The Army Medical Scandal… Was There a Resolution?

Tonight I told my husband that I have an appointment tomorrow for another physical. “What” he says, “I thought you already did all of your physicals I thought this was over.”

“No” I state, “Those were for the Army tomorrow I have appointments with the VA.”

Yes here I am doing it all over again. I have to admit I am not looking forward to explaining to yet another doctor all of my medical problems. What really frustrates me is that I handed each of these offices a complete copy of my medical files, however, they don’t look through the file. Instead we end up verbally going through every past injury.

Those of you who have been in the service likely remember your first physical; the one where they essentially check to see if you are male or female and make you do some weird duck walk thing. This is what I will be going through tomorrow. The only exception is that a long conversation will ensue about what issues affect me today. Last time the “doctor” asked me to just write it all down on a piece of paper so he could transcribe it onto the computer. I ended up typing it for him… no joke. There was no dialogue about my medical issues, no care plan, no reviewing of past doctor’s notes. This man just took my words, but his personal opinion with it, and presto came up with a diagnosis.

I am not the first person and surely not the last to experience the bureaucratic dismay at the Army Medical Evaluation Board (MEB) system. In 2007 The Washington Post published string of articles describing the neglect at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The main focal point was the living quarters in building 18, while other issues such as disgruntled clerks, complicated bureaucracy, and overworked employees were only occasionally addressed. Eventually there was major media coverage and public outcry. However, this wasn’t the first time that congress had been notified of the problems occurring within the Army’s MEB process. In 2004 and 2005 C.W. Bill Young R-FL and Tom Davis R-VA disclosed that they had been aware of the troubles, but did not investigate, "to avoid embarrassing the Army while it was fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Although Walter Reed is one of the main focal points of this investigation care and medical boards are conducted in Fort Stewart, Ga., Fort Carson, Colo., and locations in Germany to name a few. In the end a bunch of people got fired and promises were made to fix the system. The United States Department of Veterans Affairs announced an extensive review of all their processes and facilities.

So let me get this straight… the government’s solution is to have the VA internally fix itself? Although President Obama has written letter to the VA addressing his concern in 2008 with particular practices put forth, what is the government actually doing to ensure the success of the VA. Obviously the VA needs help in this regard because tomorrow I will have to reiterate for the 100^th time all of my medical issues only to get some opinionated diagnosis by a so called doctor.