Check out five pieces of our best long-form writing from 2015, as selected by Reveal’s staff.
Tomah
Wisconsin veterans hospital’s former director no longer on VA payroll
Officials said the Tomah, Wisconsin, VA medical facility’s former director is no longer working for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the latest development after our investigation of the hospital’s improper prescription practices.
Federal report confirms veteran’s overdose death at Tomah VA hospital
Federal investigators have confirmed that a lethal cocktail of prescription drugs killed Marine Corps veteran Jason Simcakoski, a psychiatric patient at the Tomah, Wisconsin, veterans hospital known as “Candy Land” for its rampant use of opiates.
Embattled VA inspector general to resign after calls for his ouster
Department of Veterans Affairs’ Deputy Inspector General Richard Griffin had been under fire for more than a year over problems at VA hospitals, including the overprescription of opiates at the Tomah, Wisconsin, facility dubbed “Candy Land.”
Wisconsin VA’s opiate overprescription harmed patients, report finds
A preliminary report by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs revealed that runaway opiate prescriptions and a culture of fear created by hospital leadership compromised patient care and harmed the staff at the Tomah, Wisconsin, VA.
VA gave $8,025 bonus to director of troubled Wisconsin hospital
Mario DeSanctis, director of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Tomah, Wisconsin, said his performance bonus was “warranted and justified” even though the facility was being investigated over runaway painkiller prescriptions and patient overdoses.
VA inspector general finally releases report on Wisconsin hospital
The Department of Veterans Affairs’ inspector general’s office has publicly released its scathing report documenting runaway painkiller prescriptions and abuse of administrative authority at the VA hospital in Tomah, Wisconsin, nearly a year after it closed the case.
VA to send specialists to investigate problems at Wisconsin hospital
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said it will conduct an internal investigation after a CIR report documented opiate overprescription and other issues at the Tomah VA hospital.
Alarm over Wisconsin VA’s troubles follows years of complaints
Politicians from both parties and government bureaucrats are rushing to look into allegations of overmedication, retaliatory management practices and preventable overdose deaths at a Wisconsin VA hospital, revealed by CIR.