VA Medication for PTSD Veteran Sent to "Coo Coo Lane"

VA's use of ‘Coo-Coo Lane’ address still painful for Omaha veteran who has suffered from PTSD
Livewell Nebraska
By Steve Liewer / World-Herald staff writer
August 23, 2015

Florido said he is glad to learn that he wasn’t being targeted, but it will be hard to trust the VA again. He is still stinging from a separate incident seven years ago in which the VA falsely told him he was HIV positive, then waited 30 days to call back and correct the error.

Gabriel Florido opened a package from the U.S. government and discovered an insult.

The decorated Vietnam veteran — who has been treated for post-traumatic stress at the VA for decades — felt humiliated last summer when he realized someone at the Department of Veterans Affairs had altered his address and had mailed his medications to “Coo-Coo Lane.”

“I don’t understand it. I’m hurt, depressed,” said Florido, 64. “I don’t know how long I was a joke for them.”

Florido interprets the fake address as a gibe at his mental health issues. He contacted VA officials repeatedly to complain, but no one has ever apologized or explained to him why it happened.

Last week, in response to inquiries from The World-Herald, the VA finally responded. Officials said the mistake occurred at the Central Iowa VA Health Care System while a new employee was being trained to use the agency’s database.

“It was very unfortunate,” said Kristi Catrenich, a spokeswoman for the Central Iowa VA, “but neither intentional nor malicious.”

Tom Brown, president of the Nebraska Council of the Vietnam Veterans of America, was stunned to hear the story.

“Life is tough enough. He doesn’t need that kind of aggravation,” Brown said.
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