Veteran: VA Doctor Asked Him Not To Talk To Congress, Media
DENVER (AP) — A new dispute surfaced at the embattled Denver VA Medical Center Thursday when a veteran who has been charged with disorderly conduct said a doctor asked him to sign a document promising he wouldn't contact members of Congress or news organizations.
Daniel King of Denver, who has thyroid cancer, said he refused to sign the document, which was labeled "Behavior Contract." King said he didn't know why he was asked to sign it.
Denver VA hospital spokesman Daniel Warvi said he could not comment because King would not sign a privacy waiver.
VA officials have accused King of being abusive to hospital staff, and he faces a federal charge of disorderly conduct. King denies misconduct.
A judge on Thursday refused to dismiss the charge.
The behavior contract also called for King to be respectful to hospital staff.
King said Medical Center Director Lynette Roff later sent him a letter stating the behavior contract was not a standard Veterans Affairs Department document and that she had not approved it. Roff also said the contract would have no bearing on King's treatment.
King provided copies of the contract and Roff's letter to The Associated Press. The behavior contract does not state who wrote it, but King said Dr. Clifford Porter asked him to sign it.
Warvi said Porter could not comment either.
King's allegations came amid unrelated claims that a sleep clinic operated by the Denver VA hospital kept a secret waiting list. In a statement, the hospital has denied keeping a secret list but has said the clinic at one point kept an "unofficial" one.
Roff announced her retirement shortly after the claim about the waiting list surfaced.
Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., has asked the VA to investigate.
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