The VA Admits It Failed to Protect Veterans from Deadly Doc

Michael F. CannonTwo days after Memorial Day, the Department of Veterans Affairs issued a report admitting that for years one of its own doctors — Robert Morris Levy — misdiagnosed patients, falsified pathology reports, repeatedly reported to work intoxicated, and defeated substance‐​abuse screens. TheWashington Postreports:When a team of outside pathologists reviewed almost 34,000 cases Levy had diagnosed since his hiring, they found that more than 3,000 had errors, 589 of them major mistakes that caused medical harm to veterans. At least 15 died.The VA admitted its quality controls were wholly inadequate and multiple veterans died from Levy ’s malfeasance before the Department caught wind. The Department wrote:Dr. Levy ’s misdiagnosis of pathology cases resulting in adverse clinical outcomes—suboptimal treatment and patient death—is undisputed…The OIG determined that the number of major diagnostic discrepancies was the result of Dr. Levy ’s failure to interpret specimens correctly that went undetected in part because of his efforts to conceal the errors, and manipulation of pathology quality management data. Deficiencies in quality management processes and managing a potentially impaired provider, as well as facility leaders ’ failure to foster a culture of accountability that encouraged reporting without reprisal contributed to Dr. Levy ’s errors continuing for many years.In 2019, I explained why the VA took years to detect ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs