Military Accused of Diagnosing Soldiers with PD (Personality Disorder) to Save Billions

[tekisui]

Source: All Voices

Personality Disorder (PD) has been routinely, oftentimes falsely, used to discharge veterans injured during their tours of duty to keep the military from having to pay billions of dollars in medical costs.

Sergeant Chuck Luther -- a veteran who joined the Army in 1988 -- was on guard duty when his tower was hit by a mortar shell. After being thrown to the floor, his head slammed into concrete resulting in his nose leaking clear fluid, nausea, shoulder pain, an ache in his right ear that was killing him, and hurting his teeth. Sgt. Luther was determined to finish his mission despite his body being basically broken. Hearing in his right ear never returned, replaced instead by the hum of tinnitus and his shoulder pain persisted.

Then came the crippling headaches that started with a speckling in the corner of his vision which grew worse and worse until his right eye would finally just shut down and go blank. Doctors at Camp Taji where he was stationed told Luther that he was faking his symptoms. When Sgt. Luther insisted he wasn't faking it, the doctors reportedly diagnosed his blindness as PD -- a severe mental illness that emerges during childhood and is listed in military regulations as a pre-existing condition, not a result of combat.

Military Saves Billions by Discharging Iraq and Afghanistan Soldiers with PD

PD is used by the military to deny lifetime disability benefits that the military is required to provide soldiers like Sgt. Luther who are wounded during service. A PD discharge also results in soldiers being denied long-term medical care, and most of the time, requires soldiers to give back part of the re-enlistment bonuses. Consequently, when soldiers diagnosed with PD are discharged, they could easily end up owing the military several thousand dollars. Pentagon figures and a Harvard University study show that the military saves billions of dollars by discharging Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers with PD.

Sgt. Luther's case highlights the severe consequences of the military's fraudulent actions faced by soldiers who question their diagnosis and oppose their discharges. Since 2001, more than 22,600 soldiers have been discharge with PD, including soldiers who served multiple tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sgt. Luther insisted he did not have PD and that the idea of developing a childhood mental illness at the age of 36, after passing eight psychological screenings was ridiculous. When the pain was sometimes so bad that he felt like dying -- to explain the severity of the pain he was in -- doctors declared him a suicide risk, confiscated his shoelaces, his belt and his rifle, and ordered him confined to an isolation chamber, the size of a walk-in closet, where he was held for more than a month.

month: http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/5672883-military-accused-of-diagnosing-soldiers-with-pd-to-save-billions

[PDJane]

1. Yes. I've heard this several times.

And it's pretty much proven. Consider it the military's version of a pre-existing condition.

[G_j]

2. Agent Orange, "Gulf War Disease", PTSD

a long list of lies and denial

[TheDebbieDee]

3. The military has been doing this for decades...............

[G_j]

4. ==