Every VA Headlines report, newest first: VA Office of Inspector General inspections and audits, GAO reports, Office of Special Counsel whistleblower cases and Justice Department VA fraud cases, each linked to the official record. Today's Department of Veterans Affairs news »
The Federal Circuit on Nov. 5, 2026, affirmed VA’s 2018 removal of Valerie Simpson, an Advanced Medical Support Assistant at the Wilmington VA Medical Center, for conduct unbecoming a federal employee. The new official action is the Nov. 5, 2026, affirmance; the conduct dates to 2018.
Read MoreSen. Baldwin on Sept. 18, 2026, asked VA to investigate alleged care failures at Tomah VA Medical Center after employees reported lapses, and after a former Tomah VA nurse was charged with patient abuse involving a hospice veteran who later died. The official letters do not name the nurse.
Read MoreVA OIG made 2 patient-safety recommendations after inspecting the VA Marion Healthcare System in Illinois, which serves about 42,300 patients. OIG found no updated test-result communication policy and no service-level workflows required by VHA Directive 1088(1).
Read MoreHeriberto Rivera, CEO of Family Integrative Medicine of Orlando, paid kickbacks and bribes to Laurent Cassagnol, a VA Community Care Advanced Medical Support Assistant who steered veterans to the clinic, DOJ says. More than $14M in claims went to VA; more than $11M was paid. Rivera: 13 months and $515,542 forfeiture. Cassagnol: 6 months and $175,172. The case started with a tip to the VA OIG fraud hotline.
Read MoreVA’s Office of Inspector General found 8 of 37 sampled Yellow Ribbon students at George Washington University got incorrect payments, including about $26,696 in overpayments, and that a school official changed spring housing certifications despite knowing students didn’t qualify. OIG made no recommendations.
Read MoreA former VA medical technician was sentenced to one year of probation for wire fraud after she obtained $41,666 in PPP loans with false income claims and got them forgiven by falsely saying it all went to payroll, federal prosecutors in Boston say.
Read MoreA Missouri spine surgeon who took $379,000 in sham consulting fees to use SpineFrontier’s implants, and the Kansas distributor who earned kickback-tainted commissions, have both been sentenced, federal prosecutors in Boston say. VA OIG was part of the case.
Read MoreAn Oklahoma medical supply company owner was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for a scheme that submitted over $30 million in false claims to Medicare, TRICARE and VA’s CHAMPVA program for braces and other equipment, DOJ says. VA OIG helped investigate.
Read MoreVA OIG’s October 2 inspection of the VA West Texas Healthcare System in Big Spring found staff told patients about abnormal prostate (PSA) test results within VA’s 7-day rule 55% of the time in early FY2026, plus repeated positive Legionella tests in its nursing home unit.
Read MoreCVS agreed to pay $315 million to resolve Justice Department allegations that it filled invalid opioid and controlled substance prescriptions from 2013 to 2025 and billed federal health programs. VA assisted. The claims are allegations only.
Read MoreA nurse’s whistleblower disclosure led VA to find that the Truman VA hospital’s psychiatric unit in Columbia, Mo., used admission rules stricter than national policy, and some staff believed they could override a provider’s decision to admit.
Read MoreVA’s 2026 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report counts 6,488 veteran suicides in 2024, about 17.7 a day and 174 fewer than 2023. Most of those veterans, 62%, were not getting VA health care. Help is available: dial 988, press 1.
Read MoreDOJ's Minnesota fraud surge: 13 defendants charged, convicted or sentenced since Sept. 30, about $29.1 million in newly charged fraud, and a $10 million health care fraud case the Veterans Affairs OIG helped investigate. Charges are allegations.
Read MoreVA OIG estimated 17,900 of about 47,300 painful scar disability decisions (about 38%) had at least one error. Report 25-03303-266 explained.
Read MoreOSC whistleblower case DI-25-001991: Phoenix VA’s send-out lab had about 2,224 test results over 100 days old not finalized in VistA as of July 2025.
Read MoreVA OIG audit 25-00148-252: about 985,000 VA visits worth about $1.9 billion were missing from billing-review reports, so required reviews could not happen.
Read MoreVA OIG’s 2026 Salt Lake City VA inspection: over half of surveyed staff disagreed the culture was moving in the right direction. Lack of trust in leaders.
Read MoreVA OIG’s 2026 inspection of the VA Chicago Healthcare System: community care scheduling took about 25 days vs. VA’s 7-day standard. 1 recommendation.
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