CINCINNATI — When Air Force veteran John Watts got injured on the job, he filed a Worker’s Compensation claim. Now, he’s not sure who he can trust after a process in which he claims legal counsel forged a document and the state looked the other way.
"The law says if you alter, falsify or change any document, then that's forgery, which is punishable by a felony," said John Watts.
As part of his journey through the Worker’s Compensation claim process, Watts was asked to give his permission to access his military medical records from the Cincinnati VA Medical Center.
"Shelby McMillan with Reminger said, 'Hey, can we have the records?' I said, 'No.' ... I told my supervisor, 'No, I'm telling you no,'" Watts said.
With VA medical records out of the question, in June 2022, Watts signed an Authorization to Release Medical Information form giving the Reminger law firm and attorney Shelby McMillan, who represented his employer, access to his medical records from St. Elizabeth Hospital.
Watts said it was during his Worker’s Compensation hearing afterwards that things went sideways.
"Miss McMillan chimes in and says, 'I have 431 pages of his VA medical records.' And I said, 'Nah.' I said, 'How did she get my VA medical records?' I never signed a release," Watts said.
Looking at the form submitted to the Cincinnati VA Medical Center, Watts said he sees an immediate issue.
"I see handwritten 'VA hospital,'" Watts said. "My handwriting is all in cursive. This looks like it’s penciled in."
His original form only permitted the attorney to pull records from St. Elizabeth Hospital.
He said his next stop was the Cincinnati VA Medical Center, where the clerk in the office showed him the form which read St. Elizabeth Hospital and VA Hospital.
"I said, 'You can see that that's not my handwriting.' She said, 'Well, I can see it's clearly not your handwriting, but we follow protocol on releasing your records. If we have a signed medical release dated, then we can release the records in terms of the VA releasing information,'" Watts said.
The Privacy Officer with Veterans Integrated Service Network with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs sent a letter to McMillan asking that the medical records be returned without copying them in any format. The letter cited that John Watts "did not authorize the release."
Watts filed a grievance with the Supreme Court of Ohio Disciplinary Counsel regarding McMillan’s actions.
The Disciplinary Counsel cited in a letter dated Dec. 28, 2023, that "Attorney McMillan added the VA to the release" and "While our office has declined to pursue disciplinary action against attorney McMillan, we are concerned by the attorney’s actions."
WCPO reached out to McMillan for comment regarding her actions and she replied in an email that, "Mr. Watts’ complaints against me were investigated by the Disciplinary Counsel for the Supreme Court of Ohio and the Ohio Industrial Commission. Ohio’s Disciplinary Counsel concluded that I committed to ethical violations or improprieties regarding my representation of my client and dismissed Mr. Watt’s grievance."
Watts said he couldn’t believe the Disciplinary Counsel’s response.
"You know this entity is supposed to govern acts like this," Watts said. "Yeah, it's very frustrating."
As for the Cincinnati VA, spokesperson Todd Sledge replied via email to a WCPO request for additional information on the release of medical records, "The Cincinnati VA Medical Center follows the verification processes outlined in VHA policy regarding signed authorization forms. The Cincinnati VA Medical Center diligently complies with all privacy laws and policies. We take the privacy and confidentiality of our Veterans' records very seriously. Maintaining trust and confidence among the Veterans served by the Cincinnati VA is our number one priority."
For Watts, following protocol doesn’t include the verification of the veteran’s desire to protect their personal medical information. He said by the VA standards anyone can write anything on a form and obtain veteran’s records from the VA.
He’s calling on the VA to review its policy nationwide to better serve and protect veterans from a similar incident in the future.
"I would suggest that one, they change their policy on how they release information. Two, if you're releasing a veteran's information, contact that vet before you release information, and that'll eliminate any discrepancies," Watts said.
He said a simple phone call confirming the submission of his signed release and the entities who would receive the documents would have stopped the release.
Watts said his Worker’s Comp claim was denied, and he claims it’s because his VA medical records were used in the case. He’s attempted to get legal representation in the case, however, the attorneys he has contacted so far are not willing to take on and help with his claim tied to Worker’s Compensation or his grievance with the Disciplinary Counsel tied to McMillan’s actions.
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