Why do YOU think the VA has stopped reporting cancer cases in key facilities?

[w8liftinglady]

I have my own theory,which I just mailed off as a ltte.What is yours?..(especially veterans)

http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/PublicHealth/tb/6563
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 31 -- Stonewalling by the Veterans Administration is putting U.S. cancer surveillance and research in jeopardy, according to many of the researchers involved in those fields.

After decades of sharing data freely and allowing researchers to get in touch with its patients, the agency has been blocking such activity for the past several years, according to Dennis Deapen, Dr.PH., of the Los Angeles Cancer Surveillance Program and the University of Southern California.


The result, Dr. Deapen said, is that California state data on cancer incidence rates are being skewed. And that, he said, is likely to have serious effects on national data.

[TomInTib]

1. Two words...

depleted uranium.

The Agent Orange of this generation of troops.

But it will affect many more troops with a wider range of cancers.

[Richard Steele]

7. Bingo. nm

[OzarkDem]

12. That would be my guess, too

The federal government with the help of Congress has traditionally worked very, very hard to suppress any information that could link environmental factors to cancer incidence. They fight it very hard and very effectively.

They've been doing this for decades, at least since WWII.

[w8liftinglady]

2. a few clues

Depleted Uranium to Blame for Iraq’s Cancer Problem?
http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20070827_depleted_uranium_to_blame_for_iraqs_cancer_problem/
Is it just a coincidence that an unusually large number of American troops and Iraqi civilians are suffering from what appears to be a cancer epidemic? Iraq’s environment minister and a growing number of victims, scientists and even politicians say the widespread use of depleted uranium in U.S. munitions is to blame.

Depleted Uranium Blamed for Cancer Clusters Among Iraq War Vets
http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/2004/08/15_bollyn_depleted-uranium-blamed-cancer.htm
Four years after the Gulf War of 1991, Life magazine published a photo-essay entitled "The Tiny Victims of Desert Storm," which focused on the numerous cases of severe birth defects that had occurred in families of veterans from that war.

Life reported, "Of the 400 sick vets who had already answered committee inquiries, a startling 65 percent reported birth defects or immune-system problems in children conceived after the war."

AFP asked the Dept. of Veterans Affairs if they kept records of the birth defects occurring among the families of veterans, and was told they do not.

[KT2000]

3. Double whammy!

They want to hide the cancer rates for military so there cannot be a link to their service and therefore VA payments. They also do not want to "alarm" the public.

The cancer rates nationally are not improving so they want to make it so all of those statistics are useless. I think we are about to face an explosion of cancer rates in middle-age and younger people so they do not want that to be revealed.

[leftchick]

4. Depleted Uranium

period.

[w8liftinglady]

5. more clues

Army made video warning about dangers of depleted uranium but never showed it to troops
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/CNN_Agent_Orange_tame_compared_to_0206.html
video to CNN report on DU embedded in above

****Warning-this link has Horrific pictures*****
Nothing depleted about 'depleted uranium'
Disturbing photos of children

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=BUL20060122&articleId=1777


In our name?

[truebrit71]

6. Jesus wept....

....Good grief....

[w8liftinglady]

8. the more I research it,the more outraged I become.Tears in my eyes right now.

[blogslut]

9. Here's link you might find helpful

It's from Dr. Helen Caldicott - founder of the Nuclear Policy Research Institute. Warning, it's a pdf file:

http://www.helencaldicott.com/depleted.pdf

[w8liftinglady]

10. Thanks..I've bookmarked it

[w8liftinglady]

11. a copy of my letter-I'm not through yet...my next subject will be DU related birth defects

To the editors
There is a disturbing trend becoming evident at the Veteran's Administration.The administration,which up until a few years ago had been freely sharing information with researchers,has ceased releasing data on its cancer patients in 13 key states.This results in between 40,000 and 70,000 cases going unreported.For example,in 2004,there were 3,000 cases of new-onset cancer reported by the state of California,whereas in 2005,there were ZERO.The VA has also initiated new data transmission policies that make it almost impossible to comply with the transfer of information.Coincidentally,this timing coincides with the certain Iraq War Landmarks.Multiple studies have been done on the correlation of depleted uranium and lung cancer in veterans.It takes,on average,2-5 years to begin to show the effects of exposure to depleted uranium,one of which is an aggressive lung cancer.There has also been a dramatic increase in oral cancer in soldiers 19,20,and 21-years of age with no prior risks,save DU exposure.Of course,cancer is not solely an Iraq War Veteran problem.Gulf War 1 veterans have also had a huge incidence of cancers and related disorders due to DU exposure.Depleted uranium may remain active in the soil for 4.5 million years.The dust is inhaled by our troops every day.It is a huge disservice to our troops to underreport these diseases.It prevents the research and funding needed to obtain the proper care for these brave men and women who gave all for us.It is also a smokescreen,preventing Americans from seeing the true cost of this war.This is yet another case of failure by those who have sworn to support our veterans.Do you support our troops when they come home?Write our Senators,Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn,and our Congressman,Joe Barton,and demand they work to reinstate these reporting policies.