Veterans Suing for Better PTSD Care Share Anguish (On Capitol Hill)

[Up2Late]

Source: NPR

Veterans Suing for Better PTSD Care Share Anguish

Listen to this story...
by Andrea Seabrook

All Things Considered, July 25, 2007 · On Capitol Hill, the House panel on Veterans Affairs heard testimony Wednesday on personality disorders. They are mental health conditions that can have some similarities to post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD — but with a big difference. Thousands of soldiers who have been diagnosed with personality disorders instead of PTSD have been discharged from the military with no medical benefits to help them recover.

In October 2004, Jonathan Town, a young Army soldier, was delivering mail at his base in Ramadi when it came under fire. While he was running for shelter, he says, a rocket exploded "3 feet above my head, leaving me unconscious on the ground, with a severe concussion, shrapnel in my neck and blood pouring from my ears." Town was rushed to the medical unit, treated for his wounds and given a day to rest. He returned to duty the next day.

"Two months later, I was awarded a Purple Heart for my injuries I suffered on that traumatic day in October," he says. "This is where everything started to go downhill for me. Throughout the next 9 months, while continuing to serve my country, I battled nonstop headaches, bleeding from my ears and insomnia."

Despite the fact that Town hadn't had those symptoms before — and had passed psychological screenings when he enlisted and re-enlisted in the Army — Town was diagnosed with what Army doctors called a pre-existing personality disorder. So when Town was discharged, he got no access to medical care and no disability benefits.

(more and audio story at link)



Read more: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12234129

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Add this to the now LONG LIST of Outrageous treatment from the "support our troops" crowd!

[salin]

1. absolutely offensive - esp when considering the reason why...

to stop a part of the budget from growing - while at the same time giving bigger and bigger tax cuts to the rich and to large corporations.

[kimmylavin]

2. The Nation

The Nation did an article about this a couple of months ago.
They investigated the unusually high number of returning soldiers who were diagnosed with this "pre-existing condition" and subsequently denied benefits.
Absolutely outrageous.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070409/kors

[Up2Late]

4. And it's about the same guy! Thanks...

...I'll check it out in a bit.

[kimmylavin]

6. Yes.

Its a great article, and an absolute shame that the MSM isn't all over this.
But when are they all over anything anymore, ESPECIALLY when it comes to this administration?

[fed-up]

3. link to witness statements from Wednesday's hearing before House Comm on Vet's Affairs

http://veterans.house.gov/hearings/schedule110/july07/0...
WITNESS LIST (with links to statements)

House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

Full Committee Hearing on
PTSD and Personality Disorders: Challenges for the VA

July 25, 2007, 10:00 A.M.
Room 334, Cannon House Office Building



Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, points out a graphic about veterans medical claims during a news conference in San Francisco, Monday, July 23, 2007. Sullivan is part of a class-action lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, filed Monday in federal court in San Francisco, seeking broad change in the agency as it struggles to meet growing demands from veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

[Up2Late]

5. kick n/t

:kick: