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VA Hospital in Tomah, WI

When lawmakers failed Wisconsin’s veterans

By M.D. Kittle / November 11, 2015

MADISON, Wisconsin — As the nation celebrates its veterans and pays tribute to their sacrifices, it’s important to remember the promise made to America’s protectors has too often been broken.

The headlines over the past few years in particular have screamed of neglect, ill-treatment and other abuses of too many veterans.

TOMAH: The Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center was the scene of widespread opiate prescription abuse. But it was in the offices of some of Wisconsin’s federal lawmakers that the fatal failure deepened.

That broken faith was no more apparent than in Wisconsin, at the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center. While federal lawmakers have conducted a series of investigations into widespread over-prescription of opiates that led to the death of a 35-year-old Marine veteran at the facility and have pledged changes to the system, they did so after a series of investigative reports and the subsequent public pressure those stories created.

Ten months after the story first broke, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who was roundly criticized for failing to heed reports and whistleblower accounts of the problems, appears to have escaped any consequences from her Senate colleagues. Baldwin recently was cleared of a federal ethics complaint alleging she fired one of her top aides and offered her hush money to cover up failures.

Last month the union leader at the medical center said she tried to alert congressional Democrats of the prescription drug problems as early as 2009. Lin Ellinghuysen, president of the local chapter of American Federation of Government Employees “outlined the issues in an April 2009 memo that’s marked as having been ‘hand-delivered’ to Rep. Ron Kind, then-congressman Dave Obey and then-Sen. Russ Feingold, according to Donovan Slack, reporter for Gannett Wisconsin Media’s Washington bureau. U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, has acknowledged his office could have done a better job handling an email from a whistleblower.

Much has transpired since early January. Here’s a timeline of some of the key events:

Jan. 9 — Center for Investigative Reporting publishes first article documenting the over-prescription of painkillers at the Tomah VA Medical Center

Jan. 22 — Marquette Baylor was fired from her position as deputy state director for Baldwin.

Jan 22 — Sources tell the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Baldwin’s office offered a severance package to Baylor that includes a confidentiality agreement and a payment. “It is not known how much money she would receive, but insiders said it would be less than six figures.” Sources tell Wisconsin Watchdog that Baylor declined the offer.

Jan. 24 — Baldwin meets with the family of Jason Simcakoski, the Marine who died of a “fatal mixture of drugs” at the Tomah facility.

Jan. 27 — “Aides to Baldwin did not respond to multiple messages asking what the senator did in response to the inspection report she received, or how she responded to the whistleblower’s emails.”

Feb. 18 — Baldwin hires Democratic Party’s top lawyer and political fixer Marc Elias.

Feb. 19 — Republican Party of Wisconsin files ethics complaint against Baldwin on charges of illegal appropriation of taxpayer funds and massive cover up.

March 3 – Campaigning continues. Amid the Tomah scandal, Baldwin campaigns at EMILY’s List 30th Anniversary event. Event includes well-connected and well-funded donors.

March 17 — A report finds the VA’s assistant inspector general for health care inspections kept a March 2014 review of over-prescription issues from the public because it “contained unsubstantiated allegations that might be damaging to the providers’ reputations.”

March 30 — Families of patients at Tomah VA and whistleblowers offer emotional testimony at a joint field meeting of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Aug. 6 — A federal report confirms a lethal cocktail of opiates and other prescription drugs killed Marine Corps veteran Jason Simcakoski while he was a psychiatric patient at Tomah.

October —Union leader at medical center tried to alert congressional Democrats about the over-prescription of opiates at the facility as early as 2009 — five years before a 35-year-old Marine died there when doctors prescribed him a fatal mixture of drugs, according to memos obtained by USA Today. “Lin Ellinghuysen, president of the local chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees that represents Tomah employees, outlined the issues in an April 2009 memo that is marked as having been ‘hand-delivered’ to Rep. Ron Kind, then-congressman Dave Obey and then-Sen. Russ Feingold. The politicians told the publication they have no recollection of receiving the memo. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, has said his office did not receive the letter but that it could have done more to address concerns noted in a whistleblower email received by staff.A spokesman for Feingold, who is looking to win back the Senate seat he lost to Johnson in 2010, told USA Today that a “thorough review” of Feingold’s archived Senate records produced no evidence that he ever received the memo.”Russ believes our veterans deserve the care they’ve earned and been promised,” campaign manager Tom Russell said in a statement issued to the publication. “As a U.S. senator, Russ fought to open new clinics and centers in Hayward, Rice Lake, La Crosse and Wausau and for increased resources to help veterans in western and northern Wisconsin. As a U.S. senator, Russ would fight to improve care at our VA facilities and honor the service of our veterans by advocating for their interests in the Senate.”

Wisconsin GOP spokesman Pat Garrett called out Feingold for “dodging responsibility.” Feingold “received hand-delivered information on the gross negligence and dangers inside the Tomah VA over six years ago, yet he ignored those warnings amidst his non- stop political campaign for power,” Garrett said in a statement. “Now, the Washington insider is playing politics again by blaming others and dodging responsibility instead of working to address the serious issues facing our veterans.”

Nov. 2 — Dr. David Houlihan, Tomah VA Medical Center chief of staff and psychiatrist is fired without any settlement or negotiation, according to VA officials. Houlihan had been on administrative leave since Jan. 16 over allegations of improperly prescribed painkillers. He was dubbed the “Candy Man” by some veterans.

November — Baldwin responds that Houlihan’s firing and revocation of his license were “long overdue” but show that “change is possible and provides new-found hope that trust can be restored” at VA. “That trust has been broken and it needs to be fixed. That is why I have introduced (legislation) that has earned the support of his family and a number of veteran service organizations to provide the VA with the tools it needs to help prevent this type of tragedy from occurring to other veterans and their families,” Baldwin said.

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