CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Members of Congress expressed concern about troubling but unrelated events at Veterans Administration hospitals across the country, including the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg.
Congresswoman Carol Miller, R-W.Va., called a dozen suspicious deaths in Clarksburg unacceptable. She said her goal is to ensure such instances never happen again.
“Our service members should feel safe and comfortable seeking care at the VA,” said Miller, who represents West Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District. “We must work together to ensure the families of our nation’s heroes get the care they deserve.”
The House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations examined concerns about recent incidents at VA hospitals during a meeting on Wednesday afternoon. Miller is not a member of the subcommittee but was permitted to attend and ask questions.
This was among the first instances of Congress delving into the suspicious deaths at the VA hospital in Clarksburg.
Families have continued to come forward with details of mysterious deaths. In the cases that have been made public so far, veterans have sought treatment for symptoms not believed to be life-threatening before taking sudden turns for the worse and then passing away.
In all those cases, the veterans were being treated on the 3A unit of the hospital and experienced a crash in blood sugar levels.
The Office of Inspector General for the Veterans Administration has been investigating the deaths, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The investigations have prompted autopsies that concluded unauthorized shots of insulin caused the fatal crashes in blood sugar.
No one has been arrested. The hospital in Clarksburg has said no one currently working there is a suspect.
The incidents in Clarksburg were among several under focus Wednesday by the congressional subcommittee.
“These reports are sickening,” said subcommittee Chairman Chris Pappas, D-New Hampshire. “The VA’s got to do better.”
He asked what red flags the agency is missing or overlooking.
“The string of incidents over the last 8 weeks should serve as a wakeup call,” he said. “We need to see that VA is as outraged as we are.”
His counterpart, ranking member Jack Bergman, R-Mich., echoed his concerns.
“Our veterans deserve better,” Bergman said. “I want to know what VA is doing to correct the identified failure.”
Response came from Steven Lieberman, the VA’s acting principal deputy under secretary for health who agreed that recent events have been troubling.
“VA is committed to ensuring veterans receive safe, high quality health care,” Lieberman told the subcommittee. “We will hold accountable anyone who provides poor care or commits crimes in our facilities.”
He said the VA immediately removes people who willfully cause harm.
In the cases at the Clarksburg VA, lawyers for families have asked why suspicions weren’t raised prior to a dozen suspicious deaths occurring.
“There is no way in healthcare to predict every human failing,” Lieberman said. “I am sorry for any pain nay veterans or their families have experienced as a result of any of our employees acting inappropriately.”
Much of the meeting focused on the VA’s screening process for job applicants.
Lieberman said human resources workers look at suitability of applicants, including a background check, fingerprinting and primary source verification of resume contents.
“There is no perfect way to predict when an employee is going to be problematic,” Lieberman said.
Five victims have been identified publicly, plus there are others who have not been named. They include veterans William Alfred Holloway, Felix Kirk McDermott, George Nelson Shaw, Archie Edgell and John Hallman.
In West Virginia, several of the families of victims are filing claims against the Veterans Administration.
Speaking today on MetroNews’ “Talkline,” attorney Dino Colombo said an accusation of negligent conduct will be key to a claim by the family of deceased Army veteran Archie Edgell.
“They are responsible for the failure to follow their own policies and procedures,” Colombo said.
He contends insulin was too easily accessible at the VA hospital and that the most likely scenario is that’s what was used to kill the patients.
“They should be locking that medication up. We have information that this medicine was just lying around 3A on the unit,” he said. “Nobody was monitoring the use of that medication.”
@ColomboLaw joins @HoppyKercheval ON SET to discuss the ongoing case of the Edgell family, one of a number of families affected by a series of mysterious deaths at the VA in Clarksburg. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIAoe1 pic.twitter.com/IgKfdRpR7u
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) October 16, 2019