I am contacting you in regards to a Veteran suicide that happened after a Marine Corps veteran I served with was lured under false pretenses to Malcom Randall VA hospital and held against his will improperely. Myself and others that served with this veteran reached out to the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs and were able to have the VA OIG investigate our allegations of abuse. Last week the OIG investigation was published and our allegations were proven to be true and that gross neglect and negligence took place. The OIG investigation also found that within just a year, at  least 100 other veterans may have been improperly cared for. We currently have no ideal how many other veterans may have committed suicide after bad interactions at Malcom Randall as the VA does not track this information or track when veterans stop communicating with the VA. I have contacted numerous elected officials and agencies throughout the year to include Kat Cammacks office that have shown very little interest in the issue. I have also contacted the Alachua county state attorney who stated they wont do anything until a Law enforcement agency tells them too.  Now that there is an official document, I'm reaching back out to agencies and individuals in hopes to raise awareness and hope appropriate actions can be taken. It is outside the VA OIGs purview to do anything else besides report on the issue. They will not fire anyone or push for criminal charges and veterans will continue to be lured and neglected unless action is taken. Below is the link to the OIG report summary and full report.

Respectfully,

James Hobby

USMC veteran

760-681-8799