William Whitaker, who was an Army veteran and life-long heavy smoker until he switched to vaping on a daily basis in 2013, had been a mechanic in the Army for nine years. In June 2020, he underwent a chest scan that showed a complicated bulla in his left lung, which often is indicative of lung cancer. Nonetheless, there was no follow up care by his pulmonologist at the William Jennings Bryan Dorn Veterans Administration Medical Center in Columbia, South Carolina, despite the pulmonologist allegedly knowing the results of the chest scan. Whitaker died from lung cancer twenty months after the chest scan.
In November 2020, Whitaker had a routine telehealth visit with his physician at the VA hospital during which the chest scan results were not discussed with him. A year later, in November 2021, Whitaker had an outpatient visit with his VA physician who noted that another scan of his lungs was due but the scan was not scheduled at that time. Then, in February 2021, Whitaker went to the VA medical center’s emergency room after he began experiencing chest pain, was having trouble breathing, and he was coughing up blood. A growth in his upper left lung was then found that turned out to be Stage 3 squamous cell carcinoma. Despite beginning a regimen of chemotherapy, Whitaker suffered a cardiac event and died on March 27, 2022.
The United States agreed to settle the medical malpractice wrongful death claim with Whitaker’s widow, Anna, for $880,000, without admitting liability, which settlement was finalized on April 5, 2024.
The Columbia VA Health Care System states on its website: “The Columbia VA Health Care System provides you with outstanding health care, trains America’s future health care providers, and conducts important medical research … We provide you with health care services at nine locations, serving a 36-county area in South Carolina. Facilities include our Wm. Jennings Bryan Dorn VA Medical Center (virtual map) in Columbia and seven VA clinics in Anderson, Florence, Greenville, Orangeburg, Rock Hill, Spartanburg, and Sumter. We also maintain a mobile clinic operating out of the Wm. Jennings Bryan Dorn VA Medical Center. … The Columbia VA Health Care System is one of the leading health care systems serving Veterans in the VA Southeast Network. We’re an innovative care center within the Veterans Integrated Service Network 7 (VISN 7), which includes medical centers and clinics in Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina … At Columbia VA Health Care System, our health care teams are deeply experienced and guided by the needs of Veterans, their families, and caregivers. Find a health facility near you and manage your health online … Our hospital provides primary care and specialty health services, including mental health services, surgery, psychiatry, physical medicine and rehabilitation, cardiology, neurology, oncology, dentistry, geriatrics, extended care, and more.”
If you or a loved one suffered harm as a result of medical malpractice involving a VA medical facility, you should promptly find a federal medical malpractice lawyer (Federal Tort Claims Act lawyer) who may investigate your VA medical malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a Federal Tort Claims Act medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
Click on the “Contact Us Now” tab to the right, visit our website, or call us toll-free in the United States at 800-295-3959 to find federal medical malpractice attorneys who may assist you.
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