VA downplayed complaints-psychiatric ward neglected physical problems in at least two cases

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http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-36301sy0may27,0,1215964.story?track=mostemailedlink

VA downplayed complaints
The psychiatric ward neglected physical problems in at least two cases
BY STEPHANIE HEINATZ
May 27, 2007

HAMPTON -- By admitting themselves to the psychiatric unit at the Hampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Floyd "Chip" Washabaugh and Glen Brennan were asking for help.

Washabaugh, a 63-year-old combat veteran wounded in Vietnam, was suffering from depression. He didn't want to commit suicide, he told physicians, but was convinced that he would soon die.

Brennan, a 35-year-old husband and new father, wanted to kick a drug addiction that he'd fought for several years.

Both men died at the VA hospital after frequent complaints of physical pains: Washabaugh was often short of breath, and Brennan had back pain - later determined to be from a fractured vertebra.

Their complaints were largely ignored by the staff, according to Washabaugh's medical record and a malpractice lawsuit filed by Brennan's widow.

Their deaths, a physician and three nurses familiar with the unit told the Daily Press, aren't anomalies. They are part of a pattern of mental health patients not receiving treatment - or receiving the wrong treatment - for physical problems.

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