Report: VA settled ‘delay in treatment’ cases

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) settled multiple cases that appear to be related to delays in treatment, according to a report published late Saturday.

“Delay in treatment” is included in the descriptions of 167 claims in a database of paid claims by the VA since 2001, the Dayton Daily News reported.

{mosads}The newspaper also reported that the VA either voluntarily or as part of a court action paid $36.4 million to settle those claims.

The report follows the resignation of Robert Petzel, undersecretary for health at the Veterans Affairs Department, who stepped down on Friday, one day after testifying before a Senate panel.

Petzel resigned in the wake of allegations that some VA facilities kept secret wait lists to cover up how long veterans were kept waiting to receive care.

“Today, I accepted the resignation of Dr. Robert Petzel,” Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki said in a statement. “As we know from the Veteran community, most Veterans are satisfied with the quality of their VA health care, but we must do more to improve timely access to that care.”

Critics of the VA said that Petzel’s departure was not enough to ensure greater accountability within the agency.

“Petzel’s ‘resignation’ is the pinnacle of disingenuous political doublespeak,” House Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) said in a statement.

“Petzel was already scheduled to retire in 2014 and President Obama has already announced his intention to nominate Petzel’s replacement, so characterizing this as a ‘resignation’ just doesn’t pass the smell test,” he added.

In the weekly Republican address on Saturday, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) accused the VA of “egregious mismanagement.”

“No one should be treated this way in a country as great as ours,” he said. “But treating those to whom we owe the most so callously – so ungratefully – is unconscionable, and we should all be ashamed.”