A letter to Shinseki from Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., centers on allegations from a former VA physician who says he was forced out of the agency in retaliation for raising questions about money for brain injuries, the "signature injury" of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center reports 10 percent to 20 percent of troops with combat exposure there suffered concussions from roadside bombs.
Then, there are parallels drawn between this and Dr. Anna Chacko.
Van Boven's case appears to parallel that of radiologist Anna Chacko, who says VA officials ousted her from her post at the Pittsburgh VA facility in Oakland after she questioned spending and treatment practices.
I'm left confused. After all in May of 2009, the same Congressman Miller said this of Dr. Anna Chacko.
Then as Chacko was about to get terminated in January of this year, he said this.
He said that assuming the VA followed proper procedures in Chako's termination, he did not plan further involvement. Chacko had been suspended from her job in the spring but was reinstated in late summer, only to be placed on administrative leave in October. The termination letter was issued last week. While they have declined to comment on the issues leading to Chacko's suspension and termination, VA officials said an internal investigation refuted claims by Chacko that patient care might have been compromised by excessive radiation during treatments.
So, does Congressman Miller think that proper procedures were followed in the case of Dr. Chacko? It was apparently neither asked or answered. Miller does hint at it in the latest article.
Miller said told the Tribune-Review he is troubled by "an emerging pattern" of VA administrators using boards of inquiry to punish and silence whistleblowers.
"I would encourage the VA to look into whether the process is being abused," he said.
If that's the case why didn't he step in before Chacko was fired? That was also neither asked nor answered. Here is the statement from Senator Burr's office about the "emerging pattern" that Congressman Miller spoke about.
The “emerging pattern” that Rep. Miller referenced in his comments to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review were made independently of the specific issues raised jointly by Sen. Burr and Rep. Miller in the letter to Gen. Shinseki. I strongly suggest you take up your concerns with Rep. Miller’s staff as they may have more insight into the reasoning for Rep. Miller’s comments.
Here's the full letter that Burr and Miller drafted to Shinseki and Chacko is not mentioned in it. Both Shinseki and Miller's office have yet to respond for comment.
That's a letter dated May 15th, 2009 from Congressman Brad Miller to the head of the Veteran's Administration General Eric Shinseki. The letter was written on behalf of Dr. Anna Chacko, then head of radiology at the Pittsburgh VA. At the time, the Pittsburgh VA was in the final stages of removing Dr. Chacko. Congressman Miller wrote the letter to urge the head of the VA to stop the process because Miller felt the action being taken was done in retaliation for her blowing the whistle on corruption. In fact, three weeks later, Shinseki intervened and Chacko was reinstated.
The VA has apparently developed a well-honed and scripted method of dealing with whistleblowers — humiliation, isolation, character and professional assassination,
That's from a memo the same Dr. Anna Chacko published recently in reference to the Pittsburgh VA. This memo was recently featured in a Pittsburgh Tribune story. Dr. Chacko has since been terminated from the Pittsburgh VA as of March. The accusations that Dr. Chacko is now making about the Pittsburgh VA mirror those she made last year when she was able to get Congressman Miller and General Shinseki to champion her cause and help keep her in her job.
The only difference is that both Miller and Shinseki are now standing on the sidelines refusing to intervene. The question is why. Dr. Chacko isn't saying anything different now than she was a year ago. The action of Miller and Shinseki was extraordinary in May of 2009 and it was acknowleged as such in Miller's letter. Furthermore, Miller used his role as chair of the investigative arm of the Science and Technology Committee to investigate the same Pittsburgh VA about a destroyed strand of legionella in 2008. Now, the situation is even more critical for Dr. Chacko. She's been terminated. Her charges are exponentially more serious than the situation surrounding the strand of legionella. So, what's changed?
Are Miller and Shinseki no longer of the opinion that Chacko's removal was done simply as retaliation for whistle blowing? Their lack of action in her support certainly indicates that's their opinion. Yet, they've said nothing publicly about the matter. The story in which Chacko's accusations were published was featured on the first page of the Metro section of the Pittsburgh Tribune. They went unchallenged as those she accused refused to comment. So, in the city of Pittsburgh, the perception is that a corrupt administrative removed a doctor trying to expose corruption.
If that's the case, Miller and Shinseki have a duty to investigate these claims. After all, neither had any trouble intervening a year ago. Of course, if they no longer believe, they similarly have a duty to speak out. Professional reputations are on the line. Both once championed Dr. Chacko's cause. If they now see that action as inaccurate it is their duty to explain themselves. So far, the investigative sub committee that Miller chairs hasn't announced any investigation even though he used their letter head to write the original letter.
The reasons for their silence and total distance from this story likely have to do with nothing more than cynical political calculations. This story has appeared only in the Pittsburgh Tribune. It hasn't appeared anywhere in Congressman Miller's home 13th district in North Carolina. In fact, the media there doesn't see the relevance of this story since the events took place in Pittsburgh. It certainly hasn't appeared in any D.C. area media. Neither responded for comment for this story.
If they no longer find Dr. Chacko credible, it would be politically embarrassing if not ending to come out and draw attention to their original mistake. So, it's much better to keep quiet and hope the story doesn't reach anywhere near them. That may explain their silence.
Late in the afternoon of December 4th of 2006, laboratory staff of the Veterans Administration Pittsburgh Health Services (VAPHS) based on an order from Dr.
Mona Melhem, the associate chief of clinical services, a few minutes earlier - in less than three hours destroying a unique collection of legionella and other isolates that had been collected by two prominent infectious disease researchers over their nearly three decades of research.
So starts a report by the Science Sub Committee chaired by Congressman Brad Miller of the 13th District of North Carolina into a strand of legionella that was destroyed by the Pittsburgh VA and with it thirty years of research by Dr. Joseph Vu and his partner Dr. Linda Stout.
This report and its conclusions began a series of events that climaxed with this news broken on Friday by Walter Roche of the Pittsburgh Tribune about the same Pittsburgh VA.
A top Pittsburgh Veterans Affairs physician, who got her job back temporarily after congressional intervention, is about to be terminated from her position as the head of radiology in the Pittsburgh facility.
VA officials have issued a formal notice of termination effective Jan. 25 to Dr. Anna Chacko, who has been on administrative leave from the University Drive facility since October.
What, one might ask, does an investigation into a destroyed strand of legionella have to do with the firing of the chief of radiology at a hospital nearly two years later? In reality, the two probably have little do with each other, except in the mind of Congressman Brad Miller. Because Miller made a connection, the events of one lead directly to the events of the other.
In my opinion, the events that lead to the destruction of this legionella is a classic case of he said/she said. In the summer of 2006, Dr. Vu and the administration of the Pittsburgh VA got into a dispute that turned acrimonious and ugly. The Pittsburgh VA claimed that Dr. Vu was running a private business out of their lab. Dr. Vu claimed that he had been doing this since 2000 and no one had a problem until 2006, when he and hospital administrator, Dr. Mona Melhem, began clashing. The Pittsburgh VA claims that Dr. Vu was fired for insubordination and the lab was being closed because it was inefficient and a "drain on VA resources".
From there, the VA, at the direction of Dr. Melhem, cleared out what they claimed was biohazardous material that wasn't marked out of this lab. Dr. Vu, meanwhile, claims that he was making arrangements to move said strands of legionella to another facility when this order was given and he claims the strands of legionella were clearly marked.
After having his life's work destroyed, Dr. Vu reached out to the Science Committee and the result was this investigation that ended in September of 2008. Whatever the truth is in this situation, it's clear who the Science Sub Committee felt was at fault, Dr. Mona Melhem and the administration at the Pittsburgh VA.
Meanwhile, Dr. Anna Chacko arrived at the same Pittsburgh VA shortly after the investigation concluded. Even though Dr. Melhem was one of those responsible for bringing her over, Dr. Chacko immediately began to attack her competence and integrity. For instance, Dr. Chacko complained to the VA administration that Dr. Melhem was endangering patients by authorizing the use of Thallium in radiological tests. Dr. Chacko felt that Molybdenum should have been used instead. (The VA IG later found those charges to be without merit) Then, in the beginning of 2009, an employee of the Pittsburgh VA slipped in their driveway and was concerned they had broken their wrist breaking their fall. Dr. Melhem approved for the Pittsburgh VA to x ray the employee even though they weren't a patient of the hospital. Dr. Chacko called the VA whistle blower line and accused Dr. Melhem of "fraud" in this incidents.
Chacko's complaints became so loud that the Pittsburgh VA convened an administrative investigative board in March. Only by then, much of the radiology department had complained formally to the VA about Chacko's behavior. As a result, the board convened not to hear testimony about this incident but about Chacko's behavior. In April, the board recommended that Chacko be removed.
Chacko hired a lawyer and she reached out to Congressman Miller. It appears that Dr. Anna Chacko convinced Congressman Brad Miller that her own ouster was being orchestrated by the same Dr. Mona Melhem. That's because Congressman Miller wrote exactly that in this letter to General Eric Shinseki.
Weeks later, General Shinseki put the word down to the Pittsburgh VA not to remove Chacko and she was reinstated. Her behavior didn't improve following her reinstatement and things climaxed with the news broken that Dr. Chacko has been terminated. (that's no small feat because a termination is something that must be disclosed to any medical board and usually means the end of someone's medical career)
Everyone has a bias. As a conservative, I am likely to reject most if not all government programs. When we allow our biases to cloud our judgment, we become dangerous. Congressman Brad Miller has a bias against the Pittsburgh VA and Dr. Mona Melhem. When Wally Roche interviewed Miller, Miller explained that the hospital was "given to infighting" and in "chaos".
What is less clear is how much Congressman Brad Miller knew about Dr. Anna Chacko prior to writing this letter. Prior to arriving at the Pittsburgh VA, Dr. Chacko spent fourteen months at St. James Hospital in Butte, Montana. During that time, her name is mentioned in no less than four lawsuits. Chief among them is this lawsuit filed by then radiology manager Kristi George against Chacko and the hospital.
Looking at numbers 12-16 of the complaint, it details how Dr. Anna Chacko started working at St. James, immediately began attacking George's competence, integrity, and credibility, and then number sixteen reveals that Kristi George returned from vacation. In other words, Dr. Anna Chacko began attacking Kristi George before they'd even worked together.
Prior to her sixteen months at St. James, Dr. Chacko spent about a year at the Boston University Medical Center until charges of sexual harassment forced her to leave. Prior to that, Dr. Chacko spent about five years at Lahey Clinic in the Boston suburb of Burlington where she was famously carried out of the hospital screaming
Kiss my big Indian Ass
It's clear that Congressman Miller thought that the Pittsburgh VA was rotten. (the letter leaves no doubt)It's further clear that his previous investigation into this VA has lead him to this conclusion. (again, the letter leaves no doubt) How much did he know about Dr. Anna Chacko before concluding that fault lies with the administration? Did he know about George's lawsuit? Did he know that Chacko, now 64, spent time in Boston, Butte, and Pittsburgh, all since 2006? Did he know about the charges at the BU Medical center or the manner in which she was carried out at Lahey Clinic?
Miller told Roche that he plans no further involvement in these matters. I should hope not. After all, hasn't he done enough? There's a dynamic to stories like this. Now that Chacko has been removed, it will likely go away. After all, the problem has been resolved. The problem has NOT been resolved. The problem is Congressman Brad Miller's judgment, as well as the judgment of General Eric Shinseki. They inserted themselves into a situation of which they didn't have all the facts. As such, they sided with the individual that was causing the problems. Just because Dr. Chacko has now been removed, doesn't mean that both these men have a lot to answer for.
For instance, according to this article, Congressman Brad Miller was one of three to send a letter to the Secretary of Navy regarding funding of health studies related to the contaminated drinking water at U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Given what we know about this situation, is anyone reading this really all that confident that Congressman Miller had a grasp of that situation before writing that letter?
This is about judgment and power. Congressman Brad Miller has a lot of the second and the first is in serious doubt. That's a very dangerous combination. Dr. Anna Chacko is a manipulator. That's what she did while serving as head of radiology at Lahey Clinic. It's what she did in the same post in St. James. In the same way, she manipulated Congressman Brad Miller and made him believe something that was simply not true. As a result, he acted and Dr. Anna Chacko manipulated the situation in her favor.
It's really as simple as that, and nothing Congressman Brad Miller will say can change that. Nothing that happened between September 2008 and the present had anything to do with the legionella investigation. Whatever Dr. Mona Melhem may, or may not have done in that situation, it doesn't change how Dr. Anna Chacko behaved upon arriving at the Pittsburgh VA. It doesn't change that her behavior warranted her removal in April. She would have been removed had Congressman Brad Miller not decided that the internal dynamics of the Pittsburgh VA were his jurisdiction. When he did, he had a duty to everyone to be right. In fact, he was wrong, and he couldn't have been more wrong. Such a lack of judgment combined with a plethora of power is a dangerous combination. Those in the thirteenth district should heed that come November of 2010.
A top Pittsburgh Veterans Affairs physician, who got her job back temporarily after congressional intervention, is about to be terminated from her position as the head of radiology in the Pittsburgh facility.
VA officials have issued a formal notice of termination effective Jan. 25 to Dr. Anna Chacko, who has been on administrative leave from the University Drive facility since October.
Roche got a hold of Miller and Miller maintains that he was concerned about the "process" due to his previous involvement with the VA hospital. I maintain that his concern about the "process" was really him being played by the same Dr. Chacko. Meanwhile, the VA, meaning General Shinseki, continue to decline comment on the events that lead to her being reinstated.
Late in the afternoon of December 4th of 2006, laboratory staff of the Veterans Administration Pittsburgh Health Services (VAPHS) based on an order from Dr. Mona Melhem, the associate chief of clinical services, a few minutes earlier - in less than three hours destroying a unique collection of legionella and other isolates that had been collected by two prominent infectious disease researchers over their nearly three decades of research.
So starts a report following an investigation by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology headed by Congressman Brad Miller of the 13th District of North Carolina. The events described in that paragraph were the unfortunate culmination of several months of what everyone describes as an acrimonious process. The "two prominent infectious disease researchers" are Dr. Janet Stout and Dr. Victor Vu. Both were fired in July. Both had been working out of the lab at the Pittsburgh VA. Both had collected rare strands of legionella for nearly three decades. On December 4th, months after they were fired, the legionella they left behind was destroyed on the direction of Dr. Mona Melhem, the associate chief of clinical services at VAPHS.
The story behind the events that lead up to the destruction of legionella is a classic case of he said she said. VAPHS claims that Dr. Vu was running a private business out of the lab testing blood samples for legionella. Dr. Vu claimed that VAPHS knew this all along and had no problem with it until he and Dr. Melhem clashed in 2006. VAPHS claims that the legionella was destroyed because they were clearing the freezer where the samples were stored of biohazardous material and the specimens weren't marked. Dr. Vu claims they were marked and they were destroyed out of spite. Dr. Vu claims that he was in the final stages of making arrangements to move the specimens to a lab at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. VAPHS claims that this wasn't ever communicated to them. You can guess what Dr. Vu claims about that.
Where the truth lies is something I don't know and am in no position to decide. The case is currently the subject of a civil lawsuit and so both sides are limited in what they can tell someone like me. What is without doubt is which side the committee blamed. The report was scathing in its treatment of Dr. Melhem. She was accused of being untruthful, vindictive, and not providing any good reason to destroy these samples. The report and investigation were both finished at the beginning of September of 2008. They received plenty of media attention including a report in the Pittsburgh Tribune, the Washington Post, and the Associated Press.
In the beginning of October of 2008, Dr. Anna Chacko arrived at the same VAPHS to become the new head of radiology there. Prior to arriving at the VAPHS she spent fifteen months at St. James Hospital in Butte, Montana. She replaced three radiologists, Dr. William Driscoll, Dr. Jesse Cole, and Dr. Dennis Wright, who had a combined seventy plus years of service to St. James. The radiology department enjoyed consistent seven figures of yearly profitability prior to her arrival. Dr. Chacko figured prominently in no less than four lawsuits while at St. James, including ones filed by each of the three radiologists she replaced.(though it's important to note that she wasn't necessarily a defendent in all three. Her actions however played a major role) She left in September with the department seven figures in the red. She took the other three new radiologists with her, and St. James was on the verge of defaulting on millions of dollars worth of radiology equipment payment for equipment Dr. Chacko ordered.
It's unlikely that Congressman Miller knew any of this about Dr. Anna Chacko. In fact, it's likely that Congressman Miller knew nothing about Dr. Chacko when their paths in April of 2008. Between October and April, Dr. Chacko spent the next series of months terrorizing the staff at VAPHS including Dr. Mona Melhem. For the next five months, Dr. Chacko's behavior lead directly to a series of staff, including Dr. Melhem, complaining about Dr. Chacko to H.R. and even to the regional head of the VA Michael Moreland.
Then, at the beginning of 2008, an employee of VAPHS fell while in their driveway. Dr. Melhem approved for VAPHS to X ray the employees' wrist even though their insurance wouldn't have necessarily covered the X ray.
Again, whether or not Dr. Melhem actually did something wrong in this case is murky. An employee of VAPHS said that the employee health nurse would have, in their view, also approved this X ray. It benefitted the VA because the employee would not have had to take a sick day to have the arm X rayed.
What is without doubt is that Dr. Anna Chacko saw this as wrong. She called the VA whistleblower tip line and accused Dr. Mona Melhem of fraud. In fact, Dr. Chacko was so forceful in her accusations that 1) she got herself identified as a whistleblower and 2) an administrative investigative board was convened. Of course, by then, there were so many complaints about Dr. Chacko's behavior that the tenor of the board wasn't about any alleged fraud by Dr. Melhem but about whether or not Dr. Chacko's behavior was worthy of her being removed from her post. Six of the fourteen radiologists testified. They testified to bullying, threatening, lying, and the creation of a department at war with itself all at the hands of Dr. Anna Chacko.
In April, the board recommended that Dr. Anna Chacko be removed from her post. Dr. Chacko hired a lawyer, was able to have the results thrown out, and then she reached out to Congressman Brad Miller. On May 15th of 2009, Congressman Miller sent this letter to General Eric Shinseki, the head of the Veteran's Administration.
In the letter, Congressman Miller sides nearly exclusively with Dr. Chacko. He puts the entire blame for everything that lead up to Dr. Chacko being removed on the same Dr. Mona Melhem. He refers to Dr. Chacko as a "whistleblower". He calls her allegations "corruption". He references his own investigation and points out that Dr. Melhem was similarly at fault in that investigation. He says that Dr. Melhem was orchestrating Dr. Chacko's removal because Dr. Chacko had blown the whistle on Dr. Melhem's corruption.
Within weeks, General Shinseki's office gave word to VAPHS to reinstate Dr. Chacko. Dr. Chacko was back at work on August 1. Her behavior was even worse following her reinstatement. The letter itself was used as a tool of intimidation. Her ability to circumvent the process gave her more power. Dr. Chacko was even more aggressive, more vicious and more intimidating. The environment at VAPHS was of terror. Finally, at the end of October, after much media attention here and a plethora of complaints that reached as high as the regional director, Michael Moreland, Dr. Chacko was put on indefinite administrative leave and another adminstrative investigative board was formed. While I have no confirmation of those results, a reliable source assured me that Dr. Chacko would never again work at the Pittsburgh VA. Her resume now indicates she'd like to go back to Boston.
At the bottom of Congressman Miller's letter, Congressman Miller refers questions to his chief investigator on the committee, Edith Holleman. In fact, it was Ms. Holleman that confirmed writing the letter to Walter Roche of the Pittsburgh Tribune. The same Ms. Holleman was the lead investigator on the legionella investigation. She's still employed in that capacity for Congressman Brad Miller. Ms. Holleman didn't return an email for this story. Congressman Miller's office has refused to return many correspondences in regards to this story.
Please note. I welcome any and all comments from any political perspective. I will not stand or approve any swearing, and personal attacks will likely also not be approved.
