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Scapegoats for V.A. Negligence: Frame-Up of V.A. Nurses

By VVAW

A lot of us went off to the service not knowing what to expect. In places like Korea and Vietnam we began to learn that we were being used to shed our blood and maybe die--only for the rich in this country. Bu, being a veteran in this country offered lots of opportunity. Right? Wrong! In dozens of ways we found that being a veteran was a curse. One of the worst was for those of us who had to use the VA hospitals.

The year is 1975. The VA hospital system, which already has the worst employee to patient ratio is cutting back more to save money. At Hines VA outside of Chicago, an ex-marine in a wheelchair is "lost" in an elevator for 27 hours. He dies a few days later. At a VA hospital in Los Angeles a patient holds three hostages at gunpoint because a doctor won't see him. At Chicago's Westside VA a veteran barricades himself in a room and sets a fire because he can't get a doctor to see him. In Detroit, VVAW leads a walkout and protest against rotten conditions at the Allen Park VA hospital. Patients are seen in picket lines, some in wheelchairs and some carrying their IV tubes still in their arms. Then at the Ann Arbor VA hospital, in a period of a little over a month, 35 patients have one or more mysterious breathing failures. Eleven die. The breathing failures are attributed to a muscle relaxant drug called Pavulon.

The VA administrators and government officials were in a crisis. Their ass was ever more exposed. It's not so much that they looked bad, but who wants to go off and fight their profit seeking wars and come back knowing they won't have decent medical care. And worse yet, the lousy care at the VA is an indication of where medical care for veterans and working families is headed in this country. So they need a scapegoat.

The FBI was called in. Chief of Staff of the Ann Arbor VA hospital, Dr. S. Martin Lindenauer instructs the FBI to concentrate the investigation on the nursing staff. The GBI zeroed in on tow nurses, Leonara Perez and Filipina Narciso. They were perfect. They worked in intensive care and who the hell would care if two brown-skinned, foreign born (Filipina) nurses got burned.

Does the government really use scapegoats? They sure do. Anytime public opinion becomes outraged over some injustice they'll find one. Better that than have their rotten system exposed. Lt. Calley, while guilty as hell, was the only one "responsible" for My Lai. Every one of the superiors was found innocent of any wrongdoing.

In the Ann Arbor case, the FBI had its targets and went after them with a vengeance. They took over a hospital wing and instituted a reign of terror on nurses and health workers. Any leads away from Perez and Narciso were discarded. They called in a hypnotist at $1,500 a day to try to get witnesses to "unblock their subconscious" to remember anything that would incriminate Perez and Narciso. One nurser was told that she would get the promotion she was seeking if she would testify before the grand jury. In the end, Narciso and Perez were indicted and after a 41 day trial and 14 days of jury deliberation they were convicted this July 20 on circumstantial evidence. The case is being appealed.

Are they guilty? Hell No! There was no motive proven. The best the prosecutor could come up with was that maybe it was an act of protest against lousy VA hospital care. Dig that. Weapons? None. Witnesses to them administering the Pavulon? None. Witnesses hearing them plan to do it? None. The head nurse in the unit committed suicide and left a note claiming responsibility for the deaths. The jury wasn't allowed to hear that evidence. The possibility of negligence or malpractice was never looked into. For instance, the drug could have been administered by mistake because Pavulon was found lying around in unlabelled syringes. Also, the breathing failures can occur when Pavulon is given to a patient in combination with other commonly used drugs. That possibility was never investigated.

Pere and Narciso are not alone like the FBI thought they would be. In August, hundreds demonstrated in Ypsilanti, Michigan and 900 in Detroit demanding a new trial and their release. Among their supporters are Bill Loesch, one of the surviving poison victims, Kathleen Robinson, an alternate juror at the first trial, the Michigan Nurses Association and VVAW.

Perez and Narciso are not guilty. Eleven vets died of breathing failure in the Ann Arbor VA hospital, and there is a guilty party. For testimony ask any vet who has lain in a VA hospital ward for 4 or 5 days without soap or pajamas or even a fresh drinking cup. Ask the vets who wait three, four or eight hours to be admitted to a VA hospital no matter how sick they are. Ask a vet who has been in a hospital bed with a call light on for an hour because there aren't enough nurses to handle all the patients. The VA is guilty. Guilty of gross negligence--guilty of 11 murders in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

By the testimony of patients and fellow workers, Perez and Narciso were good and compassionate nurses. Most nurses in the VA are good, but there aren't enough of them just as there aren't enough doctors, therapists and other staff. With this kind of understaffing it is no wonder that veterans suffer and die of neglect in VA hospitals. After fighting wars for the rich we've outlived our usefulness so this is the kind of hospital care they give us. But we'll fight back until we get DECENT BENEFITS FOR ALL VETS and as part of that fight we demand FREE NARCISO AND PEREZ.

DECENT BENEFITS FOR ALL VETS!
FREE THE NURSES FREE NARCISO & PEREZ