Disconnected, bureaucratic menaces.
1,200 veterans wrongly told they got fatal disease
At least 1,200 veterans across the country have been mistakenly told by the Veterans Administration that they suffer from a fatal neurological disease.
One of the leaders of a Gulf War veterans group says panicked veterans from Alabama, Florida, Kansas, North Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming have contacted the group about the error.
Denise Nichols, the vice president of the National Gulf War Resource Center, says the VA is blaming a coding error for the mistake.
Letters dated Aug. 12 were intended to notify veterans who have Lou Gehrig’s disease of disability benefits available to them.
Calls to the VA were not immediately returned Monday.
Lou Gehrig’s disease, or ALS, is a rapidly progressive disease that attacks the nerve cells responsible for controlling voluntary muscles.
Okay, I had to figure out what that graphic was all about. The question arose because my trained eye latched on to the apparent nudity of the little people at the bureaucrat’s knees. What sort of impropriety might be implied here? (Or am I perhaps merely undressing these poor victims with my eyes, which are known to be tricky organs, and certainly capable of such shenanigans.) Anyway, I find a book, Perez on Medicine. Some sample illustrations appear on the Nat’l Inst. of Health page about medical history here. In displaying this particular graphic, the caption reads, “This is a sketch of a giant man standing in front of small people. It is supposed to mimic ‘The Bureaucrats of Medicine’ in Perez’ book ‘Perez on Medicine’.” I’m still not sure about the nudity.
freakin unconscionable.
i work with a similar diagnosis (duchenne’s m.d.) and we go overboard trying to give the families a soft place to land with such a devastating prognosis.
and they think they can run national health care? give me an effin break…
rick
Wow, the VA got it wrong? Go figure? Anyone who has dealt with the VA knows you always get a second opinion of their diagnosis from a private doctor. It’s interesting, if you ever have to go to a VA center, note there are more private doctors offices in the area than strip clubs at a naval base.