Friday, January 29, 2010

Trial Set for Lexington VA Nurse Accused of Murder

Full Article at: Trial set for ex-VA nurse accused in patient's death
By Jennifer Hewlett - jhewlett@herald-leader.com

A trial date has been set for a former nurse at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Lexington who is charged with murder in the death of a patient at the hospital.

Maria Whitt, 32, of Mount Sterling is scheduled to go trial May 24 in federal court. The trial is expected to last about two weeks.

The trial date was set Friday during a status hearing. Whitt is accused of killing World War II veteran Jesse Lee Chain, 90, who died of a morphine overdose Sept. 3, 2006, at the VA hospital. Whitt has pleaded not guilty.

Meanwhile, defense and prosecuting attorneys agreed that the conditions of release for Whitt were too harsh. Whitt, who was let out of jail and released to her mother in October, several days after she was arrested, has been under 24-hour house arrest and electronic monitoring."

VAOIG Finds 29% Error Rate at Anchorage Regional Office

Full Article at: Federal review finds errors at Anchorage VA office

The Associated Press

Published: January 29th, 2010 08:17 AM


ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Federal inspectors gave the Anchorage Veterans Administration regional office a poor review for its handling of disability claims - a 29 percent error rate.

The Anchorage Daily News reports that has resulted in delays, underpayments and denials of services for some veterans.

Alaska had the highest number of veterans per capita of any state as of the last census, at nearly 18 percent of the population."

"In response to questions from the Daily News, Clark said the Anchorage office suffered from turnover in key positions during the past year, and its performance doesn't "currently compare favorably" to other regional offices."

"Tammy Schuyler, president of the AFGE Local 3028 union that represents Alaska VA workers, says significant problems have yet to been resolved."