Slashdot Mirror
VA Mistakenly Tells Vets They Have Fatal Illness
An anonymous reader writes "Thanks to a computer glitch and bad diagnosis coding, the VA sent a letter to thousands of veterans telling them they have Lou Gehrig's Disease. Some were right, but many were mistakes. From the article, 'Recently, the VA determined ALS to be a service-connected disability and generated automatic letters to all veterans whose records included the code for the disease. However, since the coding contained both ALS and undiagnosed neurological disorders, some of those letters were erroneous.'"
next time, face to face is a good idea...
ALS is basically a slow and unpleasant death sentence unless you are lucky and can afford proper care. You really don't want to be told you have something that will lock your working brain into your body until you suffocate without a breathing apparatus.
I'm perfectly aware many people can live for ages with ALS, but a significant portion aren't as lucky...
.: Max Romantschuk
Yeah, but these aren't random letters. These are letters from the government. The VA is basically the government health care system for veterans.
If they sent me a letter, I'd think I'd take it seriously.
If I got a random letter saying I had a fatal neurological condition, I'd be slightly sceptical. Maybe that's just me though.
Except these patients already had "undiagnosed neurological conditions". If you had neurological problems, were seeking a diagnosis, had been evaluated inconclusively before, and received a notice from your hospital that you have ALS, you might be less skeptical and more devastated.
I am a geek attorney, but not your geek attorney unless you've already retained me. This is not legal advice.
It'll be awesome when all of our health care is, by law, just as efficient and personal.
There I was, looking for a story about veterinarians in Virginia...
"Little does he know, but there is no 'I' in 'Idiot'!"
Satisfaction surveys are not necessarily the best metric to use in determining quality of care. I think this has been shown in a few studies and many health care providers have tried to move to metrics that more accurately tell if care is actually good or not. I don't bring this up to enter into your argument about socialized medicine but just to try and look at the whole picture.
More importantly, your point about it being free couldn't be more mistaken. For the vets it either cost becoming disabled or a minimum of 20 years of full time service. The monetary costs are covered by tax payers. as RAH would say tanstaafl - there aint no such thing as a free lunch.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
Government should just mail an official looking letter to everybody:
Dear XY,
You are not suffering from any fatal neurological conditions.
Regards.
This would vastly increase the accuracy of the mailing and would also be better for the general mood.
What I do for a living: Build a GPS mobile game
Shenanigans.
So you're all up in arms about it, good for you. But instead of offering a solution, or saying something good like "This isn't how we should treat our veterans," you instead decide to lambaste a proposed program that I'll admit is a bit socialist.
Given your attitude I expect you to return any social security payments you receive and decline any medicare coverage. While you're at it, stop driving on my roads and don't call emergency services when you need them.
"There are no facts, only interpretations." --Friedrich Nietzsche.
this and a private medical company?
You find out about the error when a government agency does it.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Welcome to universal healthcare. Don't worry, you too will soon be able to get the news of your imminent death via phone, email, or text message.
Also, I hope you like vitamin M (that is, Motrin).