Dallas VA hospital forced to care for ex-Marine after CBS News asked questions

Injured Vet Turned Away By VA Hospital In Dallas
By Jack Douglas Jr. and Jason Allen
CBS 11 News
September 24, 2012

CROWLEY (CBSDFW.COM) – Justin Trivett says he is in excruciating pain. And he certainly looks the part, as he lays flat on the floor, cushioned only by a pool float – in a room that use to be for his newborn child – until his back went completely out.

It is in this corner, inside his home in Crowley, where the ex-Marine spends his hours, within reach of pain pills, still waiting for the Dallas VA Medical Center in Dallas to help him.

So far, after nearly three weeks, the pills are about all Trivett says he has gotten from the Department of Veterans Affairs, despite seeking some sort of relief from the VA’s health care facilities in Dallas, Fort Worth and near Granbury.

“That’s their answer to everything … dope ‘em up and send ‘em out,” the 27-year-old Trivett told CBS 11 News in an exclusive interview.

He said weeks have passed since he was told a VA back specialist would be in contact with him. That didn’t actually occur until an hour after a CBS 11 News team went to the VA hospital in Dallas to ask about Trivett’s care.

A hospital spokesman then followed up by emailing a statement to CBS 11, indicating it did not feel Trivett’s level of pain warranted immediate assistance on the day he went there — assisted by family members because he could not walk into the hospital on his own.
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