Veterans Betrayed

By Grace Vuoto

Something is rotten at the Veterans Administration. Neurologist Robert Van Boven has been waging a one-man campaign for more than two years against waste, fraud and abuse of power at the VA.

In January, 2009 he was ousted as physician-Director of Veterans Affairs' Brain Imaging and Recovery Laboratory (BIRL) for traumatic brain injury (TBI) research in Austin, Texas. The neurologist has since continued to provide care for wounded warriors, but remains dismayed and outraged by what he saw and experienced: Millions in public funds designated for brain imaging research which could help troops suffering from blast-related head injuries were shamelessly and brazenly squandered. Not a single veteran was seen at the BIRL in more than three years, despite the expenditure of almost $3 million. Moreover, when he sounded the alarm bells up the chain of command, he was retaliated against repeatedly. Ultimately, he was dismissed—despite the fact that he had never received a negative job evaluation. These events are now under investigation by the Office of Special Counsel, a federal investigative unit tasked with protecting federal employees from reprisals for whistleblowing. The VA refuses to comment on Dr. Van Boven’s case, stating it does not discuss personnel matters.

Such is the sad result of what began as a project full of hope and promise. In 2006, the Department of Veterans Affairs opened a new lab in Austin, allocating $6.3 million to conduct research into blast-related head injuries afflicting more than 300,000 soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. When Dr. Van Boven assumed his position as program director in July 2007 he was proud and enthusiastic. Yet, he soon concluded that a vast fraud was being perpetrated on American taxpayers: More than half of the money had been spent in what he regarded as a suspicious manner. A July 2008 report by the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) confirmed that the facility had spent $2.1 million without treating a single soldier. "The allegation of waste and mismanagement in BIRL expenditures is substantiated," said the report.

In the summer of 2009, shortly after the scandal came to public attention, the VA announced it would close the lab in Austin and promised to reopen it at a hospital in Waco, Texas; the plan was to combine the research center established in Austin with a Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Unit. VA representatives claimed this was justified in order to avoid duplication, make use of better MRI machines and place the lab in an ideal location. Nearly one year later, no TBI brain imaging research has occurred. Dr. Van Boven insists that the move is simply another smokescreen to obscure the misallocation of funds and to protect the wrongdoers. In his view, the VA has been working steadfastly to protect their bureaucrats, cover up the gross mismanagement he discovered and to discredit and silence a whistleblower.

Dr. Van Boven has stumbled on a pattern that appears to pervade the VA. A March 2 report in the Washington Times titled, “Party time at Veterans Affairs” provides more evidence of waste and mismanagement. “Some bureaucrats are using their positions to enrich themselves,” said the editorial. In April, the VA inspector general reported that Diane Hartmann, the VA's director of national programs and special events, used her worktime to market her friend's new business, compelled subordinates to help her and also spent thousands in travel funds for her own personal pleasure and interests. In one case, for example, Ms. Hartmann traveled to view a project that “did not physically exist," according to the investigation. She also gave herself hundreds of hours of time off—all on the taxpayers' dime.

Most shocking of all, it appears that she was alerted by her colleagues and superiors of an impending investigation against her and she dispensed of key evidence with their consent. Despite the revelations, Ms. Hartmann continues at her post, at which she earns $155, 500 per year. She will face only "administrative sanction" and be forced to pay $26,704.48 for her misconduct.  In sum, she will receive a little slap on the wrist for actions that would result in dismissal or even criminal prosecution had they occurred in the private sector.

Such laxity in dealing with waste and abuse of funds appears to confirm many of Dr. Van Boven’s allegations against the VA. Moreover, internal investigations are usually a means of retaliating against those who blow the whistle on the corruption within the bureaucracy. Dr. Van Boven is calling for both a full redress of his personal grievances and also for legal reform. “It is imperative to protect federal employee whistleblowers,” he said. He is convinced that the VA misuses internal investigations as a “retaliatory device for whistle-blowing.” In other words, the bureaucracy cannot police itself.

The Government Accountability Project (GAP), the nation's leading whistleblower protection organization, has filed a complaint on behalf of Dr. Van Boven for violations of The Whistleblower Protection Act. The WPA was passed in 1989 to protect federal employees who report agency misconduct. “The process used to terminate Dr. Van Boven perfects the gold standard for conflicts of interest,” said the complaint. “The VA did not comply with any minimum standards for due process or its own policies,” states the GAP complaint, along with a review of the evidence. “Its tactics ranged from witness tampering to reconvening despite an ongoing OIG and ORO investigation, from assigning officers junior to the investigation's targets to serve on the board to stripping all charges relating to wrongdoing by anyone other than Dr. Van Boven himself.”

“Such illegal conduct is a disservice to our nation's wounded warriors with traumatic brain injury and military veterans,” said Dr. Van Boven in an interview. “Our hope is that our story may result in strengthened case law to shield whistleblowers from corrupt retaliatory investigations—an all too common tool of reprisal used by the VA and other agencies.”

Dr. Van Boven is casting a spotlight on the rampant corruption within a major branch of the government. In this instance, the victims are individual professionals such as Dr. Van Boven who cannot fulfill their mission, taxpayers whose money is being wasted, and most of all, our ill veterans who are in dire need of research to alleviate their pain. Our veterans are being betrayed by the bureaucracy that is established in the people’s name to help them. Reform of the VA is required immediately, especially for the sake of all our warriors who suffer daily from their wounds.

-Dr. Grace Vuoto is the Executive Director of the Edmund Burke Institute for American Renewal.