A rare patients' court ruling against the VA-

http://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/central-phoenix/valley-veteran-awarded-25-million-in-lawsuit-against-phoenix-va-hospital


PHOENIX - A judge on Monday awarded $2.5 million to a military veteran who said that his now-terminal cancer would have been curable had the Veterans Administration hospital in Phoenix diagnosed it sooner.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Michelle Burns ruled a nurse practitioner who found abnormalities in Steven Harold Cooper's prostate during an examination in late 2011 at the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center had breached the standard of care by failing to order more testing and refer him to a urologist.
Instead, Cooper learned 11 months later from a VA doctor in Gilbert that he had stage-IV prostate cancer. The day after receiving the diagnosis, Cooper sought treatment from a private doctor.

"He basically sent me home to die," Cooper said in an interview Monday night. “I felt absolutely betrayed by my country that I served for 18 years when all I was seeking was basic healthcare.”

"There's no question Mr. Cooper has suffered," Burns said, noting earlier that the nurse practitioner should have recognized the asymmetric quality of Cooper's prostate was a possible sign of cancer.

Phoenix was the epicenter of a scandal in which whistleblowers revealed that veterans on secret waiting lists faced scheduling delays of up to a year. An investigation by the VA's office of inspector general into the wait-time scandal concluded that as many as 40 veterans died while awaiting care. The scandal led to the ouster of former VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and a new law overhauling the agency and granting veterans easier access to treatment outside the VA.

But there were no direct references to the wait-time scandal made in Burns' decision and during arguments by Cooper's attorneys at a weeklong trial.

Cooper held his wife's hand and nodded in agreement as Burns read her decision aloud in a packed courtroom. Many spectators clapped when the judge finished reading the decision.

"We didn't need a penny," Cooper said outside of court. "We needed a verdict that showed that the quality of care is substandard at the Phoenix VA."

Burns said Cooper, who served nearly 18 years in the Army before his honorable discharge in 2007, had undergone mental and physical pain as a result of surgeries and therapies related to his medical condition. She also said Cooper can no longer work and has lost dignity and some of his enjoyment in life.

The life expectancy for Cooper, now 46, is believed to be five years.

Lawyers defending the VA had said the nurse practitioner didn't turn up any indications of cancer during the initial examination and noted that Cooper didn't complain of urinary symptoms during the appointment.

The attorneys for the government also said it was impossible to say whether Cooper's cancer would have been confined to his prostate around the time of his initial appointment in 2011.

The U.S. Attorney's Office, which defended the VA in the lawsuit, declined to comment on the verdict.

Coope said he hoped to use the settlement to help with his future medical costs and assist other veterans in fighting back should they find themselves in a similar situation with the VA.

I've been to several different VA hospitals over the years, and have noticed that Phoenix loves to dress up nurse practitioners and medical assistants in a lab coat, and even send them in to do procedures. You'll never know if they are an actual doctor or not, unless you ask...
They look like a doctor, they act like a doctor, and they perform exams, and can even write perscriptions, but they are trained in the assembly line mentality, and just don't have the training, and experience that actual doctors do.

My journey started with a Saturday morning FREE health screening for men. The Doc felt nodules.

The scary part is that I then went to a family doc who's a small guy and he couldn't feel the nodules... The scary part is thinking what if I had gone to him first.

Talk about the luck of the draw...timing...attorneys...good and bad depending on who's talking...and of course the Judge...maybe he has prostate cancer... either way good on the plaintiif...next life ..Im gonna either be a homicide detective...professional poker player..or a attorney...or a talking head...or a standup comic...or a... Be nice now be nice... lol
thats a cool OTopic thread to start...

Sr Sailor said...
Will the VA/US Attorney appeal?

I doubt it. Phx VA has been the focal point of the "VA whistleblower" headlines, and there does seem to have been neglect in not ordering follow-up.

That being said, however, those who understand how PC actually works understand this: VIEW IMAGE

Makes me appreciate my family Dr. even more. Always had my PSA twice a year as part of wellnes and was always below 1 so the Dr. I did see was not concerned. He left and I went to a new Dr. durng a check up she asked if I had a DRE lately and I explained about my low PSA. She said lets do one anyway and felt something and immedialty scheduled me an apt with urologist. Well here i am and should be cancer free thanks to her.

No DRE I've ever had was more than a perfunctory swipe. Just enough to say they did it. Or, maybe that's all an experienced doctor needs to make an assessment. I don't know.

My G9 case was never apparent by DRE to any doctor. No one said anything about it. On MRI, the lesion area was probably 1/3 of the total volume, bulging out of the capsule though the location was low and forward on the left side. Probably not possible to feel it by DRE anyway.

Maybe some cases are more evident, but it would be interesting to see statistics on how many cases are found that way vs PSA.

I think both screening methods are probably necessary.

I went to the VA outpt. clinic here for my annual physical. My doc did the routine exam and ordered blood work. I told him it had been a couple of years since my last PSA and he told me it wasn't recommended on a routine basis any more (he was correct), but he would order one, as he wasn't opposed to it personally.

The rest is history. If I had not asked for the test, it would not have been done. Thankfully, he didn't push back. My experience with the VA system has generally been favorable.

Several points

Unless you know the position of the person treating you, lab coat or not, its your job to see their ID badge/tag. I have even seen CNA's with white lab coats on. Also, if you are going to be touched, if you don't see them wash their hands, you have the right to remind them.

Very happy with level of care at my local VA outpatient clinic, they were quick to tell me that here in SC, they did not have any oncologists with advanced PC skill. That included the hospital in Columbia, over 100 miles away, or Charleston, over 200 miles. Said to stick to my civilian oncologist if I was happy with them.

VA care does seem to be hit and miss, depending where one lives, shouldn't be that way