Anthony H. Lank, 44, is suing the Veterans Administration Medical Center for $12 million after he underwent open-heart surgery at the VA hospital in April 1999, but learned from a civilian doctor in 2006 the surgery was unnecessary, according to the complaint. The medical malpractice claim states the hospital gave him unnecessary open-heart surgery and told him he was dying when he wasn’t. "They told me I was a time bomb waiting to go off," he told The Gazette. "They told me I had eight months to live. Court records show the hospital settled another malpractice suit Lank brought in 2000. That $60,000 settlement, Lank said, was for missing wages because the hospital had told him he couldn't work.