CHARLESTON — U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin said he is asking the highest levels of the U.S. Department of Justice to provide answers about a string of suspicious deaths at the VA medical center in Clarksburg.
“I’ve got a call in to Attorney General Barr at the DOJ,” Manchin said Thursday on MetroNews’ “Talkline.”
“We’ve got people now afraid to have an operation that they’ve had scheduled for quite some time. We’ve got to get answers as quickly as possible.”
The search for answers about what’s been going on at the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center became urgent after the revelation of about 10 unexplained deaths.
The family of retired Army Sgt. Felix Kirkland filed a claim with the VA after an autopsy revealed he was injected last year with a fatal dose of insulin. Kirkland, who was being treated after choking on food, was not diabetic and was not scheduled for an insulin injection.
The claim describes nine or 10 unexplained deaths at the VA medical center, each with similar circumstances.
USA Today reported a second family filed a claim in the death of Air Force veteran George Nelson Shaw Sr.
Shaw died a day after Kirkland.
Manchin said his office was informed last year patients at the center had been diagnosed with low blood sugar.
But, he said Thursday, “never, ever, ever was there ever concern about a homicide, anybody dying.”
At the time, Manchin sent a letter to the Veterans Administration, expressing concern.
“Then we find out about homicide, not just one but possibly multiples,” Manchin said. “We never knew this.”
This week, after learning the situation was much more serious, Manchin sent another letter to the Inspector General for the Veterans Administration, asking for as much information to be shared as possible.
“I said, ‘This is just absolutely unacceptable. One year and we’ve heard nothing?’ ” Manchin said. “The families need to know. They need closure on this.”
MetroNews sent a query to the Inspector General Thursday afternoon, asking for any possible updates.
The office referred to a statement issued earlier this week: “At this time the OIG is not making further comments outside the IG’s statement.”
The community surrounding the Veterans Administration is anxious to know more, said Harrison County Commissioner David Hinkle.
“I think like everyone else the community wants to know how this could happen over there and how come it took so long for the information to get out to the community — and what the VA is doing to make sure the patients over there aren’t exposed to this again,” Hinkle said.
Like others, Hinkle wondered about the status of a person of interest.
“It does make you wonder, I won’t deny that, whether they’re still there or whether they’ve left,” Hinkle said. “They’ve left it out there to determine what that meaning is.”
Hinkle would like more answers soon.
“I just hope that we can find out exactly what happened,” he said, “and the sooner the better so that patients don’t have to worry if they go over there.”
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