Top 10 News for Veterans from Around the Country – 07-21-08

Today’s Local News for Veterans from around the Country

What’s Inside:  A Summary  

1. Peake’s New Advertising Policy Leads To Suicide Prevention Campaign. 
2. Peake Orders Investigation Into Smoking-Cessation Study.  
3. VA’s Ability To Handle Veterans’ Mental Health Needs Questioned. 
4. Critics Argue VA ‘Not Meeting Needs’ Of Families.  
5. Vets Call For Free-Standing Hospital In Colorado.
6. VA Pushing For Better Care For Women Vets.  
7. Military Health System Said To Be Considering Switch To VistA. 
8. Psychotherapists Volunteer To Help Veterans. 
9. Wheelchair Games Athlete Interested In Organizing Local Vets.  
10. DeBakey Buried In Arlington With Military Honors.

1.      Peake’s New Advertising Policy Leads To Suicide Prevention Campaign.   The Muncie Free Press (7/20, Vittrup) reports, "The [VA] is launching a pilot outreach program to encourage veterans to use the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline… if they need help." Lisette Mondello, VA assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs, said the program’s aim is "to see if it helps raise awareness for veterans." The pilot program "will take place over a three-month period and will first launch in the Washington, DC, metro area." According to Mondello, "on July 16, [Sec. Peake] lifted the prohibition on paid advertising," which led to the creation of this program.

2.      Peake Orders Investigation Into Smoking-Cessation Study.   The Washington Times (7/20, Hudson) reports that VA officials "are preparing to determine who was at fault for failing to quickly notify participants in a smoking-cessation study about the potentially dangerous side effects of a drug they were prescribed and whether the study will be ended." Dr. Tom Puglisi, chief officer of the VA’s Office of Research Oversight, says Sec. Peake "has asked my office to look at this study in great detail, as well as all of the studies involving PTSD patients, and we will make very specific recommendations about how the system needs to be changed to make sure this doesn’t happen again, and we will make specific recommendations relative to accountability of individuals who appeared not to have fulfilled their responsibilities."

3.      VA’s Ability To Handle Veterans’ Mental Health Needs Questioned.   CQ Weekly (7/21, Johnson) reports the Veterans Affairs Department "is scrambling to address the prospect that a mass demobilization of troops" from Iraq and Afghanistan "will badly overstretch the VA’s already-frayed mental health screening program." The VA "isn’t exactly out in front of the problem, critics say." Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), who chairs the House Veterans Affairs Committee, "is pressing the VA to drastically ramp up its mental health operations, in part by starting to draft legislation that would require all war-zone soldiers to undergo psychiatric evaluation as soon as their regiments return stateside." But VA Secretary James B. Peake, "whom Filner approached in the initial phases of developing the proposal, remains skeptical. ‘I am just not sure the soldiers will like that,’ Peake said. ‘I don’t want to say anything to have them keep away from their homes.’" CQ adds that the "House’s fiscal 2009 military construction and veterans’ affairs spending bill" would "increase the authority of the House Military Construction-VA Appropriations Subcommittee to oversee care given to veterans who develop mental illnesses, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse problems or suicidal tendencies."
      Senate Committee Approves Military Construction-VA Bill.   CQ Weekly (7/21, Johnson) reports, "The Senate Appropriations Committee approved its fiscal 2009 Military Construction-VA spending bill last week after a short but sharp partisan clash over" how to pay for US assistance to a European missile defense program. The bill, "which covers military construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs" would "provide $1 billion more than the total in the draft bill approved June 24 by the House Appropriations Committee." Approximately "$48 billion in discretionary spending would be allocated for the VA." Under the House legislation, "about $47.7 billion in discretionary spending and $46 billion in mandatory funding would be allocated for the VA."
      VA Planning To Open New Vet Centers In Texas.   In continuing coverage, the Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram (7/21, Vaughn) reports the VA "is doubling the number of Vet Centers in the Metroplex next year to serve the growing number of men and women who may need readjustment counseling after multiple tours in Iraq or Afghanistan." One center "each is planned for Tarrant and Dallas counties, according to the VA. Nationwide, the government is adding 39 Vet Centers to ramp up its counseling and mental-health services, including facilities in Harris and Bexar counties."
      Advocate Suggests VA Is Not Doing Enough For Veterans’ Families.   The AP (7/20) reported, "Advocacy groups…say more must be done for families of wounded and traumatized soldiers who leave the service. At a recent congressional hearing, Barbara Cohoon of the National Military Families Association suggested" the VA is not meeting these needs, and "said the anguish of wounded soldiers’ children ‘is often overlooked and underestimated.’"
      Troubled Iraq Vet Spent Time In VA Hospital.   The AP (7/21) reports police "are treating" the recent death of Iraq war veteran Joseph Dwyer "as an accidental overdose," but Dwyer’s friends "and family see it differently." Dwyer, who was made famous by a 2003 photo in which he was shown carrying an injured Iraqi boy, had been involved in several incidents with the police since he returned home from the war. In 2007, he "checked into an inpatient program at New York’s Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center," where he "stayed for six months." After returning home from that stay, Dwyer "was so medicated that his feet flopped when he walked." The VA’s "solution was a ‘pharmaceutical lobotomy,’ his father thought." Dwyer’s "family would not authorize the VA to release Dwyer’s medical records," but "it appears that Dwyer was sometimes unwilling — or unable — to make the best use of the programs available."
      Author Urges Support For Full Faith In Veterans Act.   In a Biloxi (MS) Sun Herald (7/21) op-ed, veteran Peter S. Gaytan, the "author of ‘For Service to Your Country: ‘The Insider’s Guide to Veterans’ Benefits," notes the VA "has announced that it is cutting beds at the VA Medical Center in Denver and the VA Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System in Biloxi." Gaytan urges readers to contact their "senators and representatives and let them know that we have an obligation to ensure that our newest generation of combat veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan has access to…therapy and treatment." Gaytan adds, "Support the Full Faith in Veterans Act of 2008," which "would improve the disability compensation evaluation for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and improve the diagnosis and treatment of PTSD."

4.      Critics Argue VA ‘Not Meeting Needs’ Of Families.   In a widely published profile of the challenges facing soldiers and their families, the AP (7/20, Crary) reports, "The strains and separations of no-end-in-sight wars are taking an ever-growing toll on military families, despite the armed services’ earnest efforts to help. … Military officials praise the resiliency that enables most families to endure, [but] acknowledge candidly that the wars expose them to unprecedented stresses," which can result in domestic violence and divorce. The National Military Families Association suggests that the VA "is not meeting these needs, and said the anguish of wounded soldiers’ children ‘is often overlooked and underestimated.’"

  5.      Vets Call For Free-Standing Hospital In Colorado.   The Rocky Mountain (CO) News (7/21, Poppen, Fong) reports, "A group of increasingly impatient veterans wielding shovels Sunday said it’s time for the US Department of Veterans Affairs to keep a promise made years ago to build a new hospital at Fitzsimons." The "veterans and their congressional allies gathered for a news conference in front of a veterans memorial in…downtown Denver. On Friday, Sen. Ken Salazar and Rep. Ed Perlmutter received planning documents for a $1.1 billion state-of-the-art stand-alone hospital to replace the aging facility in Denver." Accompanying documents "from the VA show that the agency had shelved the plans in an attempt to cut costs, Salazar said. The new plan places more focus on expanding care in outlying areas." VA Secretary James Peake "responded to questions from Salazar in a letter Friday. In it, Peake said" cost was not his main concern. He argued that if a large facility were to be built, it "would still not properly serve the majority of veterans" in need of assistance. Local veterans, "though, said a free- standing, inclusive veterans hospital is still the way to go — along with outlying facilities."
      The Denver Post (7/21, Fender) reports, "Colorado veterans who want their own hospital rallied near the state Capitol on Sunday, incensed by a recently released report that shows potential budget overruns led Veterans Affairs officials to scale back plans for an Aurora medical facility." The "cutbacks…left the embattled medical center at the Fitzsimons campus – originally envisioned as a self-sufficient hospital – sharing space and resources with the University of Colorado." On Sunday, veterans and congressional leaders "pointed out…that years of delays and revisions have helped inflate construction costs for their ideal hospital to more than $1 billion. The scaled-back version apparently meets the more than $700 million budget." The VA "declined to comment beyond the letter" Secretary Peake sent Colorado congressmen with the report.
      The Aurora (CO) Sentinel Daily Sun (7/21) reports Sunday’s rally "came in response to" Peake’s letter. The VA "withheld a plan for a new Fitzsimons veterans hospital earlier this year because under the plan, the hospital would have cost about $330 million more than budgeted, Peake said." In his letter, Peake "said the VA completed the plan in January but abandoned the plan because at $1.1 billion, it was too expensive. The VA has budgeted approximately $769 million for the new hospital."

6.      VA Pushing For Better Care For Women Vets.   In his "Veterans’ Journal" column in the Providence (RI) Journal (7/21), George W. Reilly writes, "An aggressive push to ensure female veterans receive the highest quality of care" in Veterans Affairs medical facilities "was pledged by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake at a recent VA National Summit on Women Veterans’ Issues. Although the VA already has services for female patients equal to those men receive, Peake told the audience of more than 400 female-veteran advocates, ‘We are reinventing ourselves by expanding our women-centric focus to initiate new programs that meet the needs of women veterans.’" 

7.      Military Health System Said To Be Considering Switch To VistA.   In his "What’s Brewin’" column in Government Executive (7/21), Bob Brewin says the Military Health System (MHS) "plans to make a decision in the next week on developing an alternative for its electronic health record system, called the Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA), Dr. S. Ward Casscells, assistant secretary of Defense for health affairs, told me in an interview on Thursday." Casscells "said MHS has hired a consultant to come up with alternatives to AHLTA, which include adopting the Veterans Health Information System and Technology Architecture (VistA) electronic health record system, operated by the Veterans Affairs Department. VistA has a more user-friendly interface than AHLTA, and its use by MHS would meet Congress’ request that the Defense Department and VA use a common electronic health record system, Casscells said."

8.     Psychotherapists Volunteer To Help Veterans.   In a profile of a therapist who volunteers to work with veterans, the Skagit Valley Herald (7/20, Varga) reports, "Outside of the [VA], there [aren’t many] free counseling services for veterans and active duty personnel who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars." One such group is "the Soldiers Project, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit group of psychotherapists who donate at least one hour a week to provide free counseling to active duty personnel and veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and their families. The group offers counseling services in California, Illinois and New York."

9.      Wheelchair Games Athlete Interested In Organizing Local Vets.   The Wilson Daily Times (7/20, Durham) reports that Lloyd Kelso, "a 13-year veteran of the US Army’s 82nd Airborne division, will compete in the 28th annual National Veterans Wheelchair Games." According to the Daily Times, "the National Veterans Wheelchair Games is the largest annual wheelchair sports event in the world, and Kelso is excited about participating for the first time." Kelso also said "he wished he knew other wheelchair athletes in the area ‘because we would try to get an organization going, because on events like one today (the Human Race Walk), we could put on a show ourselves."

10.    DeBakey Buried In Arlington With Military Honors.   Several media outlets, particularly in Texas, published yesterday’s AP report on Dr. DeBakey’s funeral at Arlington. The Houston Chronicle (7/18, Mason) reports, "Dr. Michael Ellis DeBakey pioneered the development of medical units that saved the lives of troops in combat. On Friday, he was buried among his fellow soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. A small, solemn group of attendees at the graveside included DeBakey’s widow, Katrin DeBakey; their daughter Olga; Defense Secretary Robert Gates; and Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake." The Chronicle notes that Dr. DeBakey "was buried at Arlington with military honors."