VA settles with Navy vet for $150G in malpractice lawsuit

A Navy vet who was allegedly turned away by a Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital in South Carolina because it claimed he had cocaine in his system has been awarded a $150,000 settlement in his medical malpractice lawsuit, according to a report.

Eric Walker, 49, sued the VA after the Wm. Jennings Bryan Dorn VA Medical Center allegedly refused to treat him when he arrived with excruciating abdominal pain in 2015, according to The State.

Walker alleged that the hospital mixed up his urine sample with that of a cocaine addict. A doctor refused to treat him and told him to go home and quit drugs, he said.

“I said, ‘I don’t do cocaine,’ and he said, ‘I hear that all the time -- but your urinalysis says otherwise,’” Walker told The State.

“Dorn Emergency Room personnel informed (Walker) that his stomach pains were a direct result of ingesting multiple illegal drugs, in particular, excessive cocaine,” his lawsuit claimed, The State reported in January 2018.

Walker later went to the Lexington Medical Center. He learned he had gallstones and gallbladder and pancreatic disease, and received surgery.

The VA issued a statement to the publication on Monday, saying: “There is no evidence this veteran’s lab results were handled improperly. VA settled this case to avoid further litigation."

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