WASHINGTON (Tribune News Service) The Department of Veterans Affairs' chief watchdog has not publicly released the findings of 140 health care investigations since 2006, potentially leaving dangerous problems to fester without proper oversight, a USA TODAY analysis of VA documents found.

It is impossible to know how many of the investigations uncovered serious problems without seeing the reports, but all concerned VA medical care provided to veterans or complaints of clinical misconduct.

The VA inspector general declined to provide the reports, say what's in them or why the contents were kept from the public.

"We have not analyzed these reports and therefore cannot offer a specific description of the kinds of reasons," spokeswoman Catherine Gromek said.

She advised requesting the reports under the Freedom of Information Act. USA TODAY submitted a request in January for 23 reports. Joanne Moffett, a special assistant to the inspector general, said Friday officials are "working diligently" to fulfill the request.

Moffett said in general, reports may not be released if allegations are unsubstantiated and disclosing them could damage someone's reputation, when there is a pending lawsuit or when subjects of investigations are no longer working at the VA.

Officials from the inspector general's office did review 26 reports withheld from the public since January 2014 and found less than half -- 46% -- involved unsubstantiated allegations. They said in 42% of the cases, inspectors determined VA officials had already addressed their concerns so a public report was unnecessary. One was the subject of a pending lawsuit.

That's not good enough for Marv Simcakoski, whose son, Jason, a 35-year-old Marine veteran, died of an overdose five months after a report that raised "serious concerns" about "unusually high" opiate-prescription rates at the VA medical center in Tomah, Wis., was completed but kept secret from the public.

He believes there's a "good possibility" his son might be alive if the report had been released. Jason died as an inpatient days after doctors agreed to add another opiate to the 14 medications he was prescribed.

"When something is kept secret, it makes me wonder what else are they hiding?" he said. "If something doesn't get done, there could be other veterans that end up losing their lives."

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VA doesn't release 140 vet health care probe findings