Veteran is filing a complaint against Iowa City VA and is considering legal action.

NOTE from Larry Scott, VA Watchdog dot Org ... Use our search engine for more about veterans and pancreatic cancer ... here ...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php
?q=pancreatic+cancer&op=ph

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Veteran lodges complaint with VA

Josh O'Leary
Iowa City Press-Citizen

http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20091116/NEWS01/911160
309/1079/Veteran-lodges-complaint-with-VA

An Illinois military veteran has filed a complaint with the VA Iowa City Health Care System over the treatment he received from doctors for his pancreatic cancer.

Andrew "Buddy" Payne, 71, says he is upset with the time it took for doctors to diagnose his cancer, which is now stage IV, and the hospital's reluctance to transfer his treatment to a clinic closer to his home in Good Hope, Ill.

Payne came to the Iowa City VA in May with complaints of stomach discomfort, but he says he was not tested for cancer and diagnosed until July and did not start chemotherapy until September.

Payne says the VA agreed in late October to transfer his cancer treatment to a non-VA clinic in Macomb, Ill., but he and his family members remain angry that it took filing a complaint and calls to legislators to get treatment closer to home.

"Basically, what they've done with me, now this is terminal," said Payne, who has been told he has three to six months to live. "If they would have gotten on it back three months ago, that might have made a hell of a difference."

Kurt Sickles, a spokesman for the Iowa City VA, said that he is unable to comment on Payne's complaint because of privacy laws. The Iowa City VA provides services to veterans in 56 counties in Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois.

Payne's family sent the complaint, in letter form, to Iowa City VAMC Director Barry Sharp, national VA officials, Iowa Sens. Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin, and their Illinois counterparts, Sens. Roland Burris and Dick Durbin.

Payne says he met with two doctors in May and a third in July about his abdominal pain and blames their lack of communication for his cancer going undiagnosed.

"What they've done to us, like a lot of vets, not just only me, is they keep rotating doctors," Payne said about the Iowa City VA. "They go from one doctor to another then another one -- and he don't lead and he don't follow."

Payne began receiving chemotherapy treatment in September and made the 2½-hour drive to and from Iowa City once a week for four weeks, he says.

Payne says he was first told by doctors that having his treatment transferred to a private clinic closer to his home was not an option, unless he wanted to use Medicare. Payne said that paying the 20 percent co-pay for Medicare was financially not possible for him and his wife.

Payne's wife, Shirley, said the long drives were taking their toll on her husband and they were frustrated that the hospital did not initially seem willing to pay for treatment in Illinois.

"That's hard on a well person, let alone one who is weak and has this," Shirley Payne said.

Although Payne had his first treatment in Macomb on Nov. 2, the Paynes worry that the delay in diagnosis has compounded the odds he faces.

"The bad part is, they let us slip through the cracks, and they know they let us slip through the cracks, and now they're trying to correct things," he said. "But they've got a long ways to go before they correct (things), I'll tell you that."

Payne, who has been coming to the Iowa City VA for about seven years for various other medical assistance and has been otherwise satisfied with his treatments, says he is considering taking legal action against the VA.

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TOPICS: veterans, veterans' benefits, VA, Department of Veterans' Affairs, pancreatic cancer