House OKs Whistleblower Protection Bill Named For Tomah VA Doctor

A whistleblower protection bill that immortalizes a former Tomah V-A psychologist is on its way to President Donald Trump for his signature. The House gave final legislative approval to the measure Thursday on a vote of 420 to nothing. It’s named in honor of Chris Kilpatrick, who killed himself the same day he was fired in 2009 after he had questioned the overprescribing of painkillers at the Tomah V-A. It took a few years to expose the matter, but the center’s chief of staff was reassigned and later fired for giving excessive opiates to military veterans hospitalized at Tomah. Senate Republican Ron Johnson of Wisconsin sponsored the bill, and La Crosse House Democrat Ron Kind said the bill honors Kilpatrick’s memory by making sure “no one will have to go through what he did.”