Whistleblower vindicated over VA suicide cover-up

VA Concedes Whistleblower's Allegations Were True, Including That It Ignored Veterans' Suicidal Tendencies
International Business Times
By Jamie Reno
February 19 2014

A government whistleblower who suffered retaliation from his agency has been vindicated by a Department of Veterans Affairs admission that it failed to reach out to 2,000 veterans in a research study who said they had suicidal ideas, many of whom later committed suicide.

The agency's admission, which has not been previously publicized, resulted from a congressional inquiry into the allegations of Dr. Steven Coughlin, a former epidemiologist at the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Public Health, who disclosed that the VA was guilty of shocking ethical lapses.

It has been nearly a year since Coughlin told the House Veterans Affairs Committee’s (HVAC) Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations that he had waged a protracted battle against his supervisors over ongoing and very serious problems at VA, including its failure to follow up with some 2,000 vets who indicated in a survey that they'd had suicidal thoughts.

Coughlin, who conducted surveys of 1991 Gulf War veterans as well as veterans from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom--Afghanistan, also said that VA obscured facts about the impact of toxic exposures on troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and the causes of Gulf War illness, and that his bosses intimidated, bullied and admonished him for speaking out.
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Linked from Veterans For Common Sense

UPDATE FROM FORBES

Investigation Proves Whistleblower Claims That VA Neglected Some Suicidal Veterans
Rebecca Ruiz
February 28, 2014

After interviewing several VA staff and reviewing 3,000 pages of relevant documentation, the investigators substantiated three of 10 allegations made by Coughlin:

VA lost medical data obtained from the children and spouses of Gulf War veterans that might have demonstrated an association between illnesses, including those related to wartime exposure, in service members and their offspring;

Coughlin’s superiors responded to his concerns in a way that could have been perceived as threatening or retaliatory;

VA neglected to contact participants in a study of Gulf War veterans who shared suicidal thoughts or feelings.
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