The Merry-go-round Broke Down

You want patients to trust you with your information? Then you better start building some credibility. And a great place to start would be with someone, sometime, somewhere taking responsibility for something.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson said Thursday he is striving to find out why it took his agency two weeks to reveal the theft of personal data from 26.5 million veterans, telling Congress he is "mad as hell" that he wasn’t told right away...

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said Bush should call Nicholson "into the woodshed" and consider changing the department’s leadership, particularly after the agency waited until May 22 to inform the public about the May 3 theft.

"Instead of promptly notifying millions of veterans that their personal data was irresponsibly handled and then stolen, VA officials held their breath and crossed their fingers for nearly three weeks," Leahy said.

In a statement, Nicholson said he was outraged by his agency’s decision to keep the theft quiet for so long. He said he had asked the agency’s inspector general to determine who knew what and when.

Please, just secure your data. Use that energy to avoid having to point fingers and make up excuses.