July 28, 2009

Veterans to File Claims for VA Hospital Errors

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) soon will receive claims from an attorney on behalf of about 60 veterans to pay disability benefits and damages for exposure to infectious body fluids, The Associated Press reports.

Mike Sheppard, an attorney from Nashville, Tennessee, will file claims within 30 to 45 days charging medical malpractice and emotional distress. His clients include veterans who have tested positive for HIV and hepatitis, as well as veterans who had false-positive test results.

According to the article, Sheppard said that many other claims might be filed from the more than 10,000 veterans who received warnings from the VA that they might have been exposed to infectious body fluids as a result of errors in sterilizing endoscopic equipment.

The VA has stated that the errors were limited to three facilities, but a report by the agency’s inspector general found that the problem was perhaps more widespread.

Search: Veterans Affairs, VA, Nashville, Tennessee, hepatitis, endoscopic

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