VA scandal – who’s to blame?

VA Secretary Eric Shinseki submitted his resignation Friday morning, but I’m not sure he should be held fully accountable for the scandal involving deaths of dozens of veterans who were waiting to receive health care. I interviewed two veterans on Friday, Nick Cowan, 36, who also happens to be one of my lead loan officers at Wholesale Capital, and Ray Apodaca, 69.

Nick served over nine years overseas and was part of the first waves of troops to enter Iraq. I would characterize the conditions over there as the “worst environment ever,” when he described scorching temperatures of 120 degrees; fed merely two MREs (meal, ready to eat) a day for six months until infrastructure began to reach them; and their highest wage with all the perks and danger pay included was a meager $50,000 a year.

Nick suffers from a neck injury and this year waited two months just to get a slip that would allow him to make an appointment at Loma Linda VA. He called every week for eight weeks to no avail. To this day he hasn’t seen a doctor and has given up trying.

These guys are enduring challenging conditions in a combat zone risking their lives for this country, and how do we repay them? By making them fight a war at home against the VA trying to get health care that they rightfully deserve.

Meet Ray Apodaca, 69, who served on the Destroyer ship from 1963 – 1965 and was stationed at Pearl Harbor and deployed to Vietnam. He later served six years in the Merchant Marines. On the Destroyer Ray worked in the engine room, the temperature of which would also reach a scorching 120 degrees. The “luxurious” conditions comprised of small working areas and sleeping quarters. The engine room was lined with piping covered in asbestos with a thin coating placed over it, which they handled on a regular basis throughout the day. In addition to asbestos, they were also exposed to Agent Orange. Back then no one knew the health hazards of the two chemicals, and now Ray believes his kidney cancer is a result of that exposure.

The tragedy of Ray’s case is that he had sought medical attention at Loma Linda VA hospital’s emergency room due to extreme pain in his ribs. Loma Linda is supposedly home to the best medical technology in the world, and yet the on-call ER doctor thought nothing of the mass he saw in the x-ray they took of Ray’s rib area. He was told he had inflamed muscles due to his age, prescribed Advil and sent home.

In the meantime Ray, of Apple Valley, was finally transferred to the Victorville VA where he visited the ER this year due to the same pain in his side. An x-ray was taken and it showed the same mass. Ray was lucky that the ER doctor on call that day ordered the x-ray because it’s not common practice to do so. She noticed the mass, and that same day Ray had a biopsy which confirmed the worst – Stage 4 cancer – incurable and inoperable. If the doctor two years ago would have caught it, the cancer may have been treatable. But now Ray is facing a death sentence because of the gross negligence of the VA system.

Ray isn’t bitter about his fate, instead, he’s at peace and leaves his life in God’s hands. What concerns him the most is that there are hundreds of veterans out there who are not getting the quality health care in which they deserve and being sent home. Veterans deserve better. Sharon, Ray’s wife, on the other hand, is seething mad because she believes he could be in remission today if they would’ve caught it two years ago. This couple should be enjoying their retirement, but now they’ve been robbed of it.

So who’s to blame for this VA mess? Nick believes it’s “willful blindness” on the government’s part. The Inspector General reported to Obama in 2012 issues with delayed wait times, and nothing was done. It took hundreds of veterans to die recently before the administration became motivated to addressing the issue. Like Nick, Ray believes the president is the one to blame, including all Democrats.

What I find interesting is that veterans see a different doctor each time, so there’s no connection or medical history. They are rotated in and out. I don’t know why I’m able to see the same doctor because I didn’t pay quite the same price as veterans do. They deserve much better quality of care from this administration. I’m sorry that this country is the way it is and that Ray is a casualty of it.

Ed Hoffman is the host of the Main Event on AM590 which airs Saturday 9:30AM- 10:30AM and Sunday 4:00PM- 5:00PM.