U.S. Rep. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, D- Newport News, talks with
the media after a tour of the Hampton Veterans Affairs Medical
Center. His visit was prompted by the death of veteran Floyd
Washabaugh.  The psychiatric ward at the Hampton Veterans
Affairs Medical Center neglected physical problems in at least
two cases.  By admitting themselves to the psychiatric unit at
the Hampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Floyd "Chip"
Washabaugh and Glen Brennan were asking for help. Washabaugh, a
63-year-old combat veteran wounded in Vietnam, was suffering
from depression. He didn't want to commit suicide, he told
physicians, but was convinced that he would soon die.
View/Submit Comments for this story  Brennan, a 35-year-old
husband and new father, wanted to kick a drug addiction that
he'd fought for several years.  Both men died at the VA hospital
after frequent complaints of physical pains: Washabaugh was
often short of breath, and Brennan had back pain -- later
determined to be from a fractured vertebra.  Their c