CINCINNATI — When Air Force veteran John Watts was injured on the job, he filed a Workers’ Compensation claim. Now, he’s not sure who he can trust after a lawsuit in which he claims legal counsel falsified a document and the state turned a blind eye.

“The law says that if you alter, falsify or change any document, then that is forgery, which is punishable by a felony,” John Watts said.

As part of his journey through the Workers’ Compensation claim process, Watts was asked to give 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 that gave the Reminger Law Firm and attorney Shelby McMillan, who was representing her employer, access to her medical records. from St. Elizabeth Hospital.

Watts said it was during his subsequent Workers’ Compensation hearing that things went wrong.

“Miss McMillan intervenes and says, ‘I have 431 pages of your VA medical records.’ And I said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘How did you get my VA medical records?’ “I never signed a release,” Watts said.

Looking at the form sent to the Cincinnati VA Medical Center, Watts said he sees an immediate problem.

“I see ‘VA hospital’ written in handwriting,” Watts said. “My handwriting is all in cursive. This looks like it was written in pencil.”

Its original form only allowed the attorney to obtain records from St. Elizabeth Hospital.

He said his next stop was the Cincinnati VA Medical Center, where the office worker showed him the form that said St. Elizabeth Hospital and VA Hospital.

“I said, ‘You can see that’s not my handwriting.’ She said, ‘Well, I can clearly see that’s not his handwriting, but we follow protocol for releasing his records. If we have a signed and dated medical authorization, then we can release records in terms of the VA’s disclosure of information,'” Watts. saying.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Integrated Services Network Privacy Officer sent a letter to McMillan requesting that the medical records be returned without being copied in any format. The letter cited that John Watts “did not authorize the release.”

Watts filed a complaint with the Disciplinary Council of the Ohio Supreme Court regarding McMillan’s actions.

The Disciplinary Council cited in a letter dated December 28, 2023 that “Attorney McMillan added the VA to the release” and “while our office has declined to take disciplinary action against Attorney McMillan, we are concerned about the actions of the lawyer”.

WCPO reached out to McMillan for comment on her actions and she responded in an email that “Mr. Watts’ complaints against me were investigated by the Disciplinary Council of the Ohio Supreme Court and the Industrial Commission of Ohio. The Disciplinary Council of Ohio concluded that I committed ethical violations or wrongdoing with respect to my representation of my client and dismissed Mr. Watt’s complaint.”

Watts said he couldn’t believe the Disciplinary Council’s response.

“You know this entity is supposed to govern acts like this,” Watts said. “Yes, it’s very frustrating.”

As for the Cincinnati VA, spokesperson Todd Sledge responded by email to a WCPO request for additional information regarding 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 We diligently comply with all privacy laws and policies. We take the privacy and confidentiality of our veterans’ records very seriously. Maintaining trust among veterans served by the Cincinnati VA is ours. priority number one.”

For Watts, following the protocol does not include verification of the veteran’s desire to protect his or her personal health information. He said that under VA standards, anyone can write anything on a form and get veterans’ records from the VA.

Calls 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, first, they change their policy on how they release information. Second, if you release information about a veteran, contact that veterinarian before releasing information, and that will eliminate any discrepancies,” Watts said.

He said a simple phone call confirming the submission of his signed release and the entities receiving the documents would have stopped the release.

Watts said his workers’ compensation claim was denied and claims it’s because his VA medical records were used in the case. You have attempted to obtain legal representation in the case, however, the attorneys you have contacted so far are not willing to accept or assist with your claim linked to Workers’ Compensation or your complaint with the Disciplinary Counsel linked to the actions. by McMillan.

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