Court documents say a Mississippi veteran threatened to kill a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs physician for failing to detect a deadly illness.

VA Office of Inspector General Agent John Ramsey says Edward Steve McNatt of Tishomingo County called a VA hotline Friday threatening to kill a doctor at his next appointment at a Tupelo VA clinic.

Ramsey says McNatt told agents he’d sought a neurological exam for more than six months and blamed the physician for a delay in detecting his illness.

Ramsey says McNatt told agents in a Friday interview at a Red Bay, Alabama, hospital that he planned to beat the physician “within an inch of his life.”

McNatt is jailed pending a Wednesday hearing. A defense lawyer didn’t immediately respond Tuesday to an email seeking comment.