VA Malpractice and Finding A Voice with Brian Tally
Last week has been about due process—who gets it, who doesn’t, and what happens when institutions close ranks instead of correcting mistakes. Earlier, we examined the ongoing case of Major Clarence Anderson, a reminder of how elusive due process can be inside large bureaucratic systems. To balance that story, it’s important to tell another—one where persistence, clarity, and refusal to be silenced actually produced change.
That story belongs to Brian Tally.
Tally is a former Marine Corps sergeant whose life was permanently altered not on a battlefield, but in a Veterans Affairs emergency room. What followed was not only a fight for survival, but a confrontation with a decades-old legal loophole that denied injured veterans accountability—and his decision to challenge it head-on.
From Directionless Teen to Marine Sergeant
Tally’s path into the Marine Corps was not unusual. Raised between Youngstown, Ohio; San Diego; and later Colorado, he entered adulthood without much direction and without a consistent father figure. Like many young men in similar circumstances, he was looking for structure, purpose, and a way forward.
The Marine Corps offered exactly that.
Enlisting in 1994, Tally served five years on active duty and three more in the reserves. He worked primarily in logistics and shore operations—moving equipment, coordinating helicopter offloads, and operating in demanding, physical environments. He picked up sergeant quickly and describes his time in uniform as challenging, formative, and ultimately positive. The Marine Corps, he says, instilled values that stayed with him long after he left: accountability, commitment, and integrity.
After service, Tally built a successful civilian life. He started and ran a custom landscaping business, raised a family, and—like many veterans—used the VA occasionally but relied largely on civilian care. Until one winter morning in 2016 changed everything.
GUEST BIO: WHO IS BRIAN TALLY?
Brian Tally is a former U.S. Marine Corps sergeant, author, and veteran advocate whose life was permanently altered by severe medical malpractice at a Department of Veterans Affairs facility. After a misdiagnosed spinal infection nearly killed him and left him permanently disabled, Tally uncovered a decades-old legal loophole that allowed the VA to admit error while avoiding accountability. Rather than retreat, he drafted and lobbied Congress on legislation—collectively known as the Tally Bill—that helped close that loophole and restore legal recourse for veterans harmed by VA negligence. He is also the creator of a long-running podcast dedicated to amplifying veterans’ voices and exposing systemic failures that impact those who serve.
A Medical Emergency That Wasn’t Treated Like One
In January 2016, Tally woke up unable to get out of bed. The pain was sudden, severe, and unlike anything he had experienced before. Within hours, he was incapacitated—unable to stand, unable to urinate, barely able to move.
His wife took him to the VA emergency room in Loma Linda, California.
He was diagnosed with a “low back sprain.”
Despite obvious red flags—loss of bladder function, extreme pain, rapid decline—Tally was given opioid injections, a cocktail of medications, and sent home. When his condition worsened, he returned. Again, he was treated with heavy painkillers and discharged. Follow-up calls to primary care went unanswered. His wife pleaded. The system deflected.
Over the next several months, Tally deteriorated at home. He was confined to a chair, heavily sedated, losing weight rapidly, and slipping cognitively under an ever-increasing pile of prescriptions. At one point, he was taking nearly 40 pills a day. No imaging was ordered. No diagnosis was pursued. The VA’s position remained unchanged.
Low back sprain. Go home. Stretch.
The Test That Changed Everything
Desperate, Tally’s wife sought help outside the system. A civilian chiropractor—alarmed by the symptoms—ordered an MRI. That single decision revealed what months of VA visits had missed: severe spinal damage requiring immediate surgical intervention.
Even then, the system resisted urgency. The VA proposed surgery months away. Only after further advocacy was Tally approved for community care, where a civilian surgeon finally operated.
What the surgeon found was far worse than expected.
Tally’s spine was riddled with infection—described as “moth-eaten”—the result of an aggressive, bone-eating staph infection that had been consuming him for months. Surgery was halted and redirected. Tissue was removed. Nerves were damaged. Infectious disease specialists were called in.
Tally had been living with a dormant infection that reactivated and nearly killed him. According to doctors, he should not have survived.
He did—but survival came at a cost.
Writing the Law Himself
Instead of backing down, Tally studied the system that failed him. He researched the law, identified the loophole, and did something few civilians ever attempt: he wrote legislation.
What became known collectively as the Tally Bill was designed to close that gap—to give veterans harmed by VA malpractice the same legal standing as anyone else harmed by medical negligence.
Tally lobbied relentlessly. He told his story to lawmakers, staffers, and anyone willing to listen. He turned personal devastation into policy language. And eventually, Congress listened.
The legislation passed.
It didn’t undo the damage done to Tally—but it changed the system for millions of veterans who came after him.
WATCH FULL EPISODE HERE
Why This Story Matters
Brian Tally’s story is not just about medical malpractice. It’s about what happens when institutions are insulated from accountability—and what it takes to pierce that insulation.
It’s about a system designed to serve veterans that failed at its most basic duty: to listen, to diagnose, to act. And it’s about one Marine who refused to accept that failure as final.
Due process is not abstract. It lives—or dies—in real lives, real bodies, and real consequences. Sometimes it is denied. Sometimes it is delayed. And sometimes, as in Tally’s case, it has to be forced into existence by someone who simply won’t go away.
That persistence is its own form of service.
And it’s a reminder that accountability doesn’t arrive on its own—it has to be demanded.
Editor’s Note
This story is part of an ongoing series examining how due process and accountability function—or fail—within institutions tasked with caring for service members and veterans. Brian Tally’s experience is a reminder that reform often begins not with systems, but with individuals willing to challenge them.
If you are a veteran or family member who has experienced medical negligence, retaliation, or systemic failure, your story matters. Consider sharing it. Awareness is often the first step toward change.
