FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): Thirteen area veterans are suing the United States of America over problems with healthcare they’ve received in Fort Wayne and Marion.

A complaint filed in US District Court says the federal government knew about negligent care and treatment provided between 2009 and 2016 by Dr. Bradley Hammersley, who was a podiatrist for the Veterans Administration.

The Journal Gazette reports that each plaintiff was told by Fort Wayne VA officials in 2018 that they were victims of medical malpractice at Hammersley’s hands, and then each were told they couldn’t file claims because they learned about the malpractice more than two years after it happened.

Hammersley was fired by the VA in May 2017.