St. Joseph News Press - McCaskill Pushes for Whistleblower Protection

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By Ken Newton

Christopher Kirkpatrick, a clinical psychologist at a VA Medical Center in Wisconsin, believed the facility gave patients too many narcotics for him to treat them effectively. He reported his concerns through the chain of command.

The VA fired him. That same day, in 2009, Dr. Kirkpatrick committed suicide.

This case became a centerpiece this week for what Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill and other members of Congress regard as whistleblower retaliation. She has introduced legislation to prompt the firing of VA employees who act to punish whistleblowers.

The Democratic lawmaker repeated her backing of the bill during a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Tuesday. The Missourian confronted Dr. Carolyn Clancy, chief medical officer of the Veterans Health Administration, about the proposal.

After Dr. Clancy said she would need to see details of the bill, Ms. McCaskill pressed on.

"Assume it just says that," the senator said about firing those retaliating. "Do you believe that's a good idea?"

The VA official said she believed in serious discipline but worried about "more fear plummeted onto leaders" at the veteran facilities.

"What they feel like is if someone raises their hand or there's something that goes wrong at their facility, instead of saying this is great that you brought it to me, bring it on (and) we can solve these problems, they're worried that they're going to lose their jobs," Dr. Clancy said.

Ms. McCaskill, a senior member of the committee, told the official that a culture of cover-up has formed among VA officials.

"They are more willing to hide the problem because they're worried about their bonus or they're worried about how it's going to look to people above them, then they are the problem," the senator said.

A former state auditor and the top-ranking Democrat on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Ms. McCaskill has long been a congressional advocate for whistleblowers and inspectors general.

At the hearing Tuesday, she offered criticism of the Obama administration for not appointing a permanent inspector general for the Department of Veterans Affairs. That job has been unoccupied for more than 600 days, she said.

She and three others, Republican Sens. Kelly Ayotte, John McCain and Joni Ernst, wrote a letter to President Obama last week asking that the vacancy be addressed.

The department's deputy inspector general, Linda Halliday, testified at the hearing. Ms. McCaskill suggested a time limit on making the appointment.

"If the administration has not appointed an inspector general after six months at an agency that has 35 percent of the whistleblower complaints in all the federal government, then Ms. Halliday gets the job," the senator said. "She becomes the inspector general because the administration has failed to act."

The committee chairman, Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who represents the state where Dr. Kirkpatrick lived, joined Ms. McCaskill as a founding member of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus.

He said actions had failed to match the rhetoric at the VA Office of the Inspector General.

"I appreciate the assurances that whistleblowers are a vital part, that the OIG values whistleblowers, that reprisals are unacceptable, but that's not the record," the Wisconsin senator said. "I was upset coming in here, and you can tell I've become more upset."

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