A Vietnam veteran who died of brain cancer in August 2012, due to not being able to make an appointment to see a doctor at the VA, received a letter 22 months after dying, saying that the VA will now grace him with a doctor’s appointment. Too bad he was already dead – killed at the hands of the many criminals at the VA who would rather get a few extra bucks in a bonus than to actually help our veteran heroes it is their jobs to help.

Vietnam Vet Finally Receives VA Doctor’s Appointment 2 Years After Dying

Douglas Chase was an American Hero – an American soldier who put his life on the line for the American People, and was marginalized, ignored, and killed by criminals at the VA.

While this is not at all a funny story, the content of the letter where they talk about being “committed to providing primary care in a timely manner” is amusing, knowing what we all now know.

“We are committed to providing primary care in a timely manner and would greatly appreciate a prompt response.” – Sentence in letter sent to Vietnam Vet 2 Years After dying while waiting for a VA appointment HA! that’s a laugh!

The soldier, Douglas Chase, was probably stuck in some secret waiting list, or as we call them “death lists”, because that is really what they are.

Obama made promises to fix the VA while running for president, but this was just another Obama lie to trick the American People into voting for him, and Obama has done nothing to fix the problem, and should be held responsible for the thousands of deaths that his inaction helped to cause.

The truth and reality is that Obama has done absolutely NOTHING for veterans, and in fact Obama ignoring the VA problem for his entire time in office probably contributed to the deaths of thousands of America’s veteran heroes. What’s worse is that Obama doesn’t even care. I would even say that Obama hates our veterans.

“He was steadfast. He took care of us, all of these years.”

Suzanne Chase of Acton was talking about her husband, Doug, a Vietnam veteran who was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2011.

In 2012, she tried to move his medical care to the Veterans Affairs hospital in Bedford.

“It was so difficult for him to take the ambulance ride into Boston, we wanted to be closer.”

They waited about four months and never heard anything. Then Douglas Chase died in August 2012.

But two weeks ago, he got a letter, from the VA in Bedford, saying he could now call to make an appointment to see a primary care doctor.

“It was addressed to my husband and I opened it,” said Suzanne Chase. “I was in complete disbelief.”
Suzanne Chase was denied funeral benefits for her husband because he was never treated at a VA hospital, even though he died after waiting four months for an appointment. (WBZ-TV)

Suzanne Chase was denied funeral benefits for her husband because he was never treated at a VA hospital, even though he died after waiting four months for an appointment. (WBZ-TV)

Chase says she will never forget that walk from the mailbox. “It was 22 months too late, I kind of thought I was in the twilight zone when I opened this letter and read it.”

At the bottom of the letter, dated June 12, it reads: “We are committed to providing primary care in a timely manner and would greatly appreciate a prompt response.”

“I was like you have to be kidding, right,” Chase recalled.

She says the VA had to know her husband was dead because she applied for funeral benefits two years ago and was denied.

The reason for the denial: Her husband was never treated at a VA hospital.

“It is absurd,” said Chase. “It made me angry because I just don’t think our veterans should be treated this way.”

She wrote a letter to the Bedford VA two weeks ago, but once again, no response.

“I am hoping if other people speak out, they can improve the system, so no one else dies waiting for an appointment.”

When WBZ contacted the VA and told them about this I-Team story, the media person’s initial response was simply: “Oh, dear.”

In response to an inquiry from the I-Team about Douglas Chase, the Department of Veterans Affairs issued the following statement:

“We regret any distress our actions caused to the Veteran’s widow and family.

“At the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, our most important mission is to provide the high quality health care and benefits Veterans have earned and deserve – where and when they need it.

“Thank you for bringing this regrettable issue to our attention. We apologize for our error and any difficulties this has caused you. We will examine our process, do what we can to fix it, and institute measures to prevent this from happening again.

“We are reviewing this Veteran’s case; however, we require a Release of Information to allow us to comment on the specifics of his case.

“As part of the corrective actions taken to address scheduling issues, VA launched the Accelerating Access to Care Initiative, a nationwide program to ensure timely access to care. VA has identified Veterans across the system experiencing waits that do not meet Veterans’ expectations for timeliness. VA has been contacting and scheduling Veterans who are waiting for care. We regret causing any pain in this effort.

“The Acting Director called the Veteran’s widow to apologize. We were able to leave a voicemail with the Director’s phone number. The Acting Director will call the Veteran’s widow again tomorrow. We want to be sure that she is, as well as other Veterans and their family members are, treated with dignity and respect.”

Stand Up To Government Corruption and Hypocrisy – usbacklash.org