Maggots in Wound of 73-Year-Old Vet Lead to VA Resignations

Maggots in Wound of 73-Year-Old Vet Lead to VA Resignations

After the 2014 Veterans Health Administration scandal, which featured vets dying after they had been languishing on secret waiting lists, Obama proclaimed that he would not tolerate misconduct “period.” Let’s check in on his progress on setting everything to right regarding the VA:

Four staff members at the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs Talihina facility have resigned after a resident who later died was found with maggots in a wound, the agency said.

The maggots were nonsterile.

Executive Director Myles Deering said the maggots were discovered while the patient was alive but were not the cause of his death.

The patient, Owen Reese Peterson, died at age 73 on October 3. He served in Vietnam.

Reports his son, Raymie Parker,

“During the 21 days I was there, … I pled with the medical staff, the senior medical staff, to increase his meds so his bandages could be changed. I was met with a stonewall for much of that time.”

One of the four who resigned to avoid being fired was quickly rehired by a VA facility in Lawton, Oklahoma. The physician assistant had already racked up two disciplinary actions by the Oklahoma Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision; he is currently serving probation for one of them.

Via Tulsa World:

According to state licensing records, the physician assistant was first put on probation in 2005 for two years following a narcotics violation. He surrendered his license in June 2014 following a complaint of “unprofessional conduct.” According to records, the complaint alleged that he was not being properly supervised, as is required for all physician assistants, and was being identified to callers as a doctor.

His license was reinstated in late January — more than 18 months after its surrender — and with five years’ probation.

Yet again we see that government should only do what cannot be done effectively by the private sector. This does not include healthcare.

maggots
Not pleasant to see squirming in a wound.

On tips from Rob E, Troy, and 762×51. Cross-posted at Moonbattery.

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