A Manchester VA physician will be honored posthumously Tuesday night night for his efforts to expose mismanagement and substandard care at New Hampshire's only VA medical center.
Ed Kois will receive the 2019 Nackey S. Loeb First Amendment Award for coming forward in 2017 with allegations that the VA harmed patients by delaying or insufficiently treating various spine conditions.
David Tirrell-Wysocki is the executive director of the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications, which is the sponsor of the award.
"He saved lives and healed people with his medical training, but he also saved lives and healed people with his conscience, and by using the First Amendment," says Tirrell-Wysocki.
Kois, who died in July in a car accident, was the leader of 11 whistleblowers whose allegations were mostly never substantiated by the VA, but nevertheless prompted personnel and culture changes at the Manchester facility.
