Journos chronicle disregard for privacy, intimidation of whistleblowers at the VA

From long waits to manipulated medical records to preventable deaths, the Department of Veterans Affairs has had more than its share of problems over the past few years.

That’s no secret.

But did you know that employees and contractors at VA medical centers, clinics, pharmacies and benefit centers have committed upwards of 10,000 privacy violations since 2011?

It’s true, according to a recent analysis of VA data by ProPublica.

Worse still, a growing number of whistleblowers reporting the problems are under fire for doing the right thing.

“Some have reported being accused of violating HIPAA for collecting material to inform members of Congress about care problems at the VA,” according to a ProPublica article published Dec. 30. “Others say their own medical records were looked at by co-workers and officials without their consent.”

The article details a number of still more disturbing incidents, some of which seem lifted from the pages of an Oliver Stone script.

It also points to an effort to protect the whistleblowers—Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s VA Patient Protection Act, which would bring the hammer down on VA supervisors who threaten, accuse or otherwise menace whistleblowers.

Blumenthal, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, introduced the measure in November and quickly won Republican backing for it.

“Nothing is more devastating and unconscionable than the misuse of power to subjugate legitimate complaints,” Blumenthal told ProPublica, adding that the VA has “a significant way to go in restoring trust and credibility.”

Click here to read the article and here for more on Blumenthal’s bill.