thedrifter
02-16-07, 06:59 AM
VA plans 2nd probe of veteran's suicide
Thu Feb 15, 9:23 PM ET
The inspector general of the Department of Veterans Affairs will look further into allegations that a Marine veteran was turned away from two VA hospitals in Minnesota before committing suicide, a congressman said Thursday.
Rep. John Kline (news, bio, voting record), R-Minn., said VA Secretary Jim Nicholson told him the VA medical inspector and a clinical psychologist who conducted the initial investigation into Jonathan Schulze's case could not determine what happened.
"It's not that they found something. It's that they didn't answer the question (of what happened) so somebody else will have to look at it," Kline said.
Schulze, 25, of New Prague, killed himself Jan. 16. He left the Marines in late 2005, but his family said he continued to have aching memories of combat. His family has said he sought help at the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis, and again days before his suicide at the VA Medical Center in St. Cloud, but was not admitted.
His father and stepmother, Jim and Marianne Schulze, have said they heard their son tell hospital staff members on two occasions that he was suicidal. VA records do not indicate that the veteran talked of suicide.
Ellie
Thu Feb 15, 9:23 PM ET
The inspector general of the Department of Veterans Affairs will look further into allegations that a Marine veteran was turned away from two VA hospitals in Minnesota before committing suicide, a congressman said Thursday.
Rep. John Kline (news, bio, voting record), R-Minn., said VA Secretary Jim Nicholson told him the VA medical inspector and a clinical psychologist who conducted the initial investigation into Jonathan Schulze's case could not determine what happened.
"It's not that they found something. It's that they didn't answer the question (of what happened) so somebody else will have to look at it," Kline said.
Schulze, 25, of New Prague, killed himself Jan. 16. He left the Marines in late 2005, but his family said he continued to have aching memories of combat. His family has said he sought help at the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis, and again days before his suicide at the VA Medical Center in St. Cloud, but was not admitted.
His father and stepmother, Jim and Marianne Schulze, have said they heard their son tell hospital staff members on two occasions that he was suicidal. VA records do not indicate that the veteran talked of suicide.
Ellie