Report of ant infestation pushes VA to make changes

ATLANTA – An official has been put on leave and others reassigned following a report of a cancer patient bitten more than 100 times by ants at a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs living centre in Georgia.

Dr. Richard Stone, the Veterans Health Administration executive in charge, said in a news release Tuesday that the VA’s Southeast regional director was placed on administrative leave.

Laquna Ross told WSB-TV she found her father, Air Force veteran Joel Marrable, with swollen, red bumps at Eagles’ Nest Community Living Center near Atlanta before he died earlier this month.

The department also reassigned the regional chief medical officer and seven other staff members at the Atlanta VA Medical Center.

Stone says the agency is streamlining its incident reporting office and retrain personnel on reporting urgent issues.