SPOKANE, Wash. – A year and a half-long investigation by TEGNA exposed the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs were not following their own rules when it comes to diagnosing veterans suspected of having traumatic brain injuries.
“I wish I wasn’t here talking to you about this and that we had got it right the first time,” said David McLenachen, VA Deputy Undersecretary for Disability Assistance.
VA policy states only four types of highly trained specialists are allowed to diagnose whether or not a veteran has a TBI. However, there were some cases were veterans did not even see a doctor.
“From the data that we have now, we know that did not happen for those 24,000 veterans,” said McLenachen.
Shortly after KREM 2 News’ sister-station, KARE in Minneapolis, aired its first report, Minnesota Congressman Tim Walz called for a nationwide investigation.
“When we were first hearing of this in Minnesota, I think the phrase we used was if it’s happening here, it’s not only possible, it’s probably happening elsewhere,” said Walz.
It was even happening in Spokane.
Thousands of veterans in big cities and small towns will be notified of what the VA itself is calling an injustice.
“I’m happy that we’ve identified this problem and we’re attacking it and I regret that it happened,” said McLenachen.
Since 2013, at least 250 Spokane area veterans went to Seattle for TBI testing. That is because they had a greater capacity to handle a high volume of evaluations and could get them done a lot faster.
Officials from the VA told KREM 2 News that all of those since 2013 were completed by a qualified doctor.
However, from 2007, there could be hundreds more who need to be retested. The VA said it was between 25 and 50 veterans a year for TBI diagnosis since 2007. That is 150-300 additional veterans who may need to be reexamined.
The Spokane VA said it is going through all of its files to find out who may be eligible for a new brain scan.