"Political pressure" forced the Des Moines veterans hospital to renege on a deal that allowed a longtime physician to quietly retire amid allegations of incompetence, a newly filed federal lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit, filed by primary care physician Dr. Ashok Manglik of Des Moines, accuses the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, facing “political” pressure in the immediate aftermath of the 2016 presidential election, of deciding to purge from its ranks all physicians alleged to be incompetent — including him.

The lawsuit claims the alleged effort was triggered by “relentless nationwide criticism” over allegations that doctors accused of incompetence by some VA hospitals had not been reported to state and national licensing authorities.

Manglik says that in late 2016 he inquired why his pay increase at the Veterans Affairs Central Iowa Health Care System was less than some of his colleagues'. Manglik pointed out that he had been employed by the VA for 19 years.

Four days later, he alleges, the hospital informed him he was effectively fired, with his privileges summarily suspended.

Court records show the hospital informed Manglik of this action in a letter that said his clinical practice had “so significantly failed” to meet generally accepted standards it raised “reasonable concern for the safety of patients.”

In a hospital “Proficiency Report” on Manglik, the hospital’s chief of staff wrote: ”I have significant concerns about (Manglik’s) clinical competence. … Nearly 100 patients have requested another MD in the last year.”

Manglik appealed the hospital’s actions and in October 2017 reached a settlement with the hospital, agreeing to leave in exchange for $5,000 and a promise that his departure would be treated as a retirement and his personnel file would be purged of any reference to discipline or termination.

A lawyer for the VA later assured Manglik’s attorney that in the future, if prospective employers or other individuals were to contact the VA about Manglik, the hospital would say he retired and “that is all they would say and nothing more,” records show.

After the deal was signed, however, the hospital allegedly informed the Iowa Board of Medicine and the National Practitioner Data Bank that Manglik had resigned while under investigation.

In his lawsuit, Manglik alleges this was done “solely to meet the desperate national agency’s need to offset the relentless criticism of the agency for failing to report deficiencies.”

Manglik claims he was “a convenient and timely scapegoat to improve the agency’s statistics as quickly as possible after the election.”

In a sworn affidavit accompanying the lawsuit, Manglik said that by pursuing a deal that would allow him to retire, he was able to preserve his health insurance and collect retirement income that otherwise wouldn’t have been available.

“I have temporary employment which is now jeopardized, but my ability to transfer, or to see other opportunities, have been destroyed,” Manglik said.

The hospital hasn't file a response to the lawsuit.