TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) —Vietnam veteran Garry Hartman spends some of his free time working on puzzles while he battles bladder cancer.

Now, Hartman and his family are also trying to piece together the timeline for a Bay Pines VA notice about an eye drop recall.

Hartman’s daughter, also a veteran, is his health care advocate.

“My dad immediately went into a panic about it,” she said. “I just know it was on his daily medications.”

The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) website states Akorn’s voluntary recall of several products was prompted by “the company’s inability to assure that products meet the identity, strength, quality, and purity” standards due to a the company’s bankruptcy.

The manufacturer announced the recall on April 26 and it was published by the FDA on May 4.

Hartman said her father did not receive the letter until June 16, more than a month after the recall.

“May and April they had these notifications and we didn’t even get it as a patient who’s been consuming it,” Hartman said.

Her main concern is how the eye drops might impact her father’s cancer treatment.

“As an immune compromised patient who’s been putting this drug in his body?” I don’t know what other harm that’s doing to him,” she said.

Bay Pines Public Affairs Officer Rob Frazier said the agency was given until June 9 “to review prescriptions and identify veterans in our system.”

“Bay Pines identified nearly 3,000 Veterans impacted by the recall within the time frame allocated,” Frazier said. “Thereafter, individual letters were sent informing them of the recall and how to ensure they could receive their prescriptions in a timely manner.”

Hartman’s daughter said the issue is another reason why her father is using private sector doctors through the VA Community Care program.

“I don’t have trust in the VA ,” she said. “And that was just again for me more validation of why we want Community Care. Why we want to be go into the community to receive treatment.”

There have been three other eye drop recalls by the FDA this year. Artificial Tears Lubricant Eye Drops, Brimonidine Tartrate Ophthalmic Solution, 0.15% and Purely Soothing 15% MSM Drops were recalled.

According to the FDA website, dozens of infections were “linked by epidemiologic and laboratory evidence” to use of Artificial Tears.