The Daily Fix: VA Says Waits Didn't Cause Vet Deaths, 'Breaking Bad' Wins 5 Emmys, and Russian Soldiers Captured in Ukraine
When Teddy Barnes-Breen saw blood in his urine, he went to the emergency room at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs hospital. Though doctors said his case was urgent, he waited for months to see a primary care doctor or a urologist. When the VA finally called to schedule his appointment, Barnes-Breen had died from inoperable stage IV bladder cancer.
Earlier this year, CNN found that more than 1,400 vets in the Phoenix area were forced to suffer for months without seeing a doctor while the VA created secret lists and hid records. Barnes-Breen was one of 40 vets who died before he could see a doctor at the Phoenix VA. But according to the Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General, these waits did not directly contribute to any veteran deaths, The Associated Press reported today.
The waits were unacceptable, but the “absence of timely quality care” did not “conclusively” lead to the deaths, VA Secretary Robert A. McDonald wrote in a memo that accompanied the inspector general's report.
Last month Congress approved $16 billion in funding for the VA and will send vets to private doctors to reduce wait times. The inspector general said the VA needs to fix wait times, and the VA has said it will fire three hospital executives.
"They looked to see if there was any causal relationship associated with the delay in care and the death of these veterans and they were unable to find one. But from my perspective, that don't make it OK," Deputy VA Secretary Sloan Gibson told AP. "Veterans were waiting too long for care and there were things being done, there were scheduling improprieties happening at Phoenix and frankly at other locations as well. Those are unacceptable.”
In other news…
Hacker Havoc: A group of hackers called Lizard Squad forced Sony PlayStation offline this weekend and gave a nod to ISIS on Twitter. Hackers then used the American Airlines Twitter account to tweet false reports of a bomb on a plane carrying Sony Online Entertainment head John Smedley. The plane was grounded. (via Channel4)
And the Award Goes To...: Breaking Bad and Modern Family cleaned up at last night’s Emmy Awards. Breaking Bad had five wins, including outstanding drama series and best lead actor in a drama series. Netflix originals House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black were mostly overlooked for awards. (via The New York Times)
How the Rich Get Richer: People who make between $100,000 and $400,000 have received 76.9 percent of the wage increase since 2000. (via Al Jazeera)
WHO Wants Vaping Ban: The World Health Organization has asked for a ban on smoking e-cigarettes indoors and advertising them to minors. Two days ago the American Heart Association said e-cigarettes could help people quit smoking cigarettes but said in a press release that their use could also “renormalize” smoking. (via The Verge)
Small-Town Recruiters: In small towns in the South, there are 12 lawyers serving up to 8,500 people. Attorneys who are of retirement age struggle to find young lawyers to take over their practices. (via The Washington Post)
Russian Soldiers in Ukraine? Putin and Poroshenko are scheduled to discuss a peace deal today, but Ukraine said it has found and captured Russian paratroopers in the country. Russia said the soldiers wandered into Ukraine accidentally. (via The Wall Street Journal)
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