Cancer patients died waiting for care at troubled veterans’ hospital, probe finds

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By Lisa Rein

Some patients with bladder and prostate cancer died waiting for care, and medical treatment for almost 1,500 others was delayed because of short-staffing and mismanagement of urology care at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Phoenix, a new investigation has found.

Senior officials at the medical center, the center of a national scandal last year over fudged wait times, did little to respond to a severe staffing shortage as recently as April 2015, investigators for the Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general found.

Their solution? They canceled appointments for 3,200 urology patients, some of them for hire vetscrucial follow-up tests, and never rescheduled them. And many veterans had no idea they couldn’t see a doctor until they showed up for their appointment.

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  1. In defense of a portion of the VA medical services, I received care for prostate cancer at the Seattle,WA Veterans medical center. The timely diagnosis came as a result of my PSA being somewhat high. I was given a biopsy and was educated to my alternatives in regards to the cancer treatment available. I chose the Thera Seed procedure where radioactive seeds were implanted in my prostate. I was treated by a leading physician in the field of prostate cancer.

    I was on the table for around two hours in total and after local anesthetics were administered I was given the Thera Seed implants. I was on my way home right after the procedure and I have been clear of any signs of cancer since. I could not have received any better or more rapid treatment plus followups. So the VA is not a slouch by any means but any lack of treatment regardless of the institution is an abomination.

    Treating Vets is a difficult situation because of alcohol and drugs. Keeping appointments and following medical advice is a difficulty with a good portion of the Vet population. If in doubt, sit in any VA medical center and watch,listen and talk toi the wide variety of people. Just maybe a different opinion of the VA medical care might be altered a bit towards the more positive.

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