Iraq War Veteran With TBI Sent to Psychologist?

Veteran files grievance, alleges VA psychologist practiced outside scope of expertise
Missoulian
By Martin Kidston
10 hours ago

A Purple Heart recipient from the Iraq War and his wife have filed a grievance against a doctor at the VA Medical Center at Fort Harrison, accusing him of practicing outside the scope of his expertise when evaluating the residual effects of traumatic brain injury.

On Nov. 8, 2013, a screening panel with the Montana Board of Psychologists found reasonable evidence that VA psychologist Robert Bateen caused retired U.S. Army Capt. Charles Gatlin unreasonable risk of mental harm and financial loss by using the incorrect panel of tools to assess the residuals of his traumatic brain injury.

The board also found cause that Bateen failed to consider Gatlin’s prior medical evaluations, and that Bateen erred by offering opinions in an area of psychology for which he was not qualified to practice.

“He’s a psychologist making neuropsychological observations,” Gatlin’s wife and caregiver, Ariana Del Negro, said last week. “It’s as if the VA sends a patient with cancer to an eye doctor for assessment.”

The state Board of Psychologists agreed in part when it found reasonable cause in November. The results are now being contested by Assistant U.S. Attorney Victoria Fancis, who’s representing Bateen before the Hearings Bureau with the Montana Department of Labor.
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