Judge orders former Fort Harrison VA chief of staff to honor subpoena in probe

Phil Drake

The former chief of staff of Montana VA has been ordered by a federal judge to cooperate in an investigation into patient care he provided while at Fort Harrison VA Medical Center in Helena.

Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto, U.S. magistrate judge for U.S. District Court of Montana, on April 26 upheld the subpoena issued by the Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General to Dr. James Paul Maganito.

The United States of America is the petitioner and Maganito is named as the respondent.

Dr. James Paul C. Maganito 

Montana VA Healthcare System

The subpoena was issued as part of an oversight investigation into allegations of abuse, waste and mismanagement at the Montana Veterans Healthcare System and the Fort Harrison VA Medical Center, according to court documents.

“The United States claims the VA OIG opened the investigation after receiving complaints that Dr. Maganito provided substandard medical and surgical care to two patients, one of whom was his subordinate employee, and that the VA Medical Center failed to appropriately respond,” court documents state in the 27-page order.

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