The Department of Veterans Affairs is now paying a veteran $500,000 to settle a lawsuit, in which the veteran alleged he suffered heart damage because of delays in care.

John Porter, an Air Force veteran who served in the Vietnam War, sued the VA in 2016, saying that the staff at the Des Moines, Iowa VA medical center failed to inform him for years that he was suffering progressive heart failure, The Associated Press reports.

Porter recounted that he first went to the Des Moines VA in 2011 because he was beginning to feel chest tightness.

Subsequent tests revealed that he might be suffering from heart problems. Another test three weeks later indicated that his heart was only performing at half the ideal level, according to the text of the lawsuit.

Still, no one informed Porter that the test was essentially showing progressive heart failure, even though he continued to experience fatigue and dizziness.

It was only when Porter visited a VA hospital in Phoenix three years later in 2014 that doctors examined old tests from the Des Moines facility and told Porter the results.

“I’m just glad it’s over. They drug it out for so long,” Porter told The Des Moines Register.

Porter added that he didn’t place the blame on the facility as such and instead pointed to communication breakdowns at the facility.

“The Des Moines VA is full of knowledgeable, caring and competent people,” Porter said. “I have nothing against the VA hospital.”

Although the VA did settle the suit, federal lawyers did not admit that any VA staff were negligent and further denied that Porter’s life was in any way shortened by the delay in care.

Article posted with permission from The Daily Caller News Foundation. Article by Jonah Bennett.