Settlement Reached in VA Suit

By Carrie Pond

Marion, IL – A Murray woman has agreed to take nearly $1 million to settle a lawsuit that accused the U.S. Government of negligence in her husband's death. Katrina Shank's husband Robert died a day after having gallbladder surgery at the Veterans' Affairs hospital in Marion, Illinois. Shank's attorney says she agreed to a 975 thousand dollar settlement in her husband's August 2007 death. The lawsuit contends the government failed to sufficiently check the surgeon's background before hiring him in 2006. Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez resigned three days after Robert Shank's death. Major surgeries have been halted at the Marion VA after investigators found several deaths linked to substandard care. Veizaga-Mendez wasn't a defendant in the lawsuit. There's no public comment yet from the VA.