Veteran Medical Malpractice: Navigating a Complicated System

Washington, DCVeterans who require medical attention have the right to receive treatment at a facility run by the Veterans Administration (VA) once they are finished active duty. However, if they become the victims of medical malpractice they have to follow a different set of rules and regulations regarding how they can file their complaints than if they were treated in a non-VA medical center. This is because the veterans treated at a VA hospital are suing the United States of America rather than an individual doctor or hospital.

Some veterans who were treated at VA hospitals have complained that they suffered long wait times to see a doctor and poor standards of care while in VA hospitals. Part of the problem could be that medical staff at VA centers are overworked. Unfortunately, the problem is likely to get worse as the number of wounded soldiers coming home gets higher and higher. Those who do not return to active duty often become part of the VA system.

An article in the Washington Post notes that the number of wounded soldiers coming home from the current wars is between 35,000 and 53,000, depending on how they are counted. Their injuries include lost limbs, burns, and brain injuries. The article quotes Dr. Jeffrey Drazen, editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine who also happens to be an advisor to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as saying, " 'The military simply wasn't prepared for its own success' at keeping severely wounded soldiers alive."

Unfortunately, the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) has resulted in a dramatic increase in soldiers returning home with traumatic brain injuries. Although only around 2,000 patients have been treated with traumatic brain injury a study at Walter Reed Army Medical Center found that over half of one group of troops admitted to the center had brain injuries. This means that more and more veterans could wind up in the VA system with serious injuries that may not have been properly treated. The question is whether or not the VA system is prepared to handle the influx of patients with serious brain injuries and what effect this will have on an already stretched system.