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WASHINGTON- Today, Congressman David Scott (GA-13), Ranking Member of the House Agriculture Committee, joined by Reps. Mike Turner (OH-10) and Andrew Garbarino (NY-02), led a bipartisan letter to Secretary Denis McDonough alongside more than 60+ Members, expressing deep concern with the VA’s latest attempt to weaken veterans anesthesia care standards.

“After more than a year, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has yet to provide Congress with a clear justification for changes to its anesthesia care standards,” said Congressman David Scott. “I remain deeply concerned with the VA’s departure from universally agreed upon medical standards, independent data, and the very voices of our veterans who are opposed to this dangerous initiative. Nine out of ten veterans in need of anesthesia care favor having an anesthesiologist present when receiving this kind of high-risk medical procedure. It is unconscionable to think veterans would be receiving lower quality care simply because they are required to access that care at a VA facility.”

Rep. David Scott has been fighting to ensure veterans receive the highest quality anesthesia care at the VA since the first Obama Administration. The VA’s proposal to remove physicians from providing anesthesia during high-risk surgical procedures is a disservice to our veterans and ignores sound medical practice. A multi-year review of the proposal released in 2017, received more than 200,000 public comments from veterans and their families, medical experts, and academic researchers who voiced strong opposition. Rep. Scott joined with these families to urge the VA reverse course and maintain physician-led anesthesia care.

To date, there appears to be no rationale for the VA to diminish its current standards.

Specifically, no independent patient safety research exists to support changes to VA’s well-established policies. To the contrary, existing data suggests dismantling the team-based model of care would result in increased risk of harm to Veterans, particularly to the recently enrolled PACT Act Veterans, a patient population with unique health care needs.

The text of the letter can be found HERE.