Whistleblowers shining harsh light on Tomah VA Hospital; Senator Tammy Baldwin under fire
TOMAH (WITI) -- Proper medication, or proof of malpractice? Whistleblowers are shining a harsh light on how doctors at the Tomah VA Hospital over-prescribed drugs to injured military veterans. Now, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) is under fire for her office's handling of the problem.
The Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Tomah was known to patients as "Candy Land" because doctors would dispense prescription drugs like candy, and injured veterans showed up to therapy sessions "drooling" and "dozing off" -- so out of it they were "burning themselves with cigarettes" like "zombies."
This, according to a report on the conditions at the hospital. The report was initiated by complaints from others in March 2011 and August 2011. It was concluded in March 2014, and did not include the death of a patient, who died at the end of August 2014.
Ryan Honl, a former VA employee turned whistleblower says he alerted U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin's office to the medical center's problems. He says the senator's office sat on the report for months, as he repeatedly asked her to take action.
"We just want to make sure that this doesn't happen again," Rep. Ken Skowronski (R-Franklin), chair of the Assembly Veterans and Military Affairs Committee said.
That committee is now investigating, and Rep. Skowronski says he wants to know why Baldwin's office didn't respond with more urgency.
"I don't want this thing to turn out to be a witch hunt, but we have to protect our veterans. They died for us. They took care of us. They come home wounded and we need them to see we're taking care of them for the service they did for this country," Rep. Skowronski said.
According to a published report, Baldwin fired the staff member responsible -- Marquette Baylor, who reportedly met with Honl for two hours about the issue, and then discouraged him from going public with his concerns. Baldwin's chief of staff wouldn't confirm the firing, telling FOX6 News: "We do not comment on personnel matters."
Baldwin has issued this statement:
"We should have done a better job listening to and communicating with another constituent with whom we were working on problems at the VA. I take full responsibility for any mistakes we made because I not only share his belief that the report's conclusion fell short, but I also share his commitment to exposing problems at the VA and working on solutions."
Rep. Skowronski says the key questions in the investigation are about the VA Hospital and its doctors.
"What's going on? What was happening? Why were the drugs administered?" Rep. Skowronski said.
The secretary of Veterans Affairs has called for an investigation at the Tomah facility. He said: "Thanks to inquiries from Senator Tammy Baldwin, Rep. Ron Kind and other stakeholders, I have taken additional steps to review medication practices in Tomah."
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