PTSD and Brain Trauma...

[J.B. Stone]

A new focus on war's mental wounds
By Hal Bernton

Seattle Times staff reporter


GREG GILBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES


A surge of new money is in the pipeline to help Department of Veterans Affairs and Army hospitals and clinics treat the mental wounds of men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

But the increased funding comes amid a surge in soldiers and veterans who may need help. About 38 percent of new veterans seeking VA care in April reported possible mental-health problems, according to testimony Friday at a U.S. Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing in Tacoma.

As active duty and National Guard soldiers cycle in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan, the VA and military health-care system confront a complex set of problems. Those include post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries, and trauma from sexual assaults and from marital discord that tears families apart.

This week, the Army reported that 2006 saw the highest rate of suicides in 26 years, with 99 soldiers taking their own lives. About a third of the suicide victims were serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.

As thousands of soldiers return to Fort Lewis south of Tacoma from 15-month-long combat tours in Iraq, military and VA facilities in Puget Sound are expected to be at the forefront of dealing with the emotional fallout from these extended deployments.

"It is clear that the fighting has taken a tremendous toll," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who organized the hearing. "We are facing serious challenges."

Murray has been a key figure in a congressional battle to ramp up mental-health services. Those serviceswere spread thin in the early years of the fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq by staffing cuts and what VA officials — in a 2004 report to Congress — said were insufficient budgets to deal with expanding demand from veterans of previous wars and new veterans.

Murray has helped fashion increases in the VA's health-care budget. An extra $100 million was targeted for mental-health care for this fiscal year. In the 2008 fiscal year, VA health-care spending will be increased by $3.6 billion.

At the hearing, VA officials from the Pacific Northwest said they have expanded mental-health program staffing by 20 percent since 2005, with 63 new positions in Washington state. The VA also is expanding services, opening a regional center in Seattle for treating traumatic brain injuries from bomb blasts. A new veterans center is scheduled to open in Everett.

Those testifying at the hearing said many veterans still balk at seeking mental-health treatment, and much can be done to improve access.

Kathy Nylen, an American Legion representative in Washington state, said that in recent years funding for substance-abuse treatment has declined. She also said some veterans were disturbed by a shift from individual to group counseling.

Maj. Gen. Timothy Lowenberg, head of the Washington National Guard, said new legislation was needed to authorize the Guard — which is on wartime footing — to hire its own mental-health-care workers to treat its soldiers.



He also said medical and mental-health coverage needs to be extended for at least a year after deployments to help Guard veterans, who often struggle in the shift from combat to civilian life without the support network offered active-duty soldiers.

Murray receives numerous complaints from soldiers and veterans who are frustrated in their efforts to get mental-health care or by the bureaucratic hurdles they face in seeking disability compensation for these problems.

Murray said that many had "compelling and heartbreaking" stories but were reluctant to testify at the Friday hearing.

But several veterans did testify.

Among those was Daniel Purcell, of Spokane, who said he was bounced between the VA and the Army health-care system as he sought treatment for a wartime foot injury he suffered while he served in Iraq with the Washington National Guard. Along the way, he battled depression.

"Sadly, I, like so many of my fellow veterans, have lost faith with the business-as-usual attitude of our current system," Purcell testified. "We went to war and were changed. Why can't our bureaucracy change, too?"

[J.B. Stone]

INTERNATIONAL GULF WAR COUNCIL'S PRESENTATION ON GW CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS, A SVR COALITION BROADCAST BY JERREL COOK, CRYPTOME'S SECRET NUKE MEETING, AND DU VS. THE NUREMBERG CODE.

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INTERNATIONAL GULF WAR COUNCIL
http://www.gulfwarcouncil.com
Email: admin@gulfwarcouncil.com


IGWC Members, Veterans and Veteran Advocates,

After listening to the different testimonies in this hearing, it was obvious that the Veterans Affairs Committee (Senators Murray, Burr, and Sanders, and Drs Nass, and Steele) were quite keen on the sick Gulf War Veteran’s problems and raked Kilpatrick and Kupersmith over the hot coals, publicly reprimanding them for the lateness in their presentations and for the content (or lack thereof) of anything that supported any efforts by the VA and DoD in effective treatment and research for Gulf War Veterans.

Kilpatrick and Kupersmith squirmed like tardy school boys, passing the buck and giving every excuse under the sun why their testimonies were late (with the exception of their dogs eating their homework); and they couldn’t give a good reason as to why there was very little updating on Gulf War information, treatment and research in recent years. Click on the link near the bottom of this email (highlighted in yellow) to see and listen to the video of this hearing. It’s quite lengthy, so get comfortable and allow yourself at least an hour and a half to listen to it. It seemed like there was about a 20 minute wait/pause in the beginning of the video, so you may want to ‘forward’ the video a little.

Julie Mock’s testimony was professional and compelling on the effects of exposures as it relates to MS and disabilities in children of Gulf War Veterans. Thank you, Julie, for the hard work and efforts you’ve made to these issues and Gulf War Illnesses in general!

Denise Nichols has also submitted written testimony in great detail which can be read here:
http://www.gulfwarvets.com/cgi-bin/ulti ... 000056;p=1 Thanks to all of you who contacted your senators about this hearing and expressed your concerns to them in behalf of all Gulf War Veterans. If anyone else has written testimony they’ve submitted (or comments) and would like for others to see, please email admin@gulfwarcouncil.com with your testimony and we will post it on the bulletin board for you.

Drs Nass and Steele volleyed back answers and information to questions asked by Senators Murray, Burr and Sanders, setting up the scene-- exposing the areas of neglect and concern by the VA and DoD (Kilpatrick and Kupersmith) over the years. Drs Nass and Steele, we thank you for your courage and tireless efforts in taking a strong stand for us!

If you wish to be removed from this email group, please email: admin@gulfwarcouncil.com


http://veterans.senate.gov/public/index ... 6&view=all
Hearing: Research and Treatment for Gulf War Illness
September,25,2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007 9:30-Noon Dirksen 562
Oversight Hearing: Research and Treatment for Gulf War Illnesses

Click Here to View Hearing
Committee Leadership I
Chairman Daniel K. Akaka
Committee Leadership II
Ranking Member Richard Burr
Panel I
James Binns Chairman, Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans Illnesses
Julie Mock President Veterans of Modern Warfare, Inc.
Meryl Nass, MD, Director of Pulmonary Rehabilitation, Mount Desert Island Hospital Bar Harbor, Maine
Lea Steele, Ph.D. Scientific Director, Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veteransí Illnesses Associate Professor, Kansas State University
Roberta F. White, PhD, Member, Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses, Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health
Panel II
MICHAEL E. KILPATRICK, MD DEPUTY DIRECTOR FORCE HEALTH PROTECTION AND READINESS PROGRAMS DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
JOEL KUPERSMITH, MD CHIEF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICER DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

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Year: [2007], 2006, 2005
Month: [September], August, July, June, May, April, March, February, January
September, 2007
· Hearing published on: September 19, 2007Hearing: Information Technology[September 19, 2007]
· Hearing published on: September 20, 2007Hearing: Legislative Presentation by The American Legion [September 20, 2007]
· Hearing published on: September 25, 2007Hearing: Research and Treatment for Gulf War Illness[September 25, 2007]
· Hearing published on: September 27, 2007Hearing: Nomination of Paul J. Hutter to be General Counsel, Department of Veterans Affairs [September 27, 2007]
Dear IGWC Members, Veterans, and Veteran Advocates,

Please note: Dr Nass would like to share her corrected version of her testimony with you. Her testimony included over 100 footnotes (which are omitted from the committee's website). You may view it here: http://gulfwarcouncil.com/dr_nass.htm

Denise Nichols’ testimony can be seen here: http://gulfwarcouncil.com/denise_nichols.htm

And, veteran/member discussions may be posted here: http://www.gulfwarvets.com/ubb/ultimate ... 2;t=000056

These links are also posted on the IGWC website: http://gulfwarcouncil.com/index.htm

U.S. accused of failing ill '91 Gulf War veterans
16 years after war, 175,000 complain of seriously diseases
Reuters
Updated: 4:35 p.m. CT Sept 25, 2007
WASHINGTON - Medical experts and U.S. senators accused the Pentagon and

Veterans Affairs Department on Tuesday of failing to take seriously
illnesses suffered by U.S. 1991 Gulf War veterans and doing too little
to help them.

Expert witnesses called before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee
testified that Gulf War illnesses are real, serious and widespread
among U.S. troops sent to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait. The issue has

been controversial for years.

The Institute of Medicine, which provides advice on medical issues to
U.S. policymakers, concluded in September 2006 that Gulf War veterans
reported far more symptoms of illness than their fellow troops who were

not deployed.

One in four report illness
But its report said studies have failed to establish that these
symptoms constitute a medical syndrome unique to Gulf War veterans.

Some of the harshest criticism of the government came from members of
an advisory committee created by Congress in 1998 to advise the VA on
Gulf War illnesses.

This panel's chairman, James Binns, said 16 years after the war,
175,000 U.S. veterans -- one in four of those who served -- remain
seriously ill, with the sickest among them developing neurodegenerative

diseases and brain cancer.

Binns said Pentagon and VA officials continue to "minimize these
illnesses at every opportunity, misleading Congress and the scientific
community." He faulted a VA fact sheet given to some senators stating,
"Gulf War veterans suffer from a wide range of common illnesses, which
might be expected in any group of veterans their age."

"That," Binns testified, "is garbage."

Lea Steele, scientific director for the advisory panel, said veterans
with Gulf War illness typically experience some combination of severe
headaches, memory and concentration problems, persistent pain, fatigue,

gastrointestinal and respiratory problems and unusual skin lesions and
rashes.

Causes unclear
The causes remain contentious, with some of the possibilities often
cited including: low-dose exposure to chemical weapons, vaccines or
medications given by the military, pesticides or smoke from burning oil

wells.

Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina cited a consensus among
Veterans Affairs committee members that Gulf War illnesses are real.
Washington state Democratic Sen. Patty Murray blasted the Pentagon's
"long and shameful history" of failing to help the ill veterans.

A Pentagon health official said 15 to 20 percent of U.S. troops
deployed to fight the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are coming
home with "ill-defined" medical symptoms that defy standard diagnosis,
as was the case with Gulf War vets.

"I don't want to say we're seeing Gulf War illness in these folks," the

Pentagon's Dr. Michael Kilpatrick said after the hearing, but added
that some symptoms are similar to those seen in the earlier Gulf War
veterans.

'A tragic record of failure'
Binns said the U.S. government has spent more than $300 million on Gulf

War illness research.

"Much of the money was misspent on the false theory that these
illnesses were caused by psychological stress, part of a deliberate
effort to downplay these illnesses as the sort of thing that happens
after every war, rather than the result of toxic exposures," Binns
said.

"Only two treatment studies have ever been conducted, with negligible
results. This is a tragic record of failure, and the time lost can
never be regained," Binns said.

Kilpatrick said the 1991 Gulf War veterans who report health problems
are definitely ill, but do not have a single type of health problem.
"There isn't any constellation of symptoms that's unique to Gulf War
veterans," he added.


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A SVR COALITION BROADCAST BY JERREL COOK ON STARDUST RADIO:
http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/arrestedde ... vr_p4.html



http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/arrestedde ... reely.html |
http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/arrestedde ... lcook.html | http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/arrestedde ... index.html
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JOHN YOUNG'S CRYPTOME WEBSITE, http://cryptome.sabotage.org/, EXPOSED THIS SECRET NUKE MEETING. PLEASE CONTACT MR. DAVID MCDARBY TO VOICE YOUR POSITION TO BAN DEPLETED URANIUM FROM THE U.S. ARSENAL FOR THE SAFETY OF AMERICAN TROOPS AND TO INCLUDE OUR NATION'S TOP EXPERT, DR. DOUG ROKKE, DURING THIS MEETING'S PROCEEDINGS AT david.mcdarby@dtra.mil OR 1-703-767-4364.
THE DOCUMENT CAN BE VIEWED AT http://cryptome.sabotage.org/dsb092407.htm OR BY SCROLLING AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN THANKS TO CIA HUMOR.
[Federal Register: September 24, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 184)]

[Federal Register: September 24, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 184)] [Notices] [Page 54249] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr24se07-26] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Office of the Secretary Defense Science Board AGENCY: Department of Defense. ACTION: Notice of Advisory Committee meetings.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Defense Science Board Task Force on Nuclear Weapons Surety will meet in closed session on October 10-11, 2007; at the Institute for Defense Analyses, 4850 Mark Center Drive, Alexandria, VA. The mission of the Defense Science Board is to advise the Secretary of Defense and the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics on scientific and technical matters as they affect the perceived needs of the Department of Defense. At the meeting, the Defense Science Board Task Force will: Assess all aspects of nuclear weapons surety; continue to build on the work of the former Joint Advisory Committee on Nuclear Weapons Surety, the Nuclear C2 System End-to-End Review and the Drell Panel; and review and recommend methods and strategies to maintain a safe, secure and viable nuclear deterrent. The task force's findings and recommendations,
pursuant to 41 CFR 102-3.140 through 102-3.165, will be presented and discussed by the membership of the Defense Science Board prior to being presented to the Government's decision maker. Pursuant to 41 CFR 102-3.120 and 102-3.150, the Designated Federal Officer for the Defense Science Board will determine and announce in the Federal Register when the findings and recommendations of the October 10-11, 2007, meeting are deliberated by the Defense Science Board. Interested persons may submit a written statement for consideration by the Defense Science Board. Individuals submitting a written statement must submit their statement to the Designated Federal Official at the address detailed below; at any point, however, if a written statement is not received at least 10 calendar days prior to the meeting, which is the subject of this notice, then it may not be provided to or considered by the Defense Science Board. The Designated Federal
Official will review all timely submissions with the Defense Science Board Chairperson, and ensure they are provided to members of the Defense Science Board before the meeting that is the subject of this notice. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. David McDarby, HQ DTRA/OP-CSNS, 8725 John J. Kingman Road, Stop 6201, Ft. Belvoir, VA 22060; via e-mail at david.mcdarby@dtra.mil; or via phone at (703) 767-4364. Dated: September 17, 2007. L.M. Bynum, Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense. [FR Doc. 07-4707 Filed 9-21-07; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 5001-06-M
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Rescue and Development of ViequesP.O. Box 1424 Vieques, Puerto Rico 00765787 741-0716 787 375-0525 HYPERLINK"mailto:bieke@prorescatevie ques.org"bieke@prorescatevie ques.orgSpecial ReportVIEQUES UPDATE delivered by Robert Rabin SiegelCitizens Forum/Humacao September 22, 2007On May 1, 2003 the people of Vieques and all Puerto Ricans celebrated anenormous victory for Justice and Peace. Without firing a single shot, wewere able to defeat the greatest and most powerful military force in thehistory of humanity--the United States Navy.For more than half a century, three quarters of the territory of Vieques,was occupied by the navy. The bombing, the testing of new types
of weaponryand the decades of military maneuvers, created environmental destruction ofenormous proportions. The use of millions of pounds of conventionalexplosives; NAPALM and depleted uranium, have left a toxic legacy, whichendanger our environment and the health of our people.In spite of the 2003 victory, the mayor part of the lands, which werecontrolled by the Navy are still in hands of federal authorities. Insteadof an adequate environmental clean up strategy, the Navy has proceeded, forthe past two years, with the open-air detonation of tons of explosives. Thishas added more contaminants to the environment. Vieques already has analarming incidence of cancer and the highest patient mortality rate in allof Puerto Rico, yet it is a community without basic medical facilities forits population.Speculation and the displacement of our families, threatens the veryexistence of the Viequense population. The
government - local and national –speaks of sustainable development, but it provides financial supportprimarily to large foreign interests. The municipal and the Puerto Ricangovernments offer a few thousand dollars to local cooperative projects,while they provide millions to multinational hotel companies, American Eagleand North Americans who already control 90% of the Vieques tourist economy.Without our land in the hands of the people, we cannot speak of justice.Without a clean environment, Vieques cannot live in peace. Vieques stillexperiences military violence through the death of our cancer patients andthe misery of other evils related to military toxins. Without health--thereis no peace. An economy in the hands of foreigners does not allow justiceor peace in Vieques.We propose the immediate implementation of the Guidelines for SustainableDevelopment and the Master Plan for the Sustainable Development of
Vieques.Both of these projects articulate a community vision that came out of thePeace struggle, for the development of a Vieques free of the US Navy. Coopprojects involving cultural, educational and agricultural tourism; “tourismat your home” where every resident can participate in the economic benefitsgenerated by the natural beauty of Vieques; a community land trust inVieques to assure community control of the new geographic patrimony forcoming generations; emergency measures to stop real estate speculation andthe penalization of those who have unduly benefited from the socio-economiccrisis of our people; the establishment of an International Center formilitary decontamination as an environmental clean up project; solidaritywith other communities affected by militarism; as a new project of economicgrowth for Vieques: the creation of Vieques Community Radio-FM (RadioComunitaria Vieques-FM), to educate, mobilize and
offer a voice to thepeople, as we engage in the construction of that other Vieques... and thatother World which we so urgently need, finally, an indemnification of athousand million dollars by the US Navy for the damage it has caused. Theseare some of the demands of the Committee for the Rescue and Development ofVieques.We are ready to work with those in positions of power who may be interestedin developing a Vieques for Viequenses, a land that will some day celebrateto its maximum potential the enormous joy of this victory of David overGoliath.No virus found in this outgoing message.Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.488 / Virus Database: 269.13.32/1032 - Release Date: 9/26/20078:20 PM[Non-text portions of this message have been
removed]
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Is the testing of Depleted Uranium munitions on American soil against the Nuremberg Code? See the Office of Human Subjects Research website information on Directives for Human Experimentation at http://ohsr.od.nih.gov/guidelines/nuremberg.html . Servicemembers can protect themselves, their families and the environment by anomously reporting such Nazi-like infractions to the Department of Defense (DoD) "Incidents" Hotline number at 1-800-472-6719.
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starDUst

The Dr. Douglas Rokke Foundation
Laura R. Cuozzo
Advocate for US Military and Veterans
3945 Autumn Palm Drive
Zephyrhills, FL 33541
(813) 715-4001

http://www.myspace.com/More_Bleeping_Truth

[J.B. Stone]

Many soldiers get boot for 'pre-existing' mental illness

By Philip Dine
POST-DISPATCH WASHINGTON BUREAU
09/30/2007

WASHINGTON — Thousands of U.S. soldiers in Iraq — as many as 10 a day — are being discharged by the military for mental health reasons. But the Pentagon isn't blaming the war. It says the soldiers had "pre-existing" conditions that disqualify them for treatment by the government.



Many soldiers and Marines being discharged on this basis actually suffer from combat-related problems, experts say. But by classifying them as having a condition unrelated to the war, the Defense Department is able to quickly get rid of troops having trouble doing their work while also saving the expense of caring for them.

The result appears to be that many actually suffering from combat-related problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries don't get the help they need.

Working behind the scenes, Sens. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., have written and inserted into the defense authorization bill a provision that would make it harder for the Pentagon to discharge thousands of troops. The Post-Dispatch has learned that the measure has been accepted into the Senate defense bill and will probably become part of the Senate-House bill to be voted on this week.

The legislation sets a higher bar for the Pentagon to use the personality-disorder discharge, and also mandates a review of the policies by the Government Accountability Office. Bond said it also would "force the Pentagon to stop using this discharge until we can fix the problem."

Bond said he learned of the practice from returning Iraq veterans. He called it an "abuse" of the system and "inexcusable."

"They've kicked out about 22,000 troops who they say have pre-existing personality disorders. I don't believe that," Bond said in an interview Friday. "And when you kick them out, they don't get the assistance they need, they aren't entitled to DOD or Veterans Administration care for those problems."

Obama said the practice is "deeply disturbing" because "it means that those who have served this country aren't getting the care they need. …"

Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Todd Vician declined Friday to discuss the matter because it was related to current legislation.

Defense Department records show that 22,500 cases of personality-disorder discharges have been processed over the last six years.

Jon Soltz, an Iraq war combat veteran who founded the group VoteVets.org, said untreated psychological problems were contributing to the highest military suicide rate in a quarter-century and to growing homelessness among veterans, he said.

If such widespread mental problems really existed before people joined the military and saw combat, they would have been uncovered when the recruits were enlisting, Soltz said.

STRESS FACTORS

The issue of personality-disorder discharges is a window into the broader problem of psychological damage to Iraq veterans, which experts say has three main causes:

— Multiple and longer deployments.

— The stress of fighting an insurgency with no breaks and everyone always on the front line.

— Better and faster medical care that helps troops survive horrific physical injuries that often leave psychological scars.

"You land in Iraq, and you're on the battlefield, whether you're a quartermaster or a medic or a cook," said David Segal, director of the Center for Research on Military Organizations at the University of Maryland. "All you have to do is get on the highway to go somewhere from the airport."

The military and lawmakers are only slowly coming to grips with the consequences, Segal said.

"I think we have failed to recognize the extent of the problem," he said. "We've produced a problem that's going to be plaguing us for generations."

Past wars, through the Persian Gulf war, produced three casualties for every fatality, while now in Iraq "we're up to about 16-to-1," Segal said. Those killed are "really the tip of the iceberg" as far as the toll on soldiers, he added.

One Republican congressional staff member who works on military issues said the rationale behind the Pentagon's practice was: "We didn't break you, you were already broken. You're not our responsibility."

"One soldier I know received a diagnosis for a personality disorder after a 45-minute talk," said the staffer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "He'd been in the military 10 years, had made it his career, and then he was told he was being shuffled out in a couple of weeks. We keep getting these stories."

In the House, Rep. Phil Hare, D-Ill., is leading the effort to get similar legislation approved.

"It defies logic to think that tens of thousands of our servicemen and women slipped through the cracks during the pre-screening process," Hare said. "We have a moral obligation to review the discharge process and ensure we are getting it right."

pdine@post-dispatch.com | 202-298-6880

[J.B. Stone]

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Oct 3, 2007 6:01:24 EDT

A presidential commission will call Wednesday for an immediate 25 percent increase in veterans’ disability compensation while awaiting a larger overhaul of disability and transition benefits.

The Veterans’ Disability Benefits Commission will say the current compensation system is outdated and fails to consider the complete impact that a service-connected disability has on the life of veterans and their families.

The current system also is unnecessarily cumbersome to the point that it discourages veterans from getting the help they deserve, says the commission report, a copy of which was obtained Tuesday by the Military Times.

The 562-page report will be released Wednesday afternoon, although what happens next is unclear. Most of the recommendations, including the proposed 25 percent benefits boost, would require congressional action before they could take effect.

With the Bush administration already balking at the $4 billion increase in veterans’ health care and benefits programs being pushed by Congress, it is unlikely that administration officials would support further increases.

However, an overhaul of the veterans’ disability rating system, streamlined claims processing and an easier transition from military to veterans programs are all issues under consideration by Congress, and could end up included in the Wounded Warrior Assistance Act that lawmakers expect to pass later this year. An overhaul of the military’s complicated disability retirement and physical evaluation process is expected to be part of that bill.

The report by the 13-member commission, led by retired Army Lt. Gen. James Scott, caps more than two years of work, including several precedent-setting studies of disabled veterans and their compensation that looked at their total income and compared military and veterans’ benefits to those received by disabled workers who never served in the military.

In calling for an overhaul of the military and Department of Veterans Affairs rating systems, the commission said a revised system needs to be fair so that people who have experienced similar losses receive similar compensation. Veterans with mental disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder, are particularly poorly served by the current rating system, the report says.

The VA ratings schedule that sets disability levels has not been changed in 62 years, and needs to be updated, the commission says, with top priority going to revising the ratings for PTSD, traumatic brain injury and other mental health and neurological body systems says. This could be done quickly, in time to help Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, while leaving a review of the rest of the ratings to roll out over five years.

The commission comes down squarely on the side of veterans on several controversial issues. For example, it supports allowing disabled retirees to receive full veterans’ disability compensation and military retired pay when they are eligible for both, and to allow survivors to receive their full veterans’ and military survivors’ benefits.

On both of those issues, the Pentagon has resisted efforts in Congress to allow both payments in full, although in recent years lawmakers have been phasing out the mandatory offsets in one pay or the other that had been on the books for decades.

One recommendation that may not please veterans calls for periodic reviews of case in which disability pay is based, in part, on the fact that a veteran’s disability prohibits him or her from holding a job.

When former VA Secretary R. James Nicholson made a similar recommendation several years ago, veterans went wild about the government trying to cut their payments.

The commission calls for periodical and comprehensive evaluations of disabled veterans’ employability status, and a way to slowly wean veterans off benefits if it is possible for them to return to work at some point.



http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/10/m ... t_071002w/

[J.B. Stone]

From war to home: a difficult transition
Struggling to resume life, more soldiers seeking help

Tue Oct 9 2007

By Joe Paraskevas
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/life/s ... 9370c.html



THE signs of worry surfaced even before Rod Buck and his fellow troops left Afghanistan last February.

Buck, 42, an army captain from Winnipeg, was the chaplain stationed with about 300 troops that comprised the Canadian Forces' Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team. He'd been in Afghanistan for six months. The gravity of being on such a mission was about to hit home, for him and many other soldiers, as the end of their tour approached.

Now, Buck remembers "a definite shift" in the mood of the troops in the days leading up to their departure. The focus and camaraderie that had characterized their lives in one of the world's most dangerous places had begun to give way, not simply to the relief of returning to Canada but to an apprehension of how they would cope with the transition.

"There was a steady number of people who would be coming and talking to me," Buck said recently, easing back in a chair in his office at St. James Lutheran Church where he is a pastor.

"And basically, a common theme developed. We're a little leery about going home."

Recent news stories in Winnipeg underline the difficult transition for soldiers, from serving in a foreign country to resuming daily life in Canada.
A Winnipeg clinic that treats soldiers' mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder, reported waiting lists are stretching from weeks to months.

Separately, a soldier from the city, who had served two months in Afghanistan, was charged last month with assault causing bodily harm after one of his infant triplet sons was taken to hospital in critical condition. The boy suffered from several injuries, including broken ribs and a punctured lung. Last week, the soldier was denied bail and must now await trial in jail.

The man's family has complained that both the military and the provincial government did not respond to their pleas for social support.

Military officials wouldn't answer specific questions about the case but told the Free Press that troops receive considerable support before and after they go overseas in an effort to minimize the chances of family upheaval and violence when they return home.

"And then we have ongoing support throughout deployment," said Haley Schroeder, prevention support and intervention co-ordinator with the Military Family Resource Centre at 17 Wing, the Canadian Forces base in Winnipeg.

"We have deployment respite as well as emergency child care that can be accessed normally within one hour of calling, 24-7," Schroeder added. "We offer deployment briefings for deployed families. We have support groups for deployed families. We have children's programs. The centre really is here to address all military lifestyle issues."

Buck would learn firsthand that the process of transition -- which the military calls decompression -- can have unforeseen side-effects. Even in his own case, there were episodes that showed the stress of the overseas mission would linger. Shortly after his return, Buck was in a store that sold electronics. The floor model of a home theatre system was turned on, and he was rattled by the thumping sound it made.

"That really bothered me," he remembered. In fact, many things began to trouble Buck.

"Low rumbling noises really bothered me," he said. "Large crowds bothered me. Traffic bothered me."

The father of four found he was constantly on alert. And yet, he also missed the excitement of his tour.

Life in Afghanistan, fraught with almost constant tension but also a vitality that imbued even daily events with importance, was difficult to leave behind.

"There is a huge emotional response to coming back that I wasn't prepared for," he said. "Everything in theatre (on a mission) is in colour. When you come back, it feels like a lot is in shades of grey."


joe.paraskevas@freepress.mb.ca

[J.B. Stone]

Data show war's toll on troops
Injury And Illness; Hundreds with mental health issues from duty

Matthew Fisher
CanWest News Service


Monday, October 15, 2007

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The heavy toll that the war in Afghanistan has taken on the minds and bodies of Canadian troops has been revealed in data, documents and interviews provided by the Canadian Expeditionary Force Command.

Nearly 400 of 2,700 soldiers who have served in the province of Kandahar may have come home with mental health problems, according to a report by the office responsible for the health of deployed troops.

Other data provided by CEFCOM indicate that in addition to the 63 Canadian soldiers who have been killed in Afghanistan since February of 2006, 243 have been wounded.

Of this number, 136 suffered injuries that were serious enough that they were flown to a U.S. military hospital in Germany. Ninety-one casualties were subsequently sent to Canada for further treatment.

Another 185 troops returned to Canada during their tours in Kandahar for "diseases and non-battle injuries," including family problems and combat stress.

This number spiked during Operation Medusa late last summer when the Royal Canadian Regiment battle group led a fierce offensive against the Taliban in the Panjwaii/ Zhari districts.

Soldiers serving during this RCR battle group's six-month rotation were as much as four times more likely to have been repatriated to Canada for non-combat reasons as during the tours of a later RCR battle group and a battle group from the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry that had preceded them, according to the CEFCOM data.

Dr. Mark Zamorski, who heads the DND office dealing with the health of deployed troops, said the number of troops reporting mental health problems was "significant." The report is based on a questionnaire that 2,700 of 4,700 troops who have already served in Kandahar had answered anonymously between three and six months after their tours ended.

"About 15% have common mental health problems," Dr. Zamorski said when contacted in Ottawa. "About 5% had symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Another 5% had major depression. Some have more than one condition. This is commensurate with the difficult nature of the operation. It is what was to be expected."

A small number of troops reported that they had suffered panic attacks or had suicidal tendencies since coming home.

If the figures on mental health collected so far were extrapolated to include all those who had served in Afghanistan since early last year, as many as 1,000 of 7,000 soldiers may have returned to Canada with one of seven potential mental health problems.

However, Dr. Zamorski cautioned that the data his office had received did not mean that large numbers of Afghan vets now in Canada had serious mental health issues.

"The substantial majority of CF members who return from a deployment, even a difficult one, will do just fine," he said. "Only a minority will require professional help."

Similarly, Lieutenant-Colonel Heather Coombs, an emergency medicine specialist from Montreal's St. Mary's Hospital, said the number of dead and wounded in battle in Afghanistan was not surprising.

"If you look at the number of lost and how many have been injured, it does not seem that high to me," she said, adding that one the reasons many Canadians had survived their wounds was that the medical care available to them in Afghanistan was equal to that of Canada's best emergency wards.

The other reason that a relatively large number of Canadians had survived their injuries was that they had reached hospital quickly.

"In trauma treatment, time is everything," Lt.-Col. Coombs said. "People die of bleeding. If you can plug the hole and get them here they can survive.

About 60% of the wounded Canadians had injuries to their extremities while 20% had been wounded in the neck or head, she said, adding that "we have been returning a lot of the injured back to work this [rotation]."

Only a few soldiers now back in Canada were expected to require professional mental health care, because the military had put in place "robust measures" since weaknesses in the military medical care system were identified after missions in Rwanda, Somalia, Haiti and the Balkans, Dr. Zamorski said.

These measures included better preparation for troops going overseas, access to psychiatrists, social workers and padres during tours, a short decompression period in a resort after leaving Afghanistan and before arriving home, and closer post-tour monitoring in Canada.

"We try to identify those at risk and get them the best treatment that money can buy," Dr. Zamorski said. "It is a complicated, overlapping web to try to make sure we do not miss anybody."

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news ... 9b957ec3fe

[J.B. Stone]

Veterans of PTSD

A look at war veterans and post-traumatic stress. Are they getting the help they need?


NOTE: NOW videos require a broadband connection and Flash Player 8 or above. Streaming audio may be available for modem users on referring page

http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/339/video.html

[J.B. Stone]

Vets: Co-chairs of the president's commission for wounded vets, Donna Shalala and Bob Dole speaking at the White House with Bush last week.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP




Wounded troops overwhelm care
The current means of caring for returning vets is antiquated, compounding concern over the long-term cost of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

By Brad Knickerbocker | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the October 22, 2007 edition



Six years into the "global war on terror," the Bush administration, Congress, and federal agencies are scrambling to address the health needs of battlefield veterans back from Iraq and Afghanistan.

President Bush acknowledges that the current means of caring for wounded and traumatized vets is "an antiquated system that needs to be changed." A bipartisan commission says the need for fundamental improvements in care management and the disability system "requires a sense of urgency and strong leadership."

As a result, Mr. Bush has proposed administrative action and legislation that would streamline the system for providing postwar medical services and disability compensation to wounded veterans and their families.

The numbers are daunting:

•Of the more than 1.4 million service men and women who have served in the two war zones, nearly 700,000 have become eligible for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical care, of whom about 230,000 have sought such care since 2002.

• Depending on future force deployments, VA medical costs associated with Iraq and Afghanistan could total between $7 billion and $9 billion over the next decade, according to Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections. Disability compensation and survivors' benefits could add another $3 billion to $4 billion.

• A total of about 30,000 troops have been wounded in action. The survival rate of those wounded is higher than it was in Vietnam and much higher than World War II, due to body armor, advances in battlefield medical procedures, and more rapid evacuation.

Put another way, this means the number of those killed is a relatively smaller portion of overall casualties. It also means concern is growing about injuries and ailments that have come to mark this war: amputations, traumatic brain injuries (TBI), and the mental and emotional shock of combat.

"Of the [Iraq/Afghanistan] veterans who sought care from VA, about 38 percent have received at least a preliminary diagnosis of a mental health condition, and 18 percent have received a preliminary diagnosis for PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder], making it the most common, but by no means, the only mental health condition related to the stress of deployment," Michael Kussman, undersecretary of the Veterans Health Administration, told a House Committee on Veterans' Affairs hearing last week.

According to the Congressional Research Service, between 2003 and 2007 about 60,000 troops were diagnosed with either PTSD or TBI.

The VA is one of the largest federal bureaucracies, operating more than 1,500 facilities providing help for veterans and their families and employing about 200,000 people, including some 13,000 doctors and nearly 55,000 nurses.

Despite this, one concern is the growing need for medical specialists to help war veterans.


In recent congressional testimony, Joseph Wilson of the American Legion cited federal studies showing that by 2020, projected retirements will create a shortage of about 24,000 physicians and almost 1 million nurses nationwide.

"Another challenge [is] acquiring staff trained in certain specialty fields … physical medicine and rehabilitation, blind rehabilitation, speech and language pathology, physical therapy, and certified rehabilitation nursing," warned Mr. Wilson. "Given the special rehabilitative and long-term care needs of combat wounded veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan – especially those residing in rural areas – shortages in these specialty fields will have a lasting impact on these veterans as they attempt to resume independent functioning."

Linda Bilmes, who teaches at of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, estimates that the long-term costs of disability compensation and medical care to veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan could be as high as $700 billion.

"The cost of providing such care and paying disability compensation is a significant long-term entitlement cost that the US will be paying for the next forty years," professor Bilmes wrote in a research paper earlier this year. Reports early this year of inferior treatment and bureaucratic bungling at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center highlighted problems that still have not been fully solved despite steps to reform the massive and complicated system.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) last week cited "fundamental system weaknesses" on the part of both the Defense Department (DOD) and the VA in how they treat wounded vets – including not enough staff and staff training.

"Delayed decisions, confusing policies, and the perception that DOD and VA disability ratings result in inequitable outcomes have eroded the credibility of the system," the GAO reported.

It is these criticisms that Bush addressed last week in meeting with the "Wounded Warriors" commission headed by former Sen. Bob Dole and former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala. The President's proposals include:

•New procedures for evaluating disabilities and compensating injured military personnel, including pensions for those who cannot return to active duty.

•Greater emphasis on diagnosing and treating PTSD – especially addressing any stigma associated with the disorder.

•Assignment of patient advocates to monitor progress, guide wounded vets through government bureaucracies, and help in the transition to civilian life.

•Providing six months unpaid leave for family members who want to help aid the recovery of wounded GIs.

As the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan continues, policy makers – like most Americans – say it's vital to separate a divisive war from those who fought.

"No matter where we stand on the war in Iraq, we all stand together in our desire to make sure that our returning service members get the healthcare they need, and the benefits they have earned," says Rep. Bob Filner (D) of California, who chairs the veterans' affairs committee. "We cannot fund the war, but fail to fund the warriors."

[J.B. Stone]

Cdn soldiers suffering mental-health problems after Afghanistan
Alison Auld, THE CANADIAN PRESS


HALIFAX - Hundreds of Canadian soldiers returning from Afghanistan are suffering from a range of mental-health problems linked to their deployment, according to new data.

But even with this latest information, the military admits it still has little understanding of how many troops might be affected by the rigours of war and operational stress over the long haul.

About 28 per cent of the 2,700 Canadian Forces soldiers who were screened after serving in the war-torn country were found to have symptoms of one or more mental-health problems, including depression, panic disorders and suicidal tendencies.

Of those, 17 per cent exhibited signs of high-risk drinking, about five per cent showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, and another five per cent had symptoms of major depression.

"It's significant, but it's commensurate with the difficult nature of the operation," Dr. Mark Zamorski, head of the military's deployment health section, said in an interview from Ottawa about the data he compiled in August.

"It's concerning because we ask our members to put a lot on the line."

The military might also be capturing only a small number of troops suffering from mental-health problems, because it lacks a comprehensive information system that both tracks soldiers' health over a long period of time and gathers data from all sources.

Soldiers are supposed to undergo screening sometime between 90 to 180 days after they return home from their deployment. But if they develop mental-health problems after that period, they won't be included in Zamorski's data.

"We realize that this is a weakness and we are working to try to develop a system to do it, but that is very difficult information to collect accurately," he said.

"This information does allow us to know what the cost of the conflict is in human terms, and that is something I would like to know and I presume politicians who make decisions about conflicts would want to know."

It is a challenge to collect accurate and complete data on soldiers for many reasons, Zamorski said.

A lot of the military and civilian programs offering care for Forces members are confidential, some people don't seek care, others leave the military and can no longer be tracked, and some seek treatment privately.

It's not clear how many serving members are being treated for mental-health issues, but an official with Veterans Affairs said that since the Afghan mission began five years ago, the number of clients receiving care for PTSD at the department's clinics has risen to 6,500 from 1,800.

That figure could include vets from previous conflicts and members still in the Forces.

Zamorski said the absence of a reliable health information system makes it difficult to assess whether a relatively new series of programs for soldiers and their families is helping and, if not, what changes need to be made.

"It's going to take a minimum of several years until we're there, unfortunately," he said. "There are some important questions that we just can't answer because we don't have access to that data."

The military beefed up mental-health services in the wake of harsh criticism that it was failing soldiers in need of treatment following tours in Rwanda, the Balkans and Somalia.

Zamorski said the U.S. military has developed a health information system that "is far beyond where ours is," since it is able to obtain data on reservists, veterans, current members and their families.

"They can do many, many things that we can't," he said.

The data Zamorski gathered indicates the majority of soldiers returning from Afghanistan are not experiencing mental-health problems, but 31 per cent said their health had deteriorated over the past year.

The bulk of people identified as having mental-health problems were already receiving care, he said, adding that his figures are not diagnoses, but just indications of problems.

Since 2002, 71 soldiers and a Canadian diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan.

http://www.recorder.ca/cp/National/071028/n102844A.html

[J.B. Stone]

SPECIAL NOTE ON PSYCHOGENIC SEQUELAE OF PERCEIVED EXPOSURE TO BIOCHEMICAL WARFARE AGENTS This report deals primarily with the biological health challenges engendered by the agent that is the subject of the report. Nevertheless, this report also incorporates, by reference and attachment, a supplement entitled "Psychogenic Effects of Perceived Exposure to Biochemical Warfare Agents".

The supplement addresses and describes a growing body of health effects research and interest centered upon the psychogenic sequelae of the stress experienced personally from actual or perceived exposure to chemical and biological weaponry. Because awareness of exposure to agents in Project SHAD logically includes the exposed person also possessing a perception of exposure to biochemical warfare agents, the psychogenic health consequences of perceived exposure may be regarded as additional health effects arising from the exposure to Project SHAD agents. This reasoning may also apply to simulants and tracers.

Therefore, a general supplement has been created and submitted under this contract to address possible psychogenic effects of perceived exposure to biological and chemical weaponry. Because such health effects are part of a recent and growing public concern, it is expected that the supplement may be revised and expanded over the course of this contract to reflect the actively evolving literature and interest in the issue.

http://www.iom.edu/Object.File/Master/4 ... SPHITE.pdf

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE……………………..…………………………. 1
I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY…………………………… 3
II. PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF
BIOCHEMCIAL WEAPONRY……………………….. 8
III. PREVALENT EFFECT: POST-TRAUMATIC
STRESS DISORDER………………………………….. 10
A. General………………………………………………. 10
B. PTSD Symptomatology……………………………… 11
C. Predictive Factors…………………………………… 13
IV. ADDITIONAL PSYCHOLOGICAL
SYMPTOMS OF PERCEIVED EXPOSURE
TO BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONRY.. 16
A. Short Term………………………………………….. 16
B. Long Term…………………………………………… 16
C. Co-morbidities of PTSD……………………………. 17
V. OUTCOMES & TREATMENT…………………… 18
A. Outcomes……………………………………………. 18
B. Treatment…………………………………………… 18
VI. PSYCHOGENIC HEALTH EFFECTS IN
OFFICIAL ADVISORIES……………………………. 20
VII. CHART OF POSSIBLE PSYCHOGENIC
HEALTH EFFECTS OF PERCEIVED
EXPOSURE TO BIOLOGICAL AND
CHEMICAL WEAPONS……………………………… 21
VII. BIBLIOGRAPHY WITH ABSTRACTS………. 26

http://www.iom.edu/Object.File/Master/4 ... AGENTS.pdf

PREFACE

Medical scholarship is increasingly accepting the idea that the simple awareness of being exposed to agents of chemical or biological warfare can pose significant health effects for an individual. "The threat or perceived exposure to chemical warfare agents has been shown to have a lasting and adverse impact on human health," write Col. James Riddle and his co-authors in a study published in the August 2003 issue of Military Medicine. The trauma of a perception of exposure may be sufficient to elicit stress-induced debilitation. "The [mere] belief that chemical weapons were being used," they observe, "may cause or exacerbate illness because of . . . maladaptive stress response." (Riddle) The authors of the study, whose affiliations span the Pentagon's Health Affairs office, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Naval Research Center, and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense, came to this determination after finding that mysterious poor health conditions of certain Persian Gulf War (1990-1991) veterans did not correlate with any demonstrated actual exposure to weapons of mass destruction, but nevertheless did seem to correlate with a subjective belief on the part of the veterans that they had in fact been so exposed. "Feelings of helplessness in the face of a ubiquitous and unseen killer can be overwhelming," Riddle et al. explain. Psychogenic effects can be short and long term. "The psychological impact of a potential or actual chemical attack can result in immediate casualties from acute stress disorder, grief, anger, scapegoating, and somatization disorders. Longer term effects include phobias, sleep disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, and major depression." Specific studies on veterans who have undergone mustard-gas exposure in military tests compel the conclusion that psychogenic effects of the subjective awareness of exposure to biochemical weaponry are a major set of health effects. "The life threat inherent in . . . exposure," one such study concludes, "suggests that experimental mustard-gas exposure is a traumatic event that meets the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed. DSM-IV) A.1 criterion for a diagnosis of PTSD [Post-traumatic stress disorder]." (Schnurr 2000) Authoritative acceptance of the existence of purely psychogenic health effects of perceived exposure appears to be increasingly firm. "The IOM [Institute of Medicine] Committee [on Health Effects Associated with Exposures during the Gulf War] recognized the impact on health from the threat of or perceived exposure to chemical and biological warfare agents," Riddle and his colleagues report. An IOM committee in

1993, also evaluating the effects on veterans of mustard-gas testing from five decades earlier, determined in a similar vein that "the best available evidence indicates a causal relation between the experiences of the subjects . . . and the development of psychological effects." (IOM) The Riddle study and review further argues that greater study of the psychogenic effects of perceived exposure needs to be a key concern for veterans' health.

In a statement directed primarily at the studies of the health condition of Persian Gulf War veterans but which clearly possesses validity in regard to the health effects of all veterans who havefelt exposed to biochemical weapons, the authors express a consensus that "theDepartment of Veterans Affairs and IOM should examine the health impact from . . . theperceived exposure to chemical warfare agents as an important health concern and cause of morbidity among . . . veterans." The practical importance is driven home in studies examining the psychological effects on military personnel of biochemical warfare agent testing. These studies consistently note significantly higher levels of long-term health
problems and long-term medical services use by veterans who have experienced
psychogenic effects from perceived chemical weapons exposure. (Schnurr 2000, Schnurr
1996, Friedman 1994)

PREFACE

Medical scholarship is increasingly accepting the idea that the simple awareness of being exposed to agents of chemical or biological warfare can pose significant health effects for an individual. "The threat or perceived exposure to chemical warfare agents has been shown to have a lasting and adverse impact on human health," write Col. James Riddle and his co-authors in a study published in the August 2003 issue of Military Medicine. The trauma of a perception of exposure may be sufficient to elicit stress-induced debilitation. "The [mere] belief that chemical weapons were being used," they observe, "may cause or exacerbate illness because of . . . maladaptive stress response." (Riddle) The authors of the study, whose affiliations span the Pentagon's Health Affairs office, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Naval Research Center, and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense, came to this determination after finding that mysterious poor health conditions of certain Persian Gulf War (1990-1991) veterans did not correlate with any demonstrated actual exposure to weapons of mass destruction, but nevertheless did seem to correlate with a subjective belief on the part of the veterans that they had in fact been so exposed. "Feelings of helplessness in the face of a ubiquitous and unseen killer can be overwhelming," Riddle et al. explain. Psychogenic effects can be short and long term. "The psychological impact of a potential or actual chemical attack can result in immediate casualties from acute stress disorder, grief, anger, scapegoating, and somatization disorders. Longer term effects include phobias, sleep disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, and major depression." Specific studies on veterans who have undergone mustard-gas exposure in military tests compel the conclusion that psychogenic effects of the subjective awareness of exposure to biochemical weaponry are a major set of health effects. "The life threat inherent in . . . exposure," one such study concludes, "suggests that experimental mustard-gas exposure is a traumatic event that meets the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed. DSM-IV) A.1 criterion for a diagnosis of PTSD [Post-traumatic stress disorder]." (Schnurr 2000) Authoritative acceptance of the existence of purely psychogenic health effects of perceived exposure appears to be increasingly firm. "The IOM [Institute of Medicine] Committee [on Health Effects Associated with Exposures during the Gulf War] recognized the impact on health from the threat of or perceived exposure to chemical and biological warfare agents," Riddle and his colleagues report. An IOM committee in

1993, also evaluating the effects on veterans of mustard-gas testing from five decades earlier, determined in a similar vein that "the best available evidence indicates a causal relation between the experiences of the subjects . . . and the development of psychological effects." (IOM) The Riddle study and review further argues that greater study of the psychogenic effects of perceived exposure needs to be a key concern for veterans' health.

In a statement directed primarily at the studies of the health condition of Persian Gulf War veterans but which clearly possesses validity in regard to the health effects of all veterans who havefelt exposed to biochemical weapons, the authors express a consensus that "theDepartment of Veterans Affairs and IOM should examine the health impact from . . . theperceived exposure to chemical warfare agents as an important health concern and cause of morbidity among . . . veterans." The practical importance is driven home in studies examining the psychological effects on military personnel of biochemical warfare agent testing. These studies consistently note significantly higher levels of long-term health problems and long-term medical services use by veterans who have experienced psychogenic effects from perceived chemical weapons exposure. (Schnurr 2000, Schnurr 1996, Friedman 1994)

The area remains problematic, however, because questions persist as to how easily and authoritatively researchers and diagnosticians can distinguish psychogenic effects from pathogenic or toxicological ones. "The psychological trauma of experiencing a potential or real attack from chemical warfare agents," Riddle et al. note, "presents a confounding factor in evaluating the health effects of actual exposures." The possible confounding of psychogenic health effects of exposure with the physical effects induced by a chemical or biological agent is an area not fully studied. "[F]urther research is ongoing," state the researchers, as to "whether there are synergistic effects among various agents, including [the action of] psychological stressors. . . ."

This supplement has been prepared to address in a concentrated and extended fashion the new, evolving, and important issues of psychogenic health effects arising from awareness of biochemical agent exposure. Precisely because it is a new, evolving, and difficult field, with research and publication actively in progress, this supplement may be further amended or developed over the contract period as new data and scholarship may arise, or as further inquiry is requested.

[J.B. Stone]

PLEASE, if you are pursuing a VA Disability Claim stemming from exposures experienced during Project SHAD/112, pay close attention to the item entitled:

Contract No. IOM-2794-04-001

The National Academies

SUPPLEMENT:
HEALTH EFFECTS OF PERCEIVED EXPOSURE TO BIOCHEMICAL WARFARE AGENTS

Prepared for the National Academies by

The Center for Research Information, Inc.
9300 Brookville Rd
Silver Spring, MD 20910

http:// www.medresearchnow.com
(301) 346-6501
cri@ix.netcom.com

April, 2004

Which can be found online at:

http://www.iom.edu/Object.File/Master/4 ... AGENTS.pdf

~~~~~~~~~

This item has been made an attachment or addendum to all "fact sheets" describing exposures via Bio-Chemical Weapons Testing, whether by the use of actual agents or simulants or "carriers" or "markers".

As stated at:

http://www1.va.gov/shad/docs/VHADirecti ... 152004.pdf

from which I quote:

VHA DIRECTIVE 2004-016
April 15, 2004

4. ACTIONS: Facility Directors are responsible for:

a. Ensuring that these veterans are enrolled in priority group 6, if they are not eligible for a higher enrollment priority based upon other eligibility factors. Accordingly, they are to receive needed hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care at no cost for any illness possibly related to their participation in these tests. However these veterans may be charged a co-payment for care of conditions found to have resulted from a cause(s) other than their participation in Project 112 tests.

(1) In making the determination if the illness or disability is possibly related to a veteran’s participation in Project 112/SHAD, the VA physician must consider that the following types of conditions are not ordinarily considered to be due to occupational or military activities:

(a) Congenital or developmental conditions, e.g., scoliosis.
(b) Conditions which are known to have existed before military service.
(c) Conditions having a specific and well-established etiology and that began after military service ceased, e.g., bone fractures occurring after separation from military service, a common cold, etc.

(2) Although the preceding types of conditions are not ordinarily considered to be due to military
service, if the staff physician finds that a veteran requires care under this provision for one or more of those conditions, the physician is to seek guidance from the facility Chief of Staff (COS) and the Registry Physician (RP) regarding the authorization for such treatment. The decision and its basis must be clearly documented in the medical record and chart by the RP.

b. Ensuring that Project 112/SHAD veterans who request either an examination or enrollment in the VA health care system, whether or not they have previously received health care from VA, are offered a complete “Primary Care New Patient History and Physical Examination,” using the standardized template for this examination, and that the results of the examination are documented in the patient’s health record.

(1) The Primary Care New Patient documentation template is one of several templates developed by a national task group to address the need to have medical record documentation that is appropriate, accurate, and supports coding for third-party billing, workload capture, research, and other clinical and administrative needs. It can be located at the following web address: http://vaww1.va.gov/health/him/VHACC/vaphyspage.htm.

~~~~~~~~~

I would make CERTAIN that the SUPPLEMENT: "HEALTH EFFECTS OF PERCEIVED EXPOSURE TO BIOCHEMICAL WARFARE AGENTS" in its entirety is included in all VA Disability Application files as it strongly supports the contentions that the mere knowledge of having potentially been exposed during a Top Secret set of Human Test Subject Experiments can be debilitating as a stand alone causality.

The Executive Summary states:

"This supplement's purpose is to provide information regarding the psychogenic health effects evoked by a mere subjective awareness of having been exposed to one or more of such agents. It should be added for the sake of clarity that any issues related to psychological or neuropsychiatric effects arising from the physiological harm induced by a specific agent are not included in this supplement, but are treated separately in the health effects report for the respective agent.

Biological and chemical weapons function as more than simply agents of direct harm to life and bodily integrity. They are also psychological weapons. Studies suggest that psychological harm arising resulting from awareness or perception of the use of such agents may result in a number of cases of psychological harm comparable to or even far exceeding the number of cases suffering persistent physiological harm.

Although there have been other effects and co-morbidities observed, the most common and most studied type of psychogenic effect of perceived exposure to biochemical weaponry is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The issues of the duration of the PTSD and the nature of the symptom manifestations are especially complicated in the case of perceived exposure to biological or chemical weapons agents. That is because of the unusual type of stressor experience it involves, which is called a "contamination stressor". In contamination stressors, the initial trauma may be information about the existence of an uncertain possible future threat rather than, or in addition to, the actual physical experience of the threat. This unusual situation invests a future-looking orientation into the trauma in which the victim stresses over unknown consequences yet to manifest. This is different from the more traditional understanding of PTSD in which there is cognitive preoccupation with a trauma from the past. In contamination stressors, revelations about the full nature of the exposure may occur more slowly and much later than the actual exposure incident (e.g. progressive declassification of the fact and nature of exposure and other related information). Therefore, establishing the precise traumatic origin of the stress disorder and the progress of its psychogenic effects may also be problematic. There may even be two or more stressors where experience of the exposure and further information about the contamination are separated in time and progress.

The PTSD risk factors for veterans who had undergone testing of biochemical weaponry were ethnicity, a lack of volunteering for the exposure testing, a lack of preparation for the testing, the number of exposures to the agent, the appearance of physical symptoms of agent exposure during the testing experience, the witnessing of the distress of other participants, the existence of a prohibition on discussing or disclosing the experience, and delays in discussing/disclosing the experience. A sense of betrayal and secrecy are hypothesized as aggravating factors for PTSD incidence.

Outcomes for veterans with PTSD traced to perceived exposure to biochemical warfare agents during exposure testing included greater use of medical services, including outpatient VA facilities, poorer overall physical health, a higher likelihood of acquiring chronic illnesses and disability, along with greater functional impairment overall. Treatment of PTSD usually involves a complex psychotherapeutic regimen combining cognitive elements and pharmacotherapy.

Finally, it is noted that the published advisory information from the federal government on the health effects of Project SHAD agents (and which are aimed at assisting clinicians who interact with SHAD veterans) appears to contain only one discussion of the possibility of PTSD symptoms resulting from exposure to biological or chemical warfare agents, simulants, and tracers. That reference is limited in scope. It addresses the narrow issue of the possibility of PTSD as a long-term effect resulting from physically harmful exposure to sarin, as demonstrated by the victim's having experienced actual acute physical effects from the exposure.

There appears, however, to be no discussion of the more general risk of adverse psychogenic health effects solely from the awareness/perception of exposure to biological and chemical agents, nor a discussion of the observed high rate of PTSD found among military veterans who perceived such exposure as a result of actual participation in military testing of biochemical weaponry."

~~~~~~~~

In the second section, "Psychological Aspects of Biochemical Weaponry", we see that:

"Based on the published literature, it is conceivable, if not probable, that deleterious psychogenic health effects of perceived exposure to biological or chemical weaponry (or their simulants) may be more likely to happen than actual serious physiological harm from the agents used.

The reasons for the psychological impact of perceived exposure are most likely found in the insidious and unfamiliar pathogenesis of biological and chemical weapons, especially the biological weapons. "A chemical, or even more so, biological incident poses a sudden, unanticipated, and unfamiliar threat to health that lacks sensory cues, is prolonged or recurrent, perhaps is contagious, and produces casualties that are observed by others."

(This type of psychological stressor is called a "contamination
stressor")

~~~~~~~~

Under the section entitled, "Prevalent Effect: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder", the study addresses "Contamination stressors and onset timing"

"In situations where one may learn of a traumatic threat long after the experience of the threat has happened, as may occur in cases of secret biochemical weapons testing, defining the time of the traumatic stressor event may be problematic. Stressors of this type are called "contamination stressors," where information about a harmful contaminant is the stimulus of the trauma rather than, or in addition to, the experience of the direct threat of exposure. These events have a unique cognitive focus that is future-oriented, contemplating the emergence of future harm from the past contamination, rather than merely recollecting a past trauma, which is more typical of PTSD. Multiple stressor incidents might also exist: the exposure to the biochemical warfare agents, discoveries of new information about the stressor, and experiences of anticipated harm."

~~~~~~~~~

Section VI, "Psychogenic Health Effects In Official Advisories", the study continues poignantly:

"The materials issued by the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs are compiled and linked at http://www1.va.gov/shad. None of the materials, several of which are designed to assist clinicians in treating Project SHAD veterans, note the realistic possibility of PTSD or other stress symptoms resulting generally from the perception of exposure to biochemical warfare agents."

"The general but likely possibility (based on the data and research cited herein) of psychogenic health effects arising from the perceived exposure to biochemical warfare agents in an experimental military project context appears to remain ill-addressed in the official federal government advisories as best as we can determine to this time."

~~~~~~~~

This is not surprising, as it is noted in the Bibliography that:

in Benedek et al. 2002.
Emergency mental health management in bioterrorism events.
Emerg.Med.Clin.North Am. 20(2): 393-407.

it states:

The United States has not suffered significant psychosocial or medical consequences from the use of biological weapons within its territories. This has contributed to a "natural" state of denial at the community level.

[J.B. Stone]

20,000 vets' brain injuries not listed in Pentagon tally
http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2 ... ries_N.htm

By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
At least 20,000 U.S. troops who were not classified as wounded during combat in Iraq and Afghanistan have been found with signs of brain injuries, according to military and veterans records compiled by USA TODAY.
The data, provided by the Army, Navy and Department of Veterans Affairs, show that about five times as many troops sustained brain trauma as the 4,471 officially listed by the Pentagon through Sept. 30. These cases also are not reflected in the Pentagon's official tally of wounded, which stands at 30,327.


HIDDEN WOUNDS: Marine didn't recognize signs of brain injury

The number of brain-injury cases were tabulated from records kept by the VA and four military bases that house units that have served multiple combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

One base released its count of brain injuries at a medical conference. The others provided their records at the request of USA TODAY, in some cases only after a Freedom of Information Act filing was submitted.



USA TODAY ARCHIVES: Brain injuries from war worse than thought

The data came from:

• Landstuhl Army Regional Medical Center in Germany, where troops evacuated from Iraq and Afghanistan for injury, illness or wounds are brought before going home. Since May 2006, more than 2,300 soldiers screened positive for brain injury, hospital spokeswoman Marie Shaw says.

• Fort Hood, Texas, home of the 4th Infantry Division, which returned from a second Iraq combat tour late last year. At least 2,700 soldiers suffered a combat brain injury, Lt. Col. Steve Stover says.

• Fort Carson, Colo., where more than 2,100 soldiers screened were found to have suffered a brain injury, according to remarks by Army Col. Heidi Terrio before a brain injury association seminar.

• Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, where 1,737 Marines were found to have suffered a brain injury, according to Navy Cmdr. Martin Holland, a neurosurgeon with the Naval Medical Center San Diego.

• VA hospitals, where Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have been screened for combat brain injuries since April. The VA found about 20% of 61,285 surveyed — or 11,804 veterans — with signs of brain injury, spokeswoman Alison Aikele says. VA doctors say more evaluation is necessary before a true diagnosis of brain injury can be confirmed in all these cases, Aikele says.

Soldiers and Marines whose wounds were discovered after they left Iraq are not added to the official casualty list, says Army Col. Robert Labutta, a neurologist and brain injury consultant for the Pentagon.

"We are working to do a better job of reflecting accurate data in the official casualty table," Labutta says.

Most of the new cases involve mild or moderate brain injuries, commonly from exposure to blasts.

More than 150,000 troops may have suffered head injuries in combat, says Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., founder of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force.

"I am wary that the number of brain-injured troops far exceeds the total number reported injured," he says.

About 1.5 million troops have served in Iraq, where traumatic brain injury can occur despite heavy body armor worn by troops.

[J.B. Stone]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/200 ... yers_N.htm

Lawyers step up to help veterans gratis

By Laura Parker, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — The scene resembled Hollywood's version of how a multibillion-dollar legal deal might be negotiated. Big-name corporate law firm. Posh conference room, with a conference table so large 70 attorneys fit easily around it. Video technicians, hovering nearby, beam the meeting to other big law firms from Boston to Seattle.
Yet there was no deal to cut. Instead, the high-powered lawyers were getting a tutorial in the arcane vagaries of veterans law.

"This could be the VA's worst nightmare," Bart Stichman, one of the organizers, enthused from the podium. "Hundreds of attorneys from around the country providing legal service to veterans for free."

The recent gathering at Sidley Austin, a firm with 1,700 lawyers around the globe, is part of a growing effort to provide free legal help to thousands of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who are trying to win disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

"There are 100,000 veterans seeking benefits, and too many of them are waiting too long to get them," says Ron Abrams, who, with Stichman, directs the National Veterans Legal Services Program, a non-profit group in Washington spearheading the effort. "These lawyers are going to treat these veterans the way they would treat their corporate clients."

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The approach marks the first time since the Civil War that attorneys have been recruited in large numbers to represent veterans. The lawyers hope their legal expertise will speed consideration of claims and result in better benefits for veterans, Stichman says. More than 50 of the largest law firms in the USA and more than 400 attorneys have signed up. Stichman and Abrams hope to start assigning veterans to the attorneys early next month.

Law schools join cause

Amanda Smith, an attorney with the Philadelphia-based firm Morgan Lewis, says many of the participating lawyers are Vietnam veterans and "are appalled at the circumstances that they find veterans in today."

Besides the push by big law firms, law schools in states such as the Carolinas, Virginia, Delaware, Michigan and Illinois also are offering free services to veterans.

Craig Kabatchnick, who worked as a VA appellate attorney from 1990 until 1995, launched a clinic last January for veterans at North Carolina Central University's law school, where he now teaches.

"We had all kinds of veterans who were very disabled, litigating against trained attorneys like myself who were defending the VA," Kabatchnick says. The VA would "win" if the claim was denied, Kabatchnick says. "Did we litigate to win? Absolutely. In cases where the veteran was representing himself, the win ratio was very high."

Paul Hutter, the VA's general counsel, says its attorneys have "an ethical obligation to fairly and justly" review claims and settle "meritorious cases quickly."

"Our job is to ensure that veterans get the benefits allowed them by law," he says in an e-mail.

Disability claims have increased from 578,773 in fiscal 2000 to 838,141 this year, according to VA figures. There are about 407,000 pending. The average processing time is 177 days, the VA says.

Change in law lifted restrictions

Traditionally, veterans have represented themselves or sought assistance from a service organization, such as the American Legion or the Veterans of Foreign Wars. But many of the caseworkers in those groups are overloaded with cases, Stichman says, and sometimes one volunteer oversees 1,000 veterans' claims.

The approach has not led to quick compensation for veterans. Evidence supporting a veteran's claim — medical records or letters from colleagues — is not always submitted with the original claim. When that evidence is added later, it can lead to reversals or requests for reconsideration. That can add more than a year to the appeals process, the VA says.

The Board of Veterans Appeals either reverses or orders reconsideration of decisions made by VA regional offices 56% of the time, according to an analysis of VA figures by Stichman's group. Congress has long kept attorneys at arms-length from the veterans' disability process. Until last June, when federal law changed, paid attorneys could not work on cases until after a final decision by the Board of Veterans' Appeals. The VA is now considering regulations that would require all attorneys to pass a test in order to qualify to handle veterans' claims, according to Phil Budahn, a department spokesman.

Service organizations, including the Disabled American Veterans and Veterans of Foreign Wars, vigorously fought the change in law. They are now pushing to repeal the law and support requiring a test, arguing that lawyers could turn what is supposed to be a non-adversarial process into a litigious one.

"The fear was lawyers will dominate, and they'll ruin everything," says Thomas Reed, a law professor at Widener University in Wilmington, Del., who began offering free legal services to veterans in 1997.

Lawyers not the cure-all

Joe Violante, national legislative director of the Disabled American Veterans, which represents 1.3 million veterans, says trained volunteers from the service organizations are far more experienced at representing veterans' claims than the newly recruited lawyers.

"If the veteran is under the impression that an attorney is going to get their claim through faster, there's no proof of that," he says.

Ron Flagg, a Sidley attorney involved in the pro bono veterans' project, says there are so many claims that the system is overwhelmed.

"Lawyers are not the cure to all ills," he says. "But this is a problem where lawyers can be helpful."

[J.B. Stone]

120 War Vets Commit Suicide Each Week
By Penny Coleman, AlterNet
Posted on November 26, 2007, Printed on November 28, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/story/68713/

Earlier this year, using the clout that only major broadcast networks seem capable of mustering, CBS News contacted the governments of all 50 states requesting their official records of death by suicide going back 12 years. They heard back from 45 of the 50. From the mountains of gathered information, they sifted out the suicides of those Americans who had served in the armed forces. What they discovered is that in 2005 alone -- and remember, this is just in 45 states -- there were at least 6,256 veteran suicides, 120 every week for a year and an average of 17 every day.

As the widow of a Vietnam vet who killed himself after coming home, and as the author of a book for which I interviewed dozens of other women who had also lost husbands (or sons or fathers) to PTSD and suicide in the aftermath of the war in Vietnam, I am deeply grateful to CBS for undertaking this long overdue investigation. I am also heartbroken that the numbers are so astonishingly high and tentatively optimistic that perhaps now that there are hard numbers to attest to the magnitude of the problem, it will finally be taken seriously. I say tentatively because this is an administration that melts hard numbers on their tongues like communion wafers.

Since these new wars began, and in spite of a continuous flood of alarming reports, the Department of Defense has managed to keep what has clearly become an epidemic of death beneath the radar of public awareness by systematically concealing statistics about soldier suicides. They have done everything from burying them on official casualty lists in a category they call "accidental noncombat deaths" to outright lying to the parents of dead soldiers. And the Department of Veterans Affairs has rubber-stamped their disinformation, continuing to insist that their studies indicate that soldiers are killing themselves, not because of their combat experiences, but because they have "personal problems."

Active-duty soldiers, however, are only part of the story. One of the well-known characteristics of post-traumatic stress injuries is that the onset of symptoms is often delayed, sometimes for decades. Veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam are still taking their own lives because new PTSD symptoms have been triggered, or old ones retriggered, by stories and images from these new wars. Their deaths, like the deaths of more recent veterans, are written up in hometown newspapers; they are locally mourned, but officially ignored. The VA doesn't track or count them. It never has. Both the VA and the Pentagon deny that the problem exists and sanctimoniously point to a lack of evidence they have refused to gather.

They have managed this smoke and mirrors trick for decades in large part because suicide makes people so uncomfortable. It has often been called "that most secret death" because no one wants to talk about it. Over time, in different parts of the world, attitudes have fluctuated between the belief that the act is a sin, a right, a crime, a romantic gesture, an act of consummate bravery or a symptom of mental illness. It has never, however, been an emotionally neutral issue. In the United States, the rationalism of our legal system has acknowledged for 300 years that the act is almost always symptomatic of a mental illness. For those same 300 years, organized religions have stubbornly maintained that it's a sin. In fact, the very worst sin. The one that is never forgiven because it's too late to say you're sorry.

The contradiction between religious doctrine and secular law has left suicide in some kind of nether space in which the fundamentals of our systems of justice and belief are disrupted. A terrible crime has been committed, a murder, and yet there can be no restitution, no punishment. As sin or as mental illness, the origins of suicide live in the mind, illusive, invisible, associated with the mysterious, the secretive and the undisciplined, a kind of omnipresent Orange Alert. Beware the abnormal. Beware the Other.

For years now, this administration has been blasting us with high-decibel, righteous posturing about suicide bombers, those subhuman dastards who do the unthinkable, using their own bodies as lethal weapons. "Those people, they aren't like us; they don't value life the way we do," runs the familiar xenophobic subtext: And sometimes the text isn't even sub-: "Many terrorists who kill innocent men, women, and children on the streets of Baghdad are followers of the same murderous ideology that took the lives of our citizens in New York, in Washington and Pennsylvania," proclaimed W, glibly conflating Sept. 11, the invasion of Iraq, Islam, fanatic fundamentalism and human bombs.

Bush has also expressed the opinion that suicide bombers are motivated by despair, neglect and poverty. The demographic statistics on suicide bombers suggest that this isn't the necessarily the case. Most of the Sept. 11 terrorists came from comfortable middle- to upper-middle-class families and were well-educated. Ironically, despair, neglect and poverty may be far more significant factors in the deaths of American soldiers and veterans who are taking their own lives.

Consider the 25 percent of enlistees and the 50 percent of reservists who have come back from the war with serious mental health issues. Despair seems an entirely appropriate response to the realization that the nightmares and flashbacks may never go away, that your ability to function in society and to manage relationships, work schedules or crowds will never be reliable. How not to despair if your prognosis is: Suck it up, soldier. This may never stop!

Neglect? The VA's current backlog is 800,000 cases. Aside from the appalling conditions in many VA hospitals, in 2004, the last year for which statistics are available, almost 6 million veterans and their families were without any healthcare at all. Most of them are working people -- too poor to afford private coverage, but not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid or means-tested VA care. Soldiers and veterans need help now, the help isn't there, and the conversations about what needs to be done are only just now beginning.

Poverty? The symptoms of post-traumatic stress injuries or traumatic brain injuries often make getting and keeping a job an insurmountable challenge. The New York Times reported last week that though veterans make up only 11 percent of the adult population, they make up 26 percent of the homeless. If that doesn't translate into despair, neglect and poverty, well, I'm not sure the distinction is one worth quibbling about.

There is a particularly terrible irony in the relationship between suicide bombers and the suicides of American soldiers and veterans. With the possible exception of some few sadists and psychopaths, Americans don't enlist in the military because they want to kill civilians. And they don't sign up with the expectation of killing themselves. How incredibly sad that so many end up dying of remorse for having performed acts that so disturb their sense of moral selfhood that they sentence themselves to death.

There is something so smugly superior in the way we talk about suicide bombers and the cultures that produce them. But here is an unsettling thought. In 2005, 6,256 American veterans took their own lives. That same year, there were about 130 documented deaths of suicide bombers in Iraq.* Do the math. That's a ratio of 50-to-1. So who is it that is most effectively creating a culture of suicide and martyrdom? If George Bush is right, that it is despair, neglect and poverty that drive people to such acts, then isn't it worth pointing out that we are doing a far better job?

*I say "about" because in the aftermath of a suicide bombing, it is often very difficult for observers to determine how many individual bodies have been blown to pieces.

Penny Coleman is the widow of a Vietnam veteran who took his own life after coming home. Her latest book, Flashback: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Suicide and the Lessons of War, was released on Memorial Day, 2006. Her blog is Flashback.

© 2007 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/68713/

[J.B. Stone]

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtex ... =h110-2640



VETERANS DISARMAMENT ACT TO BAR VETS FROM OWNING GUNS


By Larry Pratt
September 22, 2007
NewsWithViews.com

Hundreds of thousands of veterans -- from Vietnam through Operation Iraqi Freedom -- are at risk of being banned from buying firearms if legislation that is pending in Congress gets enacted.

How? The Veterans Disarmament Act -- which has already passed the House -- would place any veteran who has ever been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) on the federal gun ban list.

This is exactly what President Bill Clinton did over seven years ago when his administration illegitimately added some 83,000 veterans into the National Criminal Information System (NICS system) -- prohibiting them from purchasing firearms, simply because of afflictions like PTSD.

The proposed ban is actually broader. Anyone who is diagnosed as being a tiny danger to himself or others would have his gun rights taken away ... forever. It is section 102(b)(1)(C)(iv) in HR 2640 that provides for dumping raw medical records into the system. Those names -- like the 83,000 records mentioned above -- will then, by law, serve as the basis for gun banning.

No wonder the Military Order of the Purple Heart is opposed to this legislation.

The House bill, HR 2640, is being sponsored by one of the most flaming anti-Second Amendment Representatives in Congress: Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY). Another liberal anti-gunner, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), is sponsoring the bill in the Senate.

Proponents of the bill say that helpful amendments have been made so that any veteran who gets his name on the NICS list can seek an expungement.

But whenever you talk about expunging names from the Brady NICS system, you’re talking about a procedure that has always been a long shot. Right now, there are NO EXPUNGEMENTS of law-abiding Americans’ names that are taking place under federal level. Why? Because the expungement process which already exists has been blocked for over a decade by a "funds cut-off" engineered by another anti-gunner, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY).

So how will this bill make things even worse? Well, two legal terms are radically redefined in the Veterans Disarmament Act to carry out this vicious attack on veterans’ gun rights.

One term relates to who is classified a "mental defective." Forty years ago that term meant one was adjudicated "not guilty" in a court of law by reason of insanity. But under the Veterans Disarmament Act, "mental defective" has been stretched to include anyone whom a psychiatrist determines might be a tiny danger to self or others.

The second term is "adjudicate." In the past, one could only lose one's gun rights through an adjudication by a judge, magistrate or court -- meaning conviction after a trial. Adjudication could only occur in a court with all the protections of due process, including the right to face one's accuser. Now, adjudication in HR 2640 would include a finding by "a court, commission, committee or other authorized person" (namely, a psychiatrist).

Forget the fact that people with PTSD have the same violent crime rate as the rest of us. Vietnam vets with PTSD have had careers and obtained permits to carry firearms concealed. It will now be enough for a psychiatric diagnosis (a "determination" in the language of the bill) to get a veteran barred ­for life ­ from owning guns.

Think of what this bill would do to veterans. If a robber grabs your wallet and takes everything in it, but gives you back $5 to take the bus home, would you call that a financial enhancement? If not, then we should not let HR 2640 supporters call the permission to seek an expungement an enhancement, when prior to this bill, veterans could not legitimately be denied their gun rights after being diagnosed with PTSD.

Veterans with PTSD should not be put in a position to seek an expungement. They have not been convicted (after a trial with due process) of doing anything wrong. If a veteran is thought to be a threat to self or others, there should be a real trial, not an opinion (called a diagnosis) by a psychiatrist.

If members of Congress do not hear from soldiers (active duty and retired) in large numbers, along with the rest of the public, the Veterans Disarmament Act -- misleadingly titled by Rep. McCarthy as the NICS Improvement Amendments Act -- will send this message to veterans: "No good deed goes unpunished."

© 2007 Larry Pratt - All Rights Reserved

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Larry Pratt has been Executive Director of Gun Owners of America for 27 years. GOA is a national membership organization of 300,000 Americans dedicated to promoting their second amendment freedom to keep and bear arms.

He published a book, Armed People Victorious, in 1990 and was editor of a book, Safeguarding Liberty: The Constitution & Militias, 1995. His latest book, On the Firing Line: Essays in the Defense of Liberty was published in 2001.

The GOA web site is: gunowners.org. Pratt's weekly talk show Live Fire is archived there at: www.gunowners.org/radio.htm

E-Mail: ldpratt@gunowners.org

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