The Veterans Affairs National Health Eligibility Center has been accused of allowing systematic errors, patient neglect and delayed medical benefits.

The whistle has been blown on staffers from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs, whose misconduct has led 34,000 veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to become ineligible for health care benefits. The misconduct has also reportedly caused the death of veterans that could have been prevented if they had received proper health care.

The Broader Mission of Veteran’s Care

Whistleblower Scott Davis revealed the management misconduct to make changes that would give veterans the best care possible.
Via: Think Progress

Scott Davis, a program specialist at the Veterans Affairs National Health Eligibility Center in Atlanta, stood up for veteran’s rights and alerted the Obama administration Deputy Chief of Staff Rob Nabors about systematic medical errors and patient neglect. This neglect is not only in Atlanta, but has also been found in eligibility centers in 10 states so far, including Arizona and Colorado.

Davis said the VA waited too long to address the veteran’s health care applications, leaving their application status pending. The applications were reportedly listed as pending because they lacked veteran’s income information. However, veterans are not required to provide this information when applying for benefits. The veterans were never enrolled in the system and were then stuck in the backlog.

Davis, along with three other VA staff members, claims that VA funds are being wasted and misused by managers. He calls for the Department of Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act of 2014 to be fully implemented to give veterans the best care possible.

Obama’s Investigations into VA Mismanagement

President Obama gave a speech about the investigation asserting that offenders would not go unpunished.
Via: Tumblr

After filing these complaints, Davis’s manager put him on administrative leave and altered his employment records. Davis was repeatedly harassed by senior staffers and he filed for whistleblower protection in January 2014.

Davis gave his testimony to the House Committee on Veterans Affairs on July 8, 2014 indicating that the VA purposefully altered records to hide the fact that they were delaying treatment. He also testified that VA management retaliated against him for coming out about the misconduct and urged the government to issue an internal investigation.

The whistleblowers have uncovered a national scandal about veteran’s care. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel issued a press release that designated 50 pending whistleblower disclosure cases from employees at VA facilities throughout the country, alleging “threats to patient health or safety.” The counsel is also reviewing about 60 cases of alleged retaliation against whistleblowers who reported concerns about “scheduling, understaffing, and other patient care issues in VA facilities.”

President Obama claims he will not tolerate the falsification of records at VA facilities. When investigations are complete, Obama will leave it to Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki to issue disciplinary action against those at fault.

“So today, I want every veteran to know we are going to fix whatever is wrong.  And so long as I have the privilege of serving as Commander-in-Chief, I’m going to keep on fighting to deliver the care and the benefits and the opportunities that your families deserve, now and for decades to come.  That is a commitment to which I feel a sacred duty to maintain,” President Obama said in a statement at a conference on Veterans Health Care.

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They chemicals sprayed on Darryl Ivy had him frequently hacking up blood

Darryl Ivy is tough, but not tougher than toxic chemicals used to wipe out large quantities of unwanted weeds. As herbicidal chemicals poured down on him from a helicopter, Ivy took shelter in his pickup truck, only to cough up blood days later.

Ivy’s Experience

A strong man with a special license that allowed him to transport toxic chemicals, Ivy found a job working for Applebee Aviation in Oregon’s Douglas County to help pay for his wife’s medical bills. For 17 days, Ivy experienced a regular rainstorm of hazardous chemicals.

He was smart enough to document the dangerous working conditions, despite the fact that the staff at Applebee Aviation tried to convince him the spraying would not cause him any harm. He provided photos and videos that illustrate the corruption of one company within the timber industry, but without proof, it is impossible to tell how widespread this kind of conduct truly it is.

Despite strict regulations that require safety in spraying operations, the chemicals were released on Ivy and other employees. The workers then drove the coated vehicles close to homes, campgrounds, rivers and other inhabited areas. One of Ivy’s videos depicts one of the staff members dipping a bucket ridden with the water-polluting chemical atrazine into a nearby waterway.

The Reality of the Chemical Effects

Spraying or allowing chemicals to drift onto humans is illegal, and workers are not meant to enter into an affected area for up to 48 hours. Worker’s are meant to immediately remove their clothing if coming into contact with herbicidal chemicals, and clean their skin for 15 minutes. These chemicals can cause irreversible damage to the environment and the body.

Of the chemicals used during Ivy’s time at Applebee Aviation, exposure to Velossa could cause severe damage to one’s vision and contact with 2,4-D can irritate the skin. Ivy’s employers did not inform him of this, and without knowing, he wore the same work clothes for three days before he realized what was causing the itching on his body.

The Timber Industry On the Defense

Applebee Aviation’s workers and the Seneca Jones foresters supervising the sprays didn’t raise concerns, either. The timber industry, their contractors and supervisors claim they adhere to the rules, and regulators are often not present during the sprays to say otherwise. By providing documentation, Ivy now has proof of the misconduct in an industry that is meant to be monitored by agriculture and forestry departments, but is often overlooked.

Representatives of the industry have successfully stopped bills that outlaw spraying near homes and schools, working to keep control. The laws currently in place allow the companies to choose how and where the herbicides are sprayed. These weak regulations are meant to ensure the safety of more than 165 square miles of Oregon’s forest.

The Future of the Industry and its Workers

In Oregon, environmentalists and concerned citizens have attempted to draw attention to the need for tighter supervision in order to stop the poisoning of people, land and surrounding streams. Since his employment at Applebee Aviation, Ivy broke out in a rash on his upper body and frequently hacks up blood.

Ivy has been diagnosed with “acute chemical exposure” and “acute contact dermatitis,” and is currently pursuing a worker’s comp claim. Ivy’s health and future, and the future of such a loosely regulated industry, remains to be seen. If employees are visibly stressed, overwhelmed, or experiencing burnout, it might be due to toxic workplace conditions. Recognizing the signs that you need help addressing toxicity in the office is crucial for maintaining a healthy and productive work environment.

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Alexis Benter

The Swiss subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc has admitted to helping its wealthy customers evade taxes and hide millions of dollars in assets. Who are these wealthy customers receiving special and illegal treatment? The client list runs the gamut from royalty such as Morocco’s King Mohammed, politicians, corporate executives, arms dealers, professional soccer and tennis players and, of course, the Hollywood elite.

How Did These Failures Slip Past the Legal Radar?

After its purchase in 1999, the Swiss arm of the banking giant had not been fully integrated into HSBC, which allowed significantly lower standards of compliance and operation.

Douglas Flint, the finance director at the time HSBC who took over the Swiss subsidiary, refused to be held accountable for the failures, saying, “The individuals that I think are most accountable both for the data theft and the weakness that allowed that to happen, and for the behavior that was unacceptable in relation to our standards, were the management on the ground in Switzerland.”

Who Blew the Whistle?

Hervé Falciani was a systems engineer for HSBC’s Swiss private bank back in 2009 and delivered a list of over 100,000 client names to the former French Finance Minister, Christine Lagarde. During that time, the Greek financial crisis was brewing and Athens had recently announced its budget deficit was more massive and threatening than they had initially thought. In an effort to help, Lagarde sent the Greek client names on the list to government officials in Athens so they could tackle the huge tax evasion issue. Lagarde has additionally decided to share the list with the governments of countries such as the U.S., Argentina and Belgium.

Why Should You Care?

Forget the fact that tax evasion is illegal. While many nations around the world, including the United States, are facing an economic crisis, the wealthy elite have not been paying their fair share into the system, forcing governments to hit up ordinary citizens for more cash to help put these financial fires out.

Is this fair? Nope. Is this anything new? Nope.

The post HSBC Helps Wealthy Customers Evade Taxes and Hide Millions appeared first on Citizens Report.

Waste Disposal: Where Does It Go?

These factories house thousands of pigs, and it is clear that all of their waste has to go somewhere. Once it falls through the floors of the housing units, it is flushed out into these giant lakes where it sits until the lakes become too full. Now, this is where it gets sketchy, because the video doesn’t show exactly what happens to the waste at this particular factory. The video implies that the waste is pumped through giant hoses and sprayed into the atmosphere, causing the tiny droplets to be carried into neighboring communities, polluting private property and watersheds. If this is the case, then this particular practice is, at the very least, an environmental nuisance and a health concern for individuals living in nearby cities.

For decades, it has been a common practice to reuse livestock waste as fertilizer for surrounding crop fields. The practice ― specifically the smell ― has never been a selling point for living in the small, surrounding, rural communities, but nonetheless, reusing pig and cattle waste has been a viable way to repurpose the waste that, again, must go somewhere. If Smithfield Foods and other farm factories are spreading waste over fields as fertilizer, can they be vilified simply because the general population is now just becoming aware of such a practice that has been around for decades? Most likely no. Can they be vilified if they are simply spraying the waste into the atmosphere to be rid of it? Most likely yes. Again, more information than this particular video offers is needed to make that call.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

― Mahatma Gandhi

Ethics Blurred by Capitalism

Perhaps the bigger issue this video raises is the treatment of the pigs themselves, and what, if anything, can American consumers do about it. There have been many whistleblowers that have come forward over the last few years and painted a disturbing picture of the deplorable conditions these pigs (and other food animals) are forced to live and die in.

In these factory farms, pigs, who are known to be smarter than our beloved dog companions, are packed into small spaces and forced to stand for most of their lives on concrete floors. Mother pigs are locked inside metal cages that are so small, they quite literally can’t turn around for months at a time. For a nation that is, by and large, against animal cruelty, how are companies like Smithfield Foods allowed to get away with their cruel practices?

That answer lies in the age-old concept of supply and demand. As long as Americans want access to cheap pork, these pork factories will thrive and no doubt be allowed to treat the “cheap meat” anyway they deem necessary to turn a profit.

Some opponents of these meat factories claim free-range organic farms are the only option that makes sense, while others support an alternative somewhere between free-range and concentrated industrial animal production. And some, who are theoretically opposed to such horrendous treatment of animals, are equally opposed to paying over $5 for a pound of bacon. Then there are those who are certain that we are only years away from 3D printed meat. Maybe they’re right, and in the very near future, livestock will become domesticated, beloved pets.

For now, videos like these invite all Americans into the conversation and, if nothing else, make consumers aware of how their buying choices create a ripple effect.

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“If you blow the whistle, you should be thanked. You should be protected for doing the right thing. You shouldn’t be ignored and you certainly shouldn’t be punished.”

That’s what President Obama said on Aug 7, 2014. The President’s remark was made when referencing whistleblowers within Veterans Affairs. It was on that same day that President Obama signed a bill to pledge $16 billion to Veterans Affair. The bill received nearly unanimous bi-partisan support, the reason being just how beneficial it will be to veterans. No longer will those who served our nation’s military have to wait an unreasonable amount of time to seek medical treatment. Veterans will now be able to visit civilian doctors if they live far from a VA medical center or if a VA medical center would be unable to accommodate them within 30 days.

The VA has been riddled with coverups, hiding just how poorly treated veterans were. With the new bill, President Obama has encouraged the new VA secretary to fire anyone who is not properly doing their job. Additionally, as stated earlier, President Obama has encouraged those brave enough to come forward and reveal wrong-doings within the VA.

President Obama’s comments are hopefully aimed generally, and not just to those within the VA. As our President said, whistleblowers should be thanked, not punished.

The Washington Post has an excellent article detailing the new bill. Read it here.

The post America: A Safe Haven For Whistleblowers appeared first on Citizens Report.

The penalty came in response to shady loan practices from Countrywide. A company program, nicknamed “Hustle,” encouraged employees to hand out a large quantity of loans, with little emphasis being placed on ensuring the quality of the loan. According to Reuters, the Hustle program was “widely seen as a key factor in the recent U.S. housing crisis.” Read more here.

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