Washington (CNN) -- The chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee is accusing the VA of "what appears to be an attempt to mislead Congress and the public" by manipulating the number of veterans who died as a result of delays in care. In a letter to the VA secretary, Chairman Jeff Miller says the VA gave questionable information on a fact sheet distributed during a briefing to his committee in April and has consistently repeated that information in congressional testimony and to journalists. The VA's "fact sheet" from April 7 confirms 76 patients were harmed as a result of delays in gastrointestinal care and "of these 76 patients, 23 have passed away," citing a "national review ...of all consults since 1999."
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Rep. Jeff Miller accuses the VA of "what appears to be an attempt to mislead"
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Chairman of key House panel says the VA gave questionable information on a fact sheet
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Miller: "VA scandal was created by selfish bureaucrats who lied in order to hide problems"
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Robert McDonald is the new VA chief; Eric Shinseki resigned after series of CNN stories
In his confirmation hearing in July, @placeholder vowed to transform the embattled federal health care system.