The DORN VA Medical Center is a real piece of work… yes, we cleaned it up. We said, “piece of work.” We are told that in 2017, the Head of Radiology at the Dorn VA Medical Center, Columbia, SC (Dr. Jennings G. Pressly, MD), and a VA administrative officer (Walter Harper) were both suddenly relieved of their duties.
Walter Harper, having no medical training, was allegedly caught reading and certifying radiological scans for Dr. Pressley. And, it turns out, that Harper is allegedly the nephew of Dr. Jennings G. Pressley.
Upon discovering this, the VA realized they had one hell of a big problem and allegedly brought in certified radiologists from all over America to re-read the scans and properly certify them. The number of fraudulently certified radiological scans exceeded 20,000, or so we have been told.
By quickly having the x-rays certified by “actual” doctors skilled in the art, the VA had the ability to tell any pesky news reporters inquiring into the scandal, it was all taken care of and there’s no real story here. Apparently, the news media had no interest and did not report the story.
It begs the question, however; since over 20,000 scans were “certified” by nephew Wally Harper, how many veterans were misdiagnosed resulting in not receiving treatment they needed, or receiving treatment they didn’t need.
And the big question; HOW MANY VETERANS DIED, because a nephew with little or no medical training was recklessly certifying radiological scans for the Dorn VA Medical Center? Why weren’t the perpetrators of this careless manipulation of medical records ever held accountable?
VISUALIZE WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED?
We ask ourselves, why in the world would someone without any training take it upon himself to certify radiological scans, not just one or two, but over twenty thousand scans, Good God Almighty!
Our theory is that Wally came to see Uncle Pressly, or was called by Uncle Pressly.
Wally Harper may have said, ‘Hey uncle, how’s it going?’
To which his uncle (Dr. Pressly) may have said, ‘I’m way behind in viewing these scans, can you help me get caught up? Don’t worry, I’ll give you a quick lesson in what to look for.’
We don’t know if Wally signed his own name certifying the scans, or fraudulently signed his uncle’s name at the bottom of the radiological scans. All of this is a closely guarded secret by the VA.
We really don’t know how it all exactly transpired, but we do know the subject is very sensitive for the VA Medical Center. They just don’t want to talk about it.
WAS ANYONE PUNISHED?
A few days ago, one of the people in Columbia, SC we occasionally summon for help in such matters attempted to call the VA to find out what happened to uncle lazy and his nefarious nephew.
The VA initially refused to provide that information, but after repeated calls, they finally disclosed that Wally “quick pencil” Harper was transferred to take charge of the Non VA Coordianted Care (NVCC) program. Referring to uncle lazy, the VA simply said, ‘He no longer works here.’
NVCC care is used when VA medical facilities are not ‘feasibly available’. This includes lack of available specialists, medically unacceptable wait times for a particular condition, or long distances from the Veterans home when the Veteran is medically unable to travel.
This is perfect for Wally “I’ll sign anything” Harper. If specialists are not available, he can pretend he’s a doctor, so he can sign off all sorts of stuff. In keeping with the old Army saying, “you fuck up, to move up,”
WALLY’S UNETHICAL BEHAVIOR FOLLOWED HIM
TO HIS NEW JOB, RUNNING THE NVCC PROGRAM
When Wally “where do I sign” Harper moved to take charge of the NVCC medical division at the Dorn VA Medical Center, he took with him his dubious ethical behavior.
Wally “Bic Pen” Harper applied his fraudulent misconduct to cheat a woman out of her bonus.
In the VA, workers are sometimes given work performance bonuses. It’s not much, but enough to say the VA appreciates your professionalism.
Because of budget constraints, the VA limits bonuses to only those who receive a rating of “EXCELLENT” on their annual work-performance evaluations. Other’s who receive a rating of “FULLY SUCCESSFUL” are not eligible for the bonuses.
One particular employee received a rating of “EXCELLENT,” but didn’t receive her bonus. We don’t have to say it do we? The ethically challenged Wally Harper was the reason she was denied her truly well-deserved bonus.
It turns out that Wally “disappearing ink” Harper (or a minion under his direction) altered the worker’s evaluation, reducing it to “FULLY SUCCESSFUL.” That wasn’t enough for greasy-thumb Wally Harper. The initials of the worker’s supervisor were forged as well.
The worker feels very strongly that it was Wally who forged the initials on her altered performance evaluation to deny the bonus for her excellent work over the course of a year.
Why in the world is Wally Harper still employed at the VA?
Why is Director David Omura protecting this shady MF? Our guess is, that Harper is the “fix it” man for Omura. Anytime, there is a potentially damaging incident, which could embarrass the VA or Director Omura, Omura would probably send in his fix-it-man to do what ever he needed (legal or illegal) to “make the problem go away.”
Why, weren’t fraudulent certifications of x-rays, and altering of a work-performance evaluation forwarded to the Solicitor of Richland County for prosecution? Forgery is a crime. Why are these people being protected? Why are they considered above the law? Inquiring minds want to know!
Most people that would place lives in danger by falsely certifying x-rays, or cheat someone out of a bonus by forging a supervisor’s initials… those people would have been charged, tried and probably convicted, especially if someone was injured or died as a result of their forgeries and fraud.
Here’s what South Carolina law says about FORGERY…
South Carolina Code of Laws Title 16 – Crimes and Offenses
SECTION 16-13-10. FORGERY…
(A) It is unlawful for a person to:
(1) falsely make, forge, or counterfeit; cause or procure to be falsely made, forged, or counterfeited; or wilfully act or assist in the false making, forging, or counterfeiting of any writing or instrument of writing;
(2) utter or publish as true any false, forged, or counterfeited writing or instrument of writing;
(3) falsely make, forge, counterfeit, alter, change, deface, or erase; or cause or procure to be falsely made, forged, counterfeited, altered, changed, defaced, or erased any record or plat of land; or
(4) willingly act or assist in any of the premises, with an intention to defraud any person.
(B) A person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a:
(1) felony and, upon conviction, must be fined in the discretion of the court or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both, if the amount of the forgery is ten thousand dollars or more;
(2) felony and, upon conviction, must be fined in the discretion of the court or imprisoned not more than five years, or both, if the amount of the forgery is less than ten thousand dollars.
(C) If the forgery does not involve a dollar amount, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor under the jurisdiction of the magistrates or municipal court, notwithstanding the provisions of Sections 22-3-540, 22-3-545, 22-3-550, and 14-25-65, and, upon conviction, must be fined in the discretion of the court or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
HOW ABOUT NEGLIGENCE?
Regarding NEGLIGENCE, Dr. Pressly and his nephew (Wally) had the general duty of care when conducting their respective jobs. A general duty of care is imposed on all human activity, but especially on those who have a special fidelity within an organization.
When a person engages in an activity (like the duties of managing the radiology department), Dr. Pressly was under a legal duty to act as an ordinary, prudent, reasonable person. It is presumed that an ordinary, prudent, reasonable person will take precautions against creating unreasonable risks of injury to other persons.
Thus, if Dr. Pressly’s conduct created an unreasonable risk of injury to persons in the position as Head of Radiology for the Dorn VA Medical Center, he was clearly negligent. A general duty of care, at the very minimum, extends from one human being to another, but especially in a doctor/patient relationship.
We haven’t even touched upon the doctor’s Hippocratic Oath and other codes of ethics he’s bound by. Allowing his nephew, who apparently had no proper training, to read and certify radiological scans, Dr. Pressly violated a basic duty of care, a duty of care that he should have had for the veterans relying on him to conduct himself ethically and professionally.
VA TAG TEAM CIRCLES THE WAGONS
We don’t really know what happened to Dr. Pressly and the VA isn’t talking. If we were to place a bet, we think the Dr. Pressly was given the same red carpet treatment the admirals and generals receive, by retiring to avoid prosecution. We ask our readers, is there anyone out there who knows what actually happened to Uncle “you sign it” Pressly?
We suspect that someone decided the cozy relationship between Dr. Pressly and his nephew could possibly be jeopardizing the health of our veterans and quietly blew the whistle. The Director of the Dorn VA Medical Center, David Omura, had no choice but to get involved. Being a good little bureaucrat, Omura probably called people in his chain of supervision which probably included Dr. Stone.
Stone, Omura and possibly several others all went into a huddle to figure out how they could “fix it.” By bringing in a multitude of radiologists from all over the country, the VA hoped to mitigate any damage, if and when the scandal would break. They relied very heavily on their gatekeeper Evetta Gregg to keep people in the dark about this or any other embarrassing revelations.
Whether Evetta Gregg knew anything about the 20,000 fraudulent scans is not known, but we do know she is one hell of a gatekeeper. She has an extraordinary record of carefully protecting chain of supervision going all the way up to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. This is why Dr. Stone, Dir. Omura and Gatekeeper Gregg have been designated as the VA’s #1 TAG TEAM.
WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE US?
We don’t like it when our veterans receive substandard care. Having some bozo, not skilled in the art, certifying the radiological scans of our ailing veterans certainly qualifies as SUBSTANDARD CARE.
And when the VA quietly retires the department head and promotes his nephew accomplice, it’s just more salt-in-the-wound and undeniable proof there are those in the VA who simply do not give a tinker’s damn about America’s veterans.
The people who allowed Dr. Pressly to quietly retire (if that is what happened), and allowed his nephew to become the head of the Dorn VA’s NVCC division, clearly demonstrate they don’t really care about fairness, responsibility and accountability.
The VA has a duty to implement swift retribution against anyone in their supervision who demonstrates such reckless and dangerous behavior.
And where the hell is the VA Inspector General in all of this? We also wonder if Renee O’Shinsky was involved in conjuring up the VA’s orchestrated response to this egregious example of careless disdain for our veterans. By the way, where the hell is O’Shinsky?
COMPLICITY OF THE NEWS MEDIA
It turns out the news media (WIS-TV, Channel 10, Columbia, SC) was notified of this massive medical fraud in 2017, and it apparently was ruled as a “non-story.” Sources say that Ms LaDonna Beeker was given the information years ago and presumably took it to the news director, who did absolutely nothing.
WIS-TV, for whatever reason intentionally suppressed the story. The net result of suppressing the story protected the Dorn VA Medical Center from the embarrassing revelation of 20,000+ fraudulent certifications.
The news media and our so-called free press are supposed to be guardians of our democracy, but frequently they act on political instincts and ignore legitimate stories. There are varied reasons for this behavior, but sometimes stories are buried, because media outlets desire to be granted “access.”
If the news media looks the other way on certain embarrassing stories, they might be the first ones called to conduct high-visibility interviews down the road. It’s a little game the news media plays with government bureaucrats.
Remember, there are lies of commission, and lies of omission. By failing to report (AKA: omitting) legitimate news stories, such as 20,000+ fraudulently certified radiological scans, the local news media in Columbia, SC helped to perpetrate the lie that our veterans are being well cared for.
Does anyone wonder why veterans commit suicide in such high numbers. It’s because some veterans are driven to self-destruction after reaching a point of extreme frustration when dealing with the VA, and the never-ending, chronic corruption of the VA.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: We need help from our loyal readers to obtain additional information. If anyone out there has personal knowledge of any aspect of this matter which needs to be corrected or amplified, feel free to contact us.
If anyone at the VA feels they have been maligned by incorrect information, we encourage you to contact us immediately. We do our very best to get all our facts right, but when organizations like the VA goes into lock-down mode in an all-out damage control effort, sometimes it’s difficult to find out the details of what exactly happened.
If there are veterans out there who were harmed in any way because of these fraudulent certifications of radiological scans, either contact us… or contact a lawyer (you can trust).
