality care. But it also concluded no patients died as a result.
“While the case reviews in this report document poor quality of care, we are unable to conclusively assert that the absence of timely quality care caused the deaths of these veterans,” the final IG report said.
That language did not appear in the draft report that was sent to VA officials for comment.
Inspectors general are supposed to be independent watchdogs within federal agencies. They are appointed by the president but answer to Congress.
Griffin came under fire for the language after the discrepancy was first reported by the Washington Examiner last week.
In his prepared testimony, Griffin said his people made the change for clarity.
“This sentence was inserted for clarity to summarize the results of our clinical case reviews,” Griffin said. “This change was made by the OIG strictly on our own initiative; neither the language nor the concept was suggested by anyone at VA.
“In all instances, the OIG, not VA, dictated the findings and recommendations that appear in our final report,” Griffin said.
The committee hearing begins at noon and can be viewed on the House veterans’ committee website.
