Letter to the Hon. David Shulkin, Secretary of Veterans Affairs - Rep. Rutherford: VA Fails Veterans by Hiring Dangerous Doctors

Letter

Dear Secretary Shulkin:

We write today to express extreme concern regarding recent reports that the VA has hired medical providers, including surgeons, who have histories of malpractice and disciplinary actions taken against them. These reports include the hiring of providers who have previously lost their medical licenses, providers who have a history of sexual misconduct, and providers who have a record of disciplinary actions that would preclude them from employment in the private sector.

We recognize and share your commitment to ensuring that our nation's veterans receive the highest quality care from the best providers possible. Therefore, recent reports of these bad hires, along with the recent Government Accountability Office report that found VA failed to conduct appropriate reviews and report doctors who received adverse privileging actions to state medical boards and other databases, are of great concern to us as we conduct oversight of the Department.

The hiring of doctors who have had their medical licenses revoked in any state is already prohibited, and clinical hires must be cleared through professional standards boards. However, it appears the laws and regulations establishing that prohibition are not being followed by VA medical facilities.

As you are aware, the President signed the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act into law in June. This was a result of Congress's and the American people's outrage at the lack of appropriate disciplinary action within the VA. We are encouraged by your exercise of these new authorities; however, these recent reports lead us to question if further action by Congress may be necessary.

In order to help us learn more about the VA's response to these reports, we request the following:

· Actions taken to terminate the employment of those listed in recent reports who should not have been hired by the VA;

· Actions taken to discipline the professional standards boards who cleared the hiring of those providers with histories of misconduct and malpractice;

· Any Department-wide guidance on how medical facilities review and conduct their hiring processes to prevent current hiring laws from being broken;

· Actions taken to identify other current providers within the VA who have had disciplinary actions taken against them.

We thank you in advance for your prompt response to our concerns. We appreciate your dedication to our veterans and look forward to working together to ensure they receive the highest quality medical care available. Please contact us with any further questions.

Sincerely,