Pentagon Red Tape Keeps Medical Records From Doctors of the Wounded

[Kadie]

Pentagon Red Tape Keeps Medical Records From Doctors of the Wounded

By Al Kamen
Friday, February 16, 2007; Page A21

Department of Veterans Affairs doctors are furious over a recent decision by the Pentagon to block their access to medical information needed to treat severely injured troops arriving at VA hospitals from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The VA physicians handle troops with serious brain injuries and other major health problems and rely on digital medical records that track the care given wounded troops from the moment of their arrival at a field hospital through their evacuation back to the United States.

About 30 VA doctors in four trauma centers around the country have treated about 200 severely wounded soldiers and Marines. The docs had been receiving the complete digital records from the Pentagon until the end of January, using the Pentagon's Joint Patient Tracking Application.

But on Jan. 25, when Shane McNamee, a physician in the Richmond VA Medical Center, tried to get the full records, he couldn't. He sent an urgent e-mail to VA chief liaison officer Edward Huycke.

"My JPTA account has been disabled within last few days," McNamee wrote. "I called the hotline and was told that all VA accounts have been locked. Could not get a good answer why. Anyhow -- I have 4 service members to arrive within the next 2 days. This information is terribly important," the doctor wrote.


more...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/15/AR2007021501486.html

[Old and In the Way]

1. This is political...they don't want the people to know the true picture of

the war casualties. Modern medicine and technology is saving lives that were certain deaths in previous wars. But there's a lifelong cost to this benefit...and this administration is doing its damndest to shirk it's financial obligations to these combat vets. The truth will get out and the American people will be shocked to find out what the price tag of this care will cost us for Bush's folly.

[kestrel91316]

2. Yep Sounds like a GREAT way to support the troops - deny their doctors access

to their medical histories.

Makes perfect sense to me, if you want those inconvenient damaged units (aka people) out of the way. Dead, that is.

[Lindsay]

3. Hey, come on, dudes.

This is Pentagon data. It's classified!

:sarcasm:

[Kadie]

4. .

:kick: