THE STORY CHANGES: Delays contributed to patient deaths at veterans’ hospital, IG concedes.

Delays in receiving medical care contributed to patient deaths at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Phoenix, a top official in the agency’s inspector general’s office testified Wednesday.

Dr. John Daigh, assistant VA inspector general for healthcare inspections, acknowledged that patients were harmed by the long waits for treatment at the facility, where top administrators concocted phony appointment lists to hide the delays.

Daigh also said he could not “conclusively assert” that no patients died because they could not get timely care.

That language is crucial because the IG’s final report on patient deaths in Phoenix included a line that it could not “conclusively assert” any patients died because of the unacceptable delays documented in the investigation.

That phrase was not in draft versions of the report sent to top VA officials for comment and review. It only appeared in the final version published Aug. 26.

VA administrators seized on that phrase when they leaked a statement to the media before the final IG report was issued, touting the finding that deaths from delays could not be proven.

Richard Griffin, acting inspector general, was more reluctant than Daigh to concede harm to patients and possible patient deaths from delays.

Griffin said the lack of timely care “could have” contributed to patient deaths.

“It may have contributed to their death,” Griffin said as he was pressed for an answer by Rep. David Jolly, R-Fla. “But we can’t say conclusively it caused their deaths.”

Griffin was more definitive later in the hearing when questioned by Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the committee.

“Can you conclusively say no deaths occurred from delays in care?”

“No,” Griffin replied. “We don’t know. It’s a causality thing.”

In other words, let’s not bicker and argue about who killed who. This is supposed to be a happy occasion!