Letter to U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki: Boozman Expresses Concern About VA Publication

Letter

Letter to U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki: Boozman Expresses Concern About VA Publication

U.S. Representative John Boozman, a member of the House Veteran's Affairs Committee sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki about "Your Life Your Choices," a publication on the VA website that provides information about end of life counseling. The following is the letter that was sent to the Secretary and the Chairman and Ranking member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee:

I am writing today to express my deep concern regarding the VA publication “Your Life Your Choices” and request that it be removed from the VA website and its use by VA practitioners be discontinued until appropriate oversight and reevaluation of the materials is completed. There are a number of aspects regarding this situation that are of particular concern to me. First, is the inherent conflict of interest in having an individual who advocated physician assisted suicide before the Supreme Court of the United States in the decision Vacco v Quill, 1996, serving as the Chief of Ethics Evaluation at the VA. Furthermore, I am very disturbed by the contents and questions contained within the “Your Life Your Choices” document, particularly on Pg. 21, which appear to steer veterans in the direction of refusing care and succumbing to the pain/illness/ailments/disabilities that may or may not be affecting their quality of life. I am also concerned about some of the conflicting information coming out of the VA regarding the use of this document.

Although recent spokespersons for the VA have denied that practitioners have been instructed to use “Your Life Your Choices,” and the VA document now states that it is undergoing revision, recent action by the VA contradicts these claims. It is my understanding that, on July 2, 2009, the VA published revisions to the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Handbook (VHA Handbook 1004.2) that clearly states on Pg. 9, “Patients may be directed to the exercises in “Your Life, Your Choices” (available on My HealtheVet at the web site http://www.myhealth.va.gov), or other published resources.”

Although the VA may be attempting to provide our nation's veterans with access to end of life counseling and planning services, this document is clearly unacceptable for the uses of treatment or consultation with any of our nation's veterans and wounded warriors. While serving our nation, members of our Armed Forces are encouraged to persevere and never give up and should be encouraged in a similar manner when they are battling pain, illness, and disability. While I acknowledge the fact that the perception of this situation may not reflect the reality or intent of some the contents of “Your Life Your Choices,” the perceived intent/goal undermines much of the recent progress of the VA, under your leadership and that of your predecessors, to rebuild the trust of our veterans and their families that the VA always has their best interest in mind when providing health care and counseling services. It is for these reasons that I request your immediate attention to this matter.

Thank you for your time and thoughtful consideration of this issue.

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