Fraud, unreported deaths alleged at Long Island VA

The investigation of the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Northport, New York, started with unsafe conditions in their operating rooms, but may have uncovered more widespread issues of fraud and abuse.

According to the New York Times, the scrutiny began when it first reported the hospital’s five operating rooms were shut down in February 2016, when “sand-grain-size black particles” began falling from the air ducts.

A congressional investigation dug up a lot more from whistleblowers and internal documents. In an alleged $1 million billing fraud scheme, current and former employees said nurses were told to make cold calls to around 2,000 veterans and then code the calls to make it seem like the patient had called the hospital. One employee compared to it to a private physician calling out of the blue and then billing the insurance company.

The investigation also examined the strange circumstances behind the death of a veteran working at Northport whose body was found on the campus. The autopsy report obtained by the Times said he died from a fentanyl overdose, yet it wasn’t reported to certification agencies or the congressional office, and the hospital’s staff made notes on the patient’s chart as if he were still alive.

“Patient will see me on 5-23. Patient was a no-show. No testosterone will be filled unless he follows us in the clinic,” one clinician wrote in medical records obtained by the Times.

For more on the allegations against the hospital and how its administrators and staff have responded, click on the link below: