Veteran in distress released from VA, dies in cab

[unhappycamper]

Veteran in distress released from VA, dies in cab
By Anita Lee | Biloxi Sun Herald
Posted on Wednesday, November 10, 2010

BILOXI, Miss. — Air Force veteran David Charles Miller, 61, died in the back seat of a taxi cab no more than 30 minutes after being released from the emergency room at the Veteran Affairs Hospital.

The taxi driver, David Winters, is still angry and upset about what happened to his fellow veteran in the pre-dawn hours of Oct. 20. Miller's sister, who is so mortified by her brother's death that she did not want her name used, said she has been nauseous and unable to sleep.

Her brother had been released five days earlier from Keesler Medical Center, where the VA had referred him for heart surgery. She said his treatment at Keesler was very good. His sister said doctors put 12 stints in Miller’s heart and unblocked an artery in his leg. He spent 11 days in the hospital.

Once back in his Gautier apartment, Miller’s groin incision started bleeding. He tried to get through Monday and Tuesday to someone at the VA. He wanted to see a doctor. His sister said her brother’s pleas were answered by a recorded message from the VA, telling him he should seek treatment at the VA emergency room.

He had been there many times and was loathe to return for the long wait and perfunctory treatment he had come to expect, his sister said. The two talked daily. She was his only immediate family. He had been a sergeant and administrative specialist in the Air Force, serving overseas. His sister said he was very proud of his eight years in the service.

[BlueIris]

1. This part is breaking my heart:

"His sister said he was very proud of his eight years in the service."

[barbtries]

2. yeah, me too.

they didn't return the esteem. bastards.

[BlueIris]

4. Okay, for the official record, the VA is very, very thin on resources right now.

So not every bad decision its employees make is the result of "wanting" veterans to suffer. Sometimes, they just won't be able to help.

That doesn't justify the low standard of care vets are receiving overall, however, nor does it make what happened in this case any less horrific.

[barbtries]

6. this is what really makes me sick.

the resources for new weapons are always there. fraud and corruption aren't even sneezed at. it's just when it gets down to the level of the human beings that resources get low.

this country spends more on "defense" than the rest of the world combined and won't take care of its people.

edited to put quotes around "defense"

[sammytko]

8. yes, he should have gone back to Keesler or a local hospital, the VA would pay

That recording is the one you always get when you first call the VA clinic. I'm a disabled vet and use the VA and private doctor. They recording tells you to go to an emergency room if it is a life threatening situation. Then the rest is the usual push 1 for blah, blah, blah. If he was trying to get an appointment at the clinic, it was probably closed and so was the appointment line. And if he talked to someone at the clinic, they would have told him the same thing - go to the emergency room.

I was once at the Frank Tejeda outpatient clinic waiting for my appointment when a guy came in complaining of heart pains.

The intake person told him, you should be at the hospital, but we will see you anyway, but really we'll just transport you there.

The Tejeda clinic is down the road from the VA hospital, a trauma center, 3 other major hospitals - San Antonio's medical center. Why the guy chose to be brought there - who knows. Maybe it was something he was familiar with..

[Gaedel]

9. When I was on active duty

The medical care was great once you got deep into the system.

Medical care sucked overall because of the massive number of "gatekeepers" you had to go through to get into the depths of the system.

I am all for single payer if it is "fee for service" and the medical system doesn't get paid until they see me.

If single payer is a "capitation" system where the medical system gets the money up front, then they won't work very hard to see me. VA and military medical care operate like a capitation system.

I am against single payer if it will lead to a system like the VA or the military medical.

[sammytko]

10. what gatekeepers? All you had to show was your ID card

Never had to fill out forms each and every time you go to the doctor.

I was Air force, so could that have made a difference. Small bases - everyone knew each other. Never had a problem getting a referral to see a specialist. Maybe they weren't the best specialists in the world, but I got to see them - lol! This was in Oklahoma.

The s. texas VA system has opened more clinics in the outlying areas of the city. Lots of people hate dealing with the traffic in the medical center of san antonio. I swithched to a smaller clinic on the southeast side. Much closer to home.

The VA care in the San Antonio area is great.

[WinkyDink]

3. Wrong use of "mortified" ("humiliated").

[revolution breeze]

5. This breaks my heart but I am confused.

Keesler Medical Center and the VA Medical Center in Biloxi are two separate facilites. Rather than contacting the VA, since he was now a patient at Keesler, why did he not return to their emergency department? Their facilites are much better equipped than the VA (personal experience).

[BlueIris]

7. Kick. We should all want veterans to have healthcare. nt