Cheryl Seal
VA Ends PTSD Review Scheme Designed to Screw Iraq Vets
Fri Nov 11, 2005 11:16
205.188.117.65
from Cheryl Seal Reports (
http://cherylsealreports.com
At least two studies have shown that soldiers returning from Iraq have an unprecedently high rate of severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. As many vets know, PTSD is not just a "monkey on your back," it's a 500-pound gorilla that can devastate your home, social, and work life. To try to save money, the VA instituted a scheme to "review" cases of PTSD in which 100% disability was granted between 1999-2004. The incidence of disabling PTSD in vets was increasing in the late 1990s - I suspect because it takes several years before it becomes obvious that a victim's life has been trashed, and because some of the worst cases smolder below the surface for years before erupting. The late 1990s would be about the time that Desert Storm vets "hit the wall," so to speak.
Anyway, the review was obviously designed to set a "new precedent" for evaluating PTSD and awarding claims in anticipation of the epidemic of serious PTSD among returning Iraq soldiers. Fortunately, Secretary of Veterans Affairs R. James Nicholson found his conscience and decided to end the review.
Btw - PTSD wasn't the only high-incidence disorder that the VA was trying to "review" - they have also been trying to find ways NOT to help vets who develop disabling health problems due to chemical exposures. Real show of that "gratitude for our soldiers" the Bushies are always spouting about, eh?
Here's a link to Vets for Justice about the VA Disability Commission
http://www.vetsforjustice.com/
U.S. Newswire/ -- Vietnam Veterans of America commends Secretary of Veterans Affairs R. James Nicholson's decision to end the controversial review of 72,000 cases of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). "This would have been an ill-advised and patently inequitable retrospective review of cases from 1999 to 2004 in which veterans have been granted a 100 percent disability rating because of PTSD," said John Rowan, national president of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), on the eve of Veterans' Day.
"The VA made the right decision in what appeared to be an effort to cull veterans from the compensation rolls," Rowan said. "The VA must now focus on the inadequate training and supervision of adjudicators. If the VA would use its own Best Practice Manual for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Compensation and Pension Examinations, the disparity in PTSD compensation ratings would decrease.
"The VA also must improve its efforts to meet its legal duty to assist veterans in securing records to document military stressors," Rowan said. "The decision today is a good first step. Now the VA must act to ensure fair and accurate adjudication of PTSD and other claims in a timely manner. VVA looks forward to working with the Secretary and his staff toward this end."
The manual can be found online at http://www.vva.org/ptsd1/ptsdmanualfind6.pdf ---
Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is the nation's only congressionally chartered veterans service organization dedicated to the needs of Vietnam-era veterans and their families. VVA's founding principle is "Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another."
At least two studies have shown that soldiers returning from Iraq have an unprecedently high rate of severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. As many vets know, PTSD is not just a "monkey on your back," it's a 500-pound gorilla that can devastate your home, social, and work life. To try to save money, the VA instituted a scheme to "review" cases of PTSD in which 100% disability was granted between 1999-2004. The incidence of disabling PTSD in vets was increasing in the late 1990s - I suspect because it takes several years before it becomes obvious that a victim's life has been trashed, and because some of the worst cases smolder below the surface for years before erupting. The late 1990s would be about the time that Desert Storm vets "hit the wall," so to speak.
Anyway, the review was obviously designed to set a "new precedent" for evaluating PTSD and awarding claims in anticipation of the epidemic of serious PTSD among returning Iraq soldiers. Fortunately, Secretary of Veterans Affairs R. James Nicholson found his conscience and decided to end the review.
Btw - PTSD wasn't the only high-incidence disorder that the VA was trying to "review" - they have also been trying to find ways NOT to help vets who develop disabling health problems due to chemical exposures. Real show of that "gratitude for our soldiers" the Bushies are always spouting about, eh?
Here's a link to Vets for Justice about the VA Disability Commission
http://www.vetsforjustice.com/
U.S. Newswire/ -- Vietnam Veterans of America commends Secretary of Veterans Affairs R. James Nicholson's decision to end the controversial review of 72,000 cases of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). "This would have been an ill-advised and patently inequitable retrospective review of cases from 1999 to 2004 in which veterans have been granted a 100 percent disability rating because of PTSD," said John Rowan, national president of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), on the eve of Veterans' Day.
"The VA made the right decision in what appeared to be an effort to cull veterans from the compensation rolls," Rowan said. "The VA must now focus on the inadequate training and supervision of adjudicators. If the VA would use its own Best Practice Manual for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Compensation and Pension Examinations, the disparity in PTSD compensation ratings would decrease.
"The VA also must improve its efforts to meet its legal duty to assist veterans in securing records to document military stressors," Rowan said. "The decision today is a good first step. Now the VA must act to ensure fair and accurate adjudication of PTSD and other claims in a timely manner. VVA looks forward to working with the Secretary and his staff toward this end."
The manual can be found online at http://www.vva.org/ptsd1/ptsdmanualfind6.pdf ---
Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is the nation's only congressionally chartered veterans service organization dedicated to the needs of Vietnam-era veterans and their families. VVA's founding principle is "Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another."
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