Dying veteran sent from Tampa VA to hospice died without breathing machine

Transfer of VA patient goes awry
By William R. Levesque, Times staff writer
In print: Sunday, November 9, 2008


TAMPA — His body racked by vascular disease, 85-year-old Varrian "Otto" Wigner struggled with every breath.

Doctors at the James A. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa could do little for him. They suggested the World War II veteran be sent to a hospice. Wigner's wife agreed but said she insisted on one condition:

The breathing device that eased her husband's suffering and helped keep him alive must be waiting for him. Haley didn't object.

But the device wasn't waiting on Aug. 29. The hospice immediately tried to get Haley to take Wigner back, his widow said.

Haley refused, his wife said, and Wigner died in less than 24 hours.

"They dumped him like garbage on the street," said Alina Wigner, 76, of Weeki Wachee, Wigner's wife of 53 years. "I never thought the VA would let him down like this."

The case is the third detailed by the St. Petersburg Times in recent months about allegations of poor patient care or veterans who said Haley was too busy to treat them.
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