Sen. Manchin gives update on VA deaths

Person of interest no longer in contact with veterans

PARKERSBURG -- A person of interest in the suspicious deaths at the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg is no longer in contact with veterans there, a U.S. senator from West Virginia said on Monday.

Sen. Joe Manchin said he spoke with medical center Director Dr. Glenn Snider and Secretary Robert Wilkie of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Monday after news reports broke Friday about Melanie Proctor of Ellenboro filing a notice of claim for the wrongful death of her father, Felix K. McDermott, who died in April 2018 after receiving a shot of insulin while in the care of the medical center. An autopsy ruled the death a homicide.

The claim said inspectors told Proctor there were nine or 10 other suspicious deaths besides her father. Investigators had a person of interest in the deaths, the claim said.

"Today I made sure to talk to Secretary Wilkie and Dr. Snider to make sure that their investigation into these deaths is accurate and thorough," Manchin said in a press release. "I was also assured by both Secretary Wilkie and Dr. Snider that the person of interest is no longer in any contact with veterans at the VA facility."

The Veterans Administration Office of the Inspector General Monday had no comment about an investigation. A spokesman for the medical center referred questions to the Office of the Inspector General.

"As is our policy, OIG has no comment as to whether there is or is not an investigation," the statement from the Office of the Inspector General said.

"These crimes shock the conscience and I'm still appalled they were not only committed but that our veterans, who have sacrificed so much for our country, were the victims," Manchin said. "As a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee I will do everything in my power to investigate these accusations and get to the bottom of what happened. These families and loved ones deserve answers as soon as possible and I will make sure they get them."

McDermott was retired from the U.S. Army. He entered the medical center on April 6, 2018, dying three days later from extremely low blood sugar caused by an injection of insulin that was neither ordered by a doctor nor medically required, the claim said.

In October, a deputy medical examiner with the Defense Health Agency at Dover (Del.) Air Force Base, after an autopsy of McDermott performed in October, ruled the death a homicide.