Congresswoman Renee Ellmers (R-NC-02) released the following statement this afternoon after sending a letter with Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton to Secretary of Defense Hagel on recent reports concerning the failed completion of Root Cause Analyses into troop deaths and health care errors:

“Over the past two months, we have witnessed numerous reports on substandard care and treatment of our military veterans at VA hospitals throughout the country. But the alarm has been raised regarding an entirely separate medical network that cares for our active duty service members and their families. Last month, the New York Times reported that proper procedures and investigations into patient deaths and injuries are not being carried out by the Department of Defense and this has raised serious concern from myself and my colleagues.

“On Friday afternoon, Chairman Upton and I, along with several of our colleagues, sent a letter to Defense Secretary Hagel demanding immediate answers to these reports and a full accounting of the procedures in place. Our soldiers and their families have already made countless sacrifices on behalf of our country and deserve the finest treatment and care.”

On Friday, Congresswoman Ellmers sent a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel regarding recent reports that the Defense Department has failed to conduct safety investigations when patients have died or suffered severe injuries unexpectedly. The New York Times reported on this a month ago:

“Since 2001, the Defense Department has required military hospitals to conduct safety investigations when patients unexpectedly die or suffer severe injury. The object is to expose and fix systemic errors, often in the most routine procedures, that can have disastrous consequences for the quality of care. Yet there is no evidence of such an inquiry into Mrs. Zeppa’s death.”

“The Zeppa case is emblematic of persistent lapses in protecting patients that emerged from an examination by The New York Times of the nation’s military hospitals, the hub of a sprawling medical network — entirely separate from the scandal-plagued veterans system — that cares for the 1.6 million active-duty service members and their families.”

“Internal documents obtained by The Times depict a system in which scrutiny is sporadic and avoidable errors are chronic.”

“As in the Zeppa case, records indicate that the mandated safety investigations often go undone: From 2011 to 2013, medical workers reported 239 unexpected deaths, but only 100 inquiries were forwarded to the Pentagon’s patient-safety center, where analysts recommend how to improve care. Cases involving permanent harm often remained unexamined as well.”

“At the same time, by several measures considered crucial barometers of patient safety, the military system has consistently had higher than expected rates of harm and complications in two central parts of its business — maternity care and surgery.”
 

Click here to view the letter to Secretary Hagel and
Click here for the article reported by The New York Times.