No Link Found for Deaths and Veterans’ Care Delays

An investigation by the watchdog office for the Department of Veterans Affairs has been unable to substantiate allegations that 40 veterans may have died because of delays in care at the veterans medical center in Phoenix, according to a letter from the new secretary of Veterans Affairs...

A report by the department’s office of inspector general is expected to be released this week that will describe findings from its investigation into Phoenix. Officials from the inspector general’s office have declined to comment on what the report will say. However, a letter sent from the new Veterans Affairs secretary, Robert A. McDonald, to the inspector general responding to the report’s findings states that the investigation was unable to prove a link between the deaths of 40 veterans and delays in care.

“It is important to note that while O.I.G.’s case reviews in the report document substantial delays in care, and quality of care concerns, O.I.G. was unable to conclusively assert that the absence of timely quality care caused the deaths of these veterans,” says the letter from Mr. McDonald and the interim under secretary for health, Dr. Carolyn M. Clancy. The two also vowed to continue to get veterans off waiting lists and to hold administrators accountable “for willful misconduct or management negligence.”...