VA: Staff Should Have Reported Former Tomah Dentist Sooner

The V-A’s internal watchdog says staffers at the Tomah medical center should have reported problems with a former dentist earlier. The V-A Inspector General released its final report Thursday on the unnamed dentist, confirming that almost 600 veterans could have been exposed to H-I-V and other diseases because he reused his own equipment without properly sanitizing it. Center director Victoria Brahm said nobody was harmed, but officials say the activity went on for almost a year before a dental assistant reported it. The report said the dentist left before speaking with V-A investigators about it. U-S Senate Democrat Tammy Baldwin says she’s “extremely troubled” by that, and she’s says she’s working on a bill to let the Inspector General subpoena former employees after they leave.