Jonathan Yates, a doctor at the veterans’ affairs medical center in Beckley, West Virginia, was sentenced to 25 years in prison Monday for sexually abusing three patients. Yates pleaded guilty in September to three felony charges of deprivation of rights under color of law, admitting to having rubbed the genitals of two veterans, and digitally penetrating a third according to the Department of Justice . (REPORT: Nearly 2,000 COVID-19 Vaccines Spoiled At VA Hospital By Loose Freezer Plug) Perv VA doctor gets 25 years for sexually abusing patients https://t.co/2hzG3lHaWb pic.twitter.com/MAPm4U8NLB — New York Post (@nypost) January 25, 2021 “In a despicable betrayal of his oath, he used his specialized medical knowledge and expertise to sexually abuse his own patients,” Deputy Assistant Attorney General Gregory Friel of the Civil Rights Division said. “It is a testament to the bravery of our veterans that so many came forward to bring this defendant to justice.” One of the victims told investigators that Yates groped his genitals, the New York Post reports. After the victim refused, Yates allegedly cracked his neck and made him go numb. “He was not supposed to do this,” the victim reportedly said in a witness statement. “I made it clear from the beginning of this session that he was not to crack my neck. I was in shock, could not even speak.” At the VA Medical Center in Beckley, Yates performed osteopathic manipulative therapy before being fired the press release adds. ...
Department of veterans affairs
VA Whistle-Blower Office Failing Whistle-Blowers, Group Finds
A new report from an advocacy group found the new Veteran Affairs (VA) whistle-blower office largely fails whistle-blowers. The VA Office of Accountability and Whistle-blower Protection (OAWP) was formed when the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act went into effect in June 2017. The new office was supposed to hold bad managers accountable and protect whistle-blowers from retaliation. The office made an initial splash when Brandon Coleman, a well-known VA whistleblower from the Phoenix VA , was immediately brought on board . But a new survey from Whistleblowers of America — a non-profit which helps whistle-blowers who suffer retaliation- done for Congress and shared exclusively with The Daily Caller finds that overwhelmingly whistle-blowers have been frustrated by the office, which has largely failed them. Jacqueline Garrick is the founder of the Whistleblowers of America. She said OAWP suffers from serious issues: non-transparency in their process, lack of clarity, and whistle-blowers complained that communication was non-existent. During the interview, she noted rhetorically: “are they (OAWP) mediators, arbitrators, investigators, or advocates?” Garrick said her group sent out the survey to 23 VA whistle-blowers and 11 responded; all but one was unhappy with their experience. “They did close my case without informing me. I have no I idea what the OAWP is doing. The only information that I received (is) that the VA was still investigating my claims was while listening to the NPR story about me on April 27, 2018,” one VA whistle-blower noted in the survey. Another whistle-blower was equally pointed in their criticism. “I never heard from any individual at the OAWP regarding any aspect of my reporting to the OAWP (let alone opening a case). I have copies of every correspondence with OAWP. No reply, no response.” Coleman himself was criticized by several whistle-blowers, including ...
Whistleblowers Celebrate New VA Accountability Legislation, But Worry It May Be Used To Target Them
Whistleblowers celebrated President Donald Trump’s decision to sign the Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act into law Friday morning as a hopeful beacon of change, but are wary the legislation could be used against them. Prominent whistleblowers Brandon Coleman, Sean Higgins and Kuauhtemoc Rodriguez told The Daily Caller News Foundation that they appreciate the bill and see it as a major shift towards reform, but are also concerned it may be used to speed up firing of legitimate whistleblowers, instead of targeting incompetent employees. “Whistleblowers around the nation are concerned that this legislation will make it easier to fire them (WB’s) while the real culprits management will continue their reign of terror on them,” Sean Higgins, whistleblower at the Memphis VA, told TheDCNF. “POTUS has not reached out to WB’s in the way we had hoped to hear our plight. The VA management continues its corrupt ways, while no one is held accountable except WB’s. Our concern is that management be held accountable and the reprisal and retaliation stops.” Brandon Coleman, whistleblower at the Phoenix VA, said that Friday’s signing of the legislation is dedicated to whistleblowers who have had their careers destroyed. “The last three years have been a long road trying to force feed the Department of Veterans Affairs any form of accountability,” Coleman said. “There have been countless acts of fraud, waste and abuse of our nations heroes and dozens of instances where supervisors and administrators should have been fired. Many whistleblowers across the country have had their careers destroyed and their only crime is simply telling the truth. Today is for them. The hundreds of brave VA whistleblowers no one will ever know.” “I applaud President Trump for keeping his promise to veterans, to Congress for actually coming together and passing this widely accepted bipartisan legislation, and to Sec. Shulkin for having the backbone to publicly ...
Government Probes Invasion Of Whistleblower’s Medical Records
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights is now investigating the unauthorized access of medical records of whistleblowers at numerous Veterans Affairs hospitals. Brandon Coleman, a Phoenix VA whistleblower who says his own records were suspiciously accessed, welcomed the investigation. “Any time an outside agency can investigate the VA that’s a good thing,” Coleman told TheDC. “OCR gathered additional information related to your allegations from the VA medical center you identified,” Sarah Brown, OCR’s Interim Associate Director, told Coleman in a recent letter, “as well as multiple medical centers across the country.” In August 2015, The Daily Caller reported that Coleman’s medical file was accessed three times by managers in the Phoenix VA — just months after Coleman stepped forward to reveal that hospital’s mishandling of veteran suicides. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act strictly forbids anyone but a treating physician from accessing medical records. Coleman, a military veteran, not only worked at the Phoenix VA, but received medical treatment there. He told TheDC that he stopped using the facility shortly after finding out his medical records were illegally accessed. Coleman testified in front of the House Veteran Affairs Committee in September 2015, where he detailed the breach. During that testimony, Coleman described how these numerous breaches were part of an apparent campaign of retaliation in which he was put on leave and instructed not to speak to other Phoenix VA employees. “I received a ‘gag order’ from [VA Hospital Director Glen] Grippen forbidding me from speaking to any other Phoenix VA employees but saying I could get medical care as a vet. How does a veteran get medical care without being allowed to speak to any VA employees?” Coleman said in his testimony. Coleman is not the only VA whistleblower to have his medical records illegally accessed. Christopher ...
Two Whistle-Blowers Say They Were Run Out Of VA Hospital In Jennings, Louisiana
Two whistle-blowers at a Louisiana Veterans Affairs hospital say they found widespread corruption and were subjected to uncomfortable retaliation when they brought their concerns forward. Crystal LeJeune and Harvey Norris are whistle-blowers and former employees of the Alexandria, Louisiana VA Medical Center system. Each worked at a clinic in Jennings, Louisiana — which was part of the Alexandria VA Health Care system; both are speaking out exclusively for the first time to The Daily Caller. Both say that not only did they find widespread waste, fraud, and abuse — primarily in the Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) department — but experienced retaliation for speaking out. Crystal LeJeune The Allegations LeJeune said in an Office of Special Counsel (OSC) complaint that she has witnessed “patient neglect, falsification of Veterans’ medical records, fraudulent billing, misuse of government vehicles, tampering with government vehicle tracking systems, and deceitful time documentation” at the hospital. As part of her duties, LeJeune said she regularly examined the Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation (VERA) Report. By examining the report, LeJeune found all sorts of waste . “When I would go into the system, it proved they (HBPC employees) weren’t actually seeing patients,” LeJeune stated. As one example, she noted that one HBPC nurse visited 11 patients in one morning, something which LeJeune said was impossible for a nurse making house calls. “They were supposed to be seeing the patients every thirty days,” LeJeune said, “but that wasn’t happening. There was (one) who hadn’t been seen for more than one hundred thirty days, but there was numerous ones (patients) who hadn’t been seen on a regular basis.” A group of HBPC employees also appeared to be using the cars for outside work. “The car log wasn’t matching the GPS.” In those instances, the car log would show little or no activity while the GPS showed the car making stops ...
