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CVA: VoteVets Smears Veteran Family

By Concerned Veterans for America

MADISON — Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) is reacting to a false television ad released in Wisconsin by VoteVets this weekend.

The ad shamefully uses unrelated news articles from nearly a year ago to attack the personal story of a veteran and his wife who suffered at the Tomah VA facility, and paint it as inaccurate. 

CVA released two ads earlier in the week sharing the story of Mark, who saw abuses at Tomah both as a nurse and as a patient, and his wife Jean who worried for her family’s wellbeing. Both want answers from Senator Baldwin, who had an inspector general report detailing the dramatic over-prescription of opioids at the Tomah VA hospital, and repeated contact with a whistleblower, but who took no action for months.

CVA Executive Director Dan Caldwell had this to say:

“It’s unfortunate that another veterans organization is trying to paint Mark and Jean’s stories as false by misleading using fact-checks analyzing a different ad. The truth is that Mark and Jean simply want answers from Tammy Baldwin, who sat on an Inspector General report while veterans suffered at Tomah. She made no public statement until after the story broke in the media, more than four months after she received the Inspector General report on Tomah. Even after receiving a constituent complaint, being briefed on the broader investigation, and being implored by a whistleblower to intervene, Baldwin did nothing publicly to shine a light on the suffering at Tomah.

“Mark, Jean and Concerned Veterans for America want an answer on that, not more information about what happened months and years later.”

The new ad from VoteVets cites two articles for substantiation that were written nearly a year ago regarding an ad from an unrelated PAC with separate claims.

The focus of the Concerned Veterans for America ads are Senator Baldwin’s lack of action between August 2014 when she first knew of problems at the facility and January 2015 when the story became public through the Center for Investigative Reporting. Over this period of time, Baldwin received multiple communications from constituents, including whistleblower Ryan Honl, and was briefed on the inspector general’s investigation.

In the ad, CVA asks Baldwin to support the Veterans Community Care and Access Act of 2017 (S. 2184), one of the key policy priorities the group will focus its efforts on this year.

For further information or to request an interview, reach Chris Neefus at CNeefus@cv4a.org or (703) 517-4504. 

BACKGROUND

Baldwin Was Aware Of Problems At The Tomah VA No Later than April 2014

*Between April and June of 2014, Baldwin Wrote Letters To The Director Of The Tomah Center And The VA Inspector In Response To A Constituent Complaint About Veterans Being Prescribed Opiates. “Baldwin aides forwarded letters she wrote in April and June in response to a constituent complaint about veterans being prescribed opiates at the VA center. She asked the director of the Tomah center and the VA inspector general to investigate.” (Donovan Slack, “Sen. Baldwin Had Tomah VA Report For Months,” Gannett, 1/19/15)

Baldwin Was Briefed On The IG Investigation in July 2014

*In July 2014, Baldwin’s Office Was Briefed On The Earlier IG Investigation. “Baldwin’s office was briefed on the earlier IG investigation in July and got a copy Aug. 29, and provided a copy to the constituent, according to correspondence forwarded by her office.” (Donovan Slack, “Sen. Baldwin Had Tomah VA Report For Months,” Gannett, 1/19/15)

Baldwin Received A Copy Of The IG Report in August 2014

*Senator Tammy Baldwin’s Office Received An Inspector General Report Detailing The Over-Prescription Of Opiates At The Tomah VA Medical Center In August 2014. “Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s office received an inspection report last summer detailing high amounts of opiates prescribed at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Tomah, but there is no indication her office took action on the findings until last week, when she called for an investigation after a news report revealed a veteran died from an overdose at the facility. The report by the VA inspector general, a copy of which was obtained by USA TODAY, noted that two practitioners at the center were among the highest prescribers of opiates in a multistate region — at ‘considerable variance’ compared with most opioid prescribers. That, the report said, raised ‘potentially serious concerns.’ … The report had not been made public, but Baldwin’s office received a copy in August.” (Donovan Slack, “Sen. Baldwin Had Tomah VA Report For Months,” Gannett, 1/19/15)

Tomah VA Whistleblower Ryan Honl Repeatedly Contacted Baldwin’s Office Beginning In November 2014 Asking For Her Help On Tomah

*In September 2014, Tomah VA Employee And Veteran Ryan Honl Blew The Whistle On The Rampant Abuses Taking Place At The Tomah VA. “But Ryan Honl did speak at-length to 27 News Friday morning about his experiences that led him to filing a complaint with the VA’s inspector general (IG). Honl filed that complaint last September, a full five months after the IG had already finished a report documenting problems with the over-prescription of opiates at the clinic. But the IG kept that report secret. That’s why Honl doesn’t trust VA administrators to handle the problem now.” (Greg Neumann, “Tomah VA Whistleblower Says He Wants Independent Investigation Of Clinic,” WKOW 27, 1/31/15)

*After Learning That Baldwin Had Had A Copy Of The Report For Months And Hadn’t Acted, Honl Repeatedly Contacted Her Office Asking Her To Help Veterans At The Center. “A whistleblower who learned in November that Baldwin had had a copy for months and hadn’t acted, repeatedly emailed her office asking that she do something to help the veterans at the center, according to copies of the emails obtained by USA TODAY. In them the whistleblower — former Tomah VA employee Ryan Honl — asked that Baldwin call for an investigation, that she push colleagues on the Veterans Affairs committee to take action, and that she help bring the issues in the report to public attention. … When she still had not taken public action in December, Honl sent a message to her staffer with the subject line: ‘Final plea for Help from Senator Baldwin.’” (Donovan Slack, “Sen. Baldwin Had Tomah VA Report For Months,” Gannett, 1/19/15)

The Center For Investigative Reporting Broke The Story On Tomah in January 8, 2015

*On January 8, 2015, The Center For Investigative Reporting Published An Article Detailing The Overprescription Of Opioids At Tomah. “Doctors at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in Tomah, Wisconsin, hand out so many narcotic painkillers that some veterans have taken to calling the place ‘Candy Land.’ They call the hospital’s chief of staff, psychiatrist Dr. David Houlihan, the ‘Candy Man.’ Current and former hospital staff members describe patients who show up to appointments stoned on painkillers and muscle relaxants, doze off and drool during therapy sessions, and burn themselves with cigarettes. They told The Center for Investigative Reporting that Houlihan himself ‘doped up’ or ‘zombified’ their patients and that workers who raised questions have been punished.” (Aaron Glantz, “Opiates Handed Out Like Candy To ‘Doped-Up’ Veterans At Wisconsin VA,” The Center For Investigative Reporting, 1/8/15)

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