In early December, a powerful USA Today investigation uncovering a disturbing history of numerous medical malpractice claims and settlements involving patients left maimed, paralyzed or dead all over the country—and doctors then hired by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)—broke, leading to a bipartisan group of senators recently requesting a nationwide probe.
Many of these doctors were explicitly hired in spite of being forthright about their histories of malpractice issues and even license revocation. Once at the VA, they continued to harm thousands of patients: brain surgeries that lead to death, lumbar surgeries that led to additional complications and surgeries to fix mistakes made during those surgeries, and many others.
VA Illegally Hired Doctors
As a result of the investigation, VA officials determined that the hiring of some of these doctors was, in fact, illegal: Federal law specifically prohibits the VA from hiring any doctor who has had one of their licenses revoked, regardless of whether they still have another license active in another state.
Records Scrubbed?
Unfortunately, the harm didn’t stop at the VA: in October, a separate investigation revealed that when these doctors and other healthcare providers left the VA, their records frequently did not reflect the many mistakes they’d made on patients, enabling them to practice and endanger patients elsewhere.
The Harm Caused By Dr. John Henry Schneider
One of these doctors – Dr. Schneider—responded to the many allegations made against him with the claim that all neurosurgeons have malpractice claims due to the inherent dangerousness of the surgeries involved in the field.
Yet, the patient suffering described by the USA Today article regarding Schneider’s patients is beyond startling: one patient who had excess fluid building up around his brain, creating intracranial pressure and leaving him permanently impaired; another paralyzed from the waist down; another who lost bowel and bladder control after three surgeries; wrongful death claims brought for the deaths of family members who died from complications after four surgeries and/or mixed drug overdosing, etc.
Moving From State To State
While Schneider did stop performing surgeries in one state due to the many malpractice claims that built up, he was able to start practicing in another state, and even formed his own malpractice insurance company, which made it impossible for him to pay off all of his claims.
Florida Medical Malpractice Lawyers
If you have been the victim of malpractice, it isn’t just the doctor or healthcare provider who can be found responsible; it’s also the facility that hired that doctor and negligently allowed him or her to practice there.
At the law offices of Lavalle Brown & Ronan, our attorneys have extensive experience assisting those who have sustained unnecessary injuries and/or lost family members due to medical malpractice. Contact us today for a free consultation.
For more information and in depth analysis, please contact Attorney Ken Ronan at kronan@bocalaw.com and Case Manager Richard Bagdasarian at rbagdasarian@bocalaw.com.
Resources:
usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/12/03/usa-today-investigation-va-knowingly-hires-doctors-past-malpractice-claims-discipline-poor-care/909170001/
usatoday.com/story/news/2017/12/08/senators-call-va-probe-after-usa-toinvestigation-found-doctors-were-hired-after-poor-care-malpractic/935946001/
