130605

Dear Dr. Abouhasira,

I would appreciate it if you would authorize another round of the Modafinil for my narcolepsy. I have tried to live without it but just stumble from one unexpected nap to another.

I am hoping that an investment will pay off so I can seek alternative medical care other than the V.A. It seems each time I complain, I am demeaned and mistreated more as was the case when I recently went to the Emergency Room.

1. I showed up about 2am with it being several minutes before someone responded at the desk.
2. When about a half hour later I was seen by the triage nurse, I told her that the pain in my legs was the worst pain I could recall, a 10 on a 1 to 10 scale.
3. I sat in a empty waiting room for another half hour or so until a security officer showed up and sat across from me in a small room. Then the nurse called me in.
4. I was surprised and shocked to find the emergency room empty since I thought my wait was based the staff being busy. Instead, I found the staff in a nearby cluster to the left. Instead of being taken to the closest bed, I was taken to the right far end where I was told to wait.
5. Previously, in a similar situation, the nurse had given me some pain killing pills. This time, they all stood in their little cluster talking and laughing without any intervention.
6. I waited a good while before the doctor showed up. Instead of focusing on my pain, he proceeded to lecture me on needing to use the clinic for my pain. I did not schedule my leg pain to occur during non-banking hours! I went to the Emergency Room in the middle of the night because the pain was killing me.
7. After lecturing me with little attention to my pain, the doctor said he would have the pharmacy bring some pills and left. After a few minutes, I realized that it might be hours before the pills came so I got up and left, leaving about 5am. That is three hours of intense pain ignored by the V.A. staff. In the end, I got up and walked out saying that they could mail me the pills since I had no idea when they would do their duty.

Please remember this all started when I fell asleep while waiting to get my blood drawn with the phebotomists telling that they did not know when they would reschedule me. So I waited a few more hours before asking when I could get in line. When I finally did get into the blood room, all the blood-takers said they would not do me until the last one grudgingly said "Sit down." My written complaint resulted situations that indicated my complaint had been shared with my name attached. Would you trust your blood to a group of people who mistreated you in and out of the blood room where "accidents" could happen.

I am not sure what has been written in my records to warrant delay of treatment until a security guard is present or for medical staff to forgo their Hippocrates oath in treating a patient, but it is clear that my concern about safe treatment is warranted.

Anyone who thinks I am a threat does not know me. As in many bureaucracies, complainers are often intentionally mislabeled so as to shift the blame away from the valid complaint. For example, when I went to the ombudsman to complain about the mistreatment at the blood clinic, she repeatedly said that V.A. personnel did not do such things to which I repeated I was sitting in her office because it had happened to me. So, what did she do? Did she investigate that which she said does not happen? Or, did she spin my complaint into my medical records to portray me as a malcontent to the detriment of my future V.A. medical treatment? The answer, logical and factual, is obvious.

Again, anyone who thinks I am a threat does not know me. I am not a gun-toting member of the NRA. I believe in due process which is one of the reasons that I am running as a candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates with the intention of seeking appointment to the veterans affairs commission. I believe my story of being increasingly demeaned and mistreated is not a unique story. I want a commission to investigate veterans complaints from all V.A. hospitals across the nation.

Again, anyone who thinks I am a threat does not know me. Recall how I said I was depressed and you scheduled a mental health consult. I wrote you and the mental health clinic that I misspoke when I said "depressed" when I meant was I was "saddened" by world events. No pill or talk will change the sad existential meltdown of the world in which we live.

So, if you cannot or will not write me the prescription, please inform me of this denial of treatment and benefits by calling 804-233-7541 so I can seek an alternative source.

With all due respect,

bob barnett
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