Military families are discovering that the U.S. military medical system is closed to inquires about botched medical care. Attempts to find out what happened in such cases meet with stock letters of condolence, denials or silence. And workers in the system cannot speak out about problems without suffering penalties. The Pentagon’s chief health official, Dr. Jonathan Woodson, says he is trying to change the culture. If the public was routinely denied information, said Woodson, “that went out the door when I came in [in 2011].” (The New York Times, April 19, 2015, by Sharon LaFraniere)
The Tampa Bay Times reported late last year that despite these assurances and pledges of openness from Veteran Administration officials and reports to Congress of disclosures of medical errors, the VA does not routinely oversee personnel to enforce transparency. (Tampa Bay Times, December 12, 20143, by William R. Levesque)