VA Nurse Investigated for Sedition After Letter to the Editor

Originally posted by Pyros
This individual used a government-owned computer system, presumably during working hours, to generate an anti-government article for this periodical. She also made sure that she identified herself as a government employee.

This is untrue. Nurse Berg did not use her work computer to produce that letter. Management has the right to remove her work computer for any reason at any time. That is understood, but the method they used was both humiliating and intimidating. I don't agree with Nurse Berg's view and I do think that it was wrong of her to invoke the name of the VA in her letter, but she didn't deserve the treatment she got. All is well now and I have that from an unimpeachable source.

[edit on 2006/3/10 by GradyPhilpott]

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
It was my intention to draw attention to the fact that she was accountable in some measure for the problem.

In the sense that 'but for' her letter the govt. would not have taken the repressive action it did. Yes. But that's like saying 'but for' the guy flipping me off in traffic I would not have put a bullet in his head.

But my point is that she did nothing wrong in announcing publicly her position on the invasion and occupation of a sovereign nation and the resulting and forseeable harm resulting which she has witnessed first hand.

Responsibility or blame are different than legal culpability. I never said that her action justified the over the top response of the VA management.

We are all indeed responsible for our actions. But that does not mean we are all responsible for how others react to those actions. Each is responsible for his/her own actions whether they accept it or not.

But responsibility and blame are two very different things. To blame a behavior is to say it is the cause or source of something perceived as negative. Her behavior is perceived as negative by you yet positive by me.

In point of fact, whichever side of the dialogue on the Iraq invasion you stand we can all agree that her right to express herself should not have been stomped by the govt. regardless of her self-identification as a VA nurse.

Originally posted by seattlelaw
In point of fact, whichever side of the dialogue on the Iraq invasion you stand we can all agree that her right to express herself should not have been stomped by the govt. regardless of her self-identification as a VA nurse.

I agree with that.

Grady, your input has been great, very informative. Thanks very much.

I guess we all suspected it would end this way. Government reactionaries retreat to plan their next abortion of good sense, and there's a short reprieve, like spring for a day in the middle of winter.

Meanwhile, the VA hospital serving my area just closed its doors due to lack of funding. They've got one doctor (who we share with a town 40 miles away), and way too many patients, so they stopped taking new patients and can't afford to hire more staff.

:shk:

They couldn't deal with all the Okinawa boys, nevermind the Vietnam boys who came after, and now they've got more boys from two more wars piled on top of it all. There's too many wounded veterans, and not nearly enough of a support network to take care of them.

The state should never be in a position where it's wishing for dead old veterans to make room and free up resources for new wounded ones, and that's exactly the position we're in.

Grady, I hear what you're saying about being thankful there's a VA in the first place, but c'mon, men who lose their limbs and senses and sanity fighting on foreign battlefields deserve to return heroes, and be well taken care of for the rest of their lives, without question, supported by the state that benefited from their sacrifice. I just don't see how we have a choice in the matter.

The state seems to be ill-prepared for the repurcussions of its own stupid decisions.

Can you tell me more about that facility that was shut down, where it is and whatnot?

The article ran in the feb 16 issue of the North Adams Transript, this year, 2006. Sorry I can't be more specific, but I'll try to hunt down the article.

Edit: Found it.

Link

He estimated that the clinic's one doctor is serving close to 2,000 patients. As the cost of medication and health insurance have risen, Bradley said, many veterans have decided to take advantage of the VA benefits, flooding the system with new members. The new Medicare prescription drug benefit has steered even more into the system because it eliminates plan premiums.

"It's going to get worse," Bradley said. "World War II veterans are all in their 80s. Korean War vets are in their 70s, and Vietnam vets are in mid-50s to early 60s, on average, and we are all needing more and more medical care."

[edit on 11-3-2006 by WyrdeOne]

There's no question that the strain on the VA is getting worse.

"World War II veterans are all in their 80s. Korean War vets are in their 70s, and Vietnam vets are in mid-50s to early 60s, on average, and we are all needing more and more medical care."

Source

This excludes those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and those from the Persian Gulf War.

The problem in this case, however is not just a case of funding.

He estimated that the clinic's one doctor is serving close to 2,000 patients. As the cost of medication and health insurance have risen, Bradley said, many veterans have decided to take advantage of the VA benefits, flooding the system with new members. The new Medicare prescription drug benefit has steered even more into the system because it eliminates plan premiums.

It does appear that something is in the works, however.

UVA President and CEO John F. Downing Jr. said he expects the situation to last at least another six to nine months.

And this is a real problem. Historically, there have been two kinds of MDs at the VA. Those retired from private practice and residents--very old and very young. There are some in betweens, but very few.

He said the VA has long had difficulty finding doctors willing to work at its clinics and hospitals, where the salaries are lower than the private sector.

This is the correct strategy, especially Senators and Congress Members.

He has been urging veterans to write their state and federal representatives and to call the VA and say: "This is not right to make these vets travel this distance."

But is must be remembered that there is no quick fix to this issue, except as you noted, attrition.