Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 12-02-08

Today’s Local News for Veterans 

What’s Inside 

1. Akaka Requests Review Of War-Zone Toxins. 
2. VA, Army Attempt To Curtail Rising Suicide Rate.  
3. DeBakey VAMC Providing Assistance To Vision-Impaired Veterans.  
4. VA, Defense Decide To Move EMR Systems To SOA Architecture.  
5. Sites For VA, LSU Hospitals Announced.  
6. New Clinics Opening In Attempt To Ease Congestion At Portland VAMC.  
7. VA Black Hills Completes Preliminary Health Care Needs Assessment.  
8. VA Clinic In Massachusetts Recognized As One Of Nation’s Best.  
9. US Government Sues Insurance Company Over Veteran’s Care Reimbursement.  
10. Veterans Clinic At Camp Grafton In North Dakota Said To Be A Possibility.

Have You Heard?

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1.      Akaka Requests Review Of War-Zone Toxins.   The Army Times (12/2, Kennedy) reports US Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI), chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, “has asked that the co-chairs of the Defense Department and Veterans Affairs Oversight Committee begin a review of environmental toxins — including those coming from burn pits — at bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.” In a “letter dated Dec. 1,” Akaka wrote, “Reports of possible exposure to smoke from burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan have come to the committee’s attention. Concerns about such exposure would appear to be an ideal opportunity for focused efforts to track the location of service members in relation to the possible exposure sites.” Akaka’s “letter was addressed to Gordon England, deputy defense secretary, and Gordon Mansfield, deputy VA secretary. ‘I would appreciate learning how DoD identifies and monitors locations where possible exposure to smoke from fire pits in Iraq and Afghanistan may have occurred, what steps DoD is taking to identify those service members who may have been exposed to such hazards, how information on exposures is transmitted to VA, and what policies and procedures VA has in place to ensure that relevant information is used to the adjudication of potential disability claims,’ Akaka wrote.”
      Columnist Hopes Recent News On Toxins Has Wide-Ranging Implications.   In his nationally syndicated column, Tribune Media Services‘ (12/1) Robert Koehler, who also noted the “open-air burn pits throughout Iraq and Afghanistan,” pointed out that a “report of the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses” was “presented recently” to VA Secretary James Peake. As a result, the “government has several hundred thousand medical claims…it has to start taking seriously.” Koehler added, “In the name of sanity and the planet’s future, I hope this report blows the hellish toxicity of modern warfare wide open and creates a legal wedge by which the forces of moral outrage can hold governments accountable for what they do … for what our own government is doing right now.”
      Gulf War Illness Report Sent To IOM For Review.   The Alexandria (LA) Town Talk (12/2) reports the VA “has sent the October 2008 report from the VA Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses to the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine (IOM) for review and recommendations, according to a news release from the VA.” In the news release, Peake said, “I appreciate the committee’s work on this report, and I am eager to see the results of further independent study into their findings. Of course, VA will continue to provide the care and benefits our Gulf War veterans have earned through their service, as we have for more than a decade.”
      With Report’s Release, Veteran Believes He Is Closer To Proving He Has Gulf War Syndrome.   The Kingsport (TN) Times News (11/30, Wagner) reported Gulf War veteran Todd Sanders “believes he may be close to proving he has Gulf War Syndrome, something he’s believed for more than two years.” The “disabled automobile mechanic said the biggest victory to date for him and others who served in the Gulf War in the early 1990s is that the federal government,” in a recent report, “acknowledged the existence of Gulf War Syndrome. Sanders hopes to prove next month he has the syndrome from his military service so he can receive military disability and Veterans Administration medical care for himself and his wife.”
      More Answers Called For On Gulf War Syndrome.   In an Army Times(12/2) op-ed, vice chair of the National Vietnam and Gulf War Veterans Coalition, says that with the release of the report, it is “time that

the government declassify all records that might provide more answers.” Nichols say her organization is “calling for VA and all health care professionals to be proactive in seeking answers.” Nichols adds, “The National Vietnam and Gulf War Veterans Coalition will listen to the needs of our veterans and launch new legislative initiatives to address their needs. Will the new administration, Congress and VA respond?”
      Congress Urged To Fund Research On Gulf War Syndrome.   In an editorial, the Deseret (UT) Morning News (11/30) also discussed the report, arguing that Congress “must find the means to restore funding cuts” to the VA “so researchers can more fully understand the illness and treatments can be developed to assist service members who were sickened after their exposure to toxic agents while in service to our nation.”
      The Buffalo News (12/1, 191K) published a similar editorial, which argued, “Even as the system is straining under the weight of a new round of physically wounded and emotionally damaged veterans, it is time to look back to those who are still suffering the unseen wounds of the first Gulf War and, as best we can, see to their needs. To do otherwise would be criminal, because,” with the release of the Gulf War Syndrome report, “we can no longer claim ignorance.”
      Military’s Attitude Toward Wounded Veterans Labeled “Shameful.”   In a related editorial, the Santa Maria (CA) Times (12/1), which also noted the report, pointed out that in March, “the Pentagon quietly changed the military’s definition of what is, and what is not, a combat-related injury. The rules are much tougher now, which means men and women injured in Iraq and Afghanistan are having a much more difficult time getting the medical attention they need.” When the “new policy started leaving wounded soldiers on their own, the Disabled American Veterans reacted with expected outrage, calling the new policy a ‘shocking level of disrespect for those who stood in harm’s way.’ We’ll take that sentiment a step further, and call the military’s attitude about wounded veterans shameful.”
      Veteran Wants More ALS Research Conducted.   The Albany (NY) Times-Union (12/2, Yusko) reports that last November, Iraq war veteran Chris Morris “was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,” or ALS. Veterans “have developed ALS at twice the rate of the civilian population, and those who served in the 1991 Gulf War are nearly twice as likely to develop ALS as other service members,” the ALS association “said in a May report titled ALS in the Military.” And now, Morris “wants the military and the veterans department to do more research into the disease and the threat it poses to veterans.” The “military community,” however, “is starting to acknowledge higher ALS rates among service members. James Peake, secretary” of the VA, “signed legislation in September that made ALS a ‘presumptively compensable illness,’ meaning that veterans diagnosed with it, even if the cause is unknown, will be compensated.”

2.      VA, Army Attempt To Curtail Rising Suicide Rate.   The Olympian (11/30, Hill) reported, “In a nearly three-year period, more than half” of the Iraq and Afghanistan vets “who committed suicide did so at least a year after their deployments ended, Army data show. A large number of soldiers” who had not deployed “also took their own lives. The number of suicides involving veterans ages 18 to 29 receiving care from the VA nearly doubled from 36 in 2005 to 68 in 2006, the most recent figures available, according to the VA.” Both the VA and the Army “have expanded services and launched initiatives aimed at suicide prevention,” with the VA “taking steps to improve its screening among veterans diagnosed with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, and increase training so chaplains can look for warning signs.” The VA has also “launched a national suicide hot line, which receives thousands of calls each month, said Fred Blow, director of the VA’s Serious Mental Illness
Treatment Research and Evaluation Center.”
      Clinical Trial Examines Effectiveness Of Acupuncture On Veterans.   The AP (12/1) reported, “Can ancient Chinese healing rites help Iraq war veterans cope with combat trauma?” Mary Stafford, a Tucson-area therapist, “believes they can, and is offering free treatments for local Iraq vets to test an approach that involves tapping on the acupuncture points used in Chinese medicine. The Emotional Freedom Technique, or EFT,” is “being used to treat troops for combat stress at a handful of veterans’ hospitals around the country, though not in Tucson.” Stafford “is one of a dozen or so therapists nationwide taking part in a clinical trial of the method to assess its effectiveness on returning veterans.” Dr. Stephen Ezeji-Okoye, “head of the VA Field Advisory Committee on Complementary and Alternative Medicine, which looks at nontraditional treatments that might benefit veterans, said the clinical trial of the Emotional Freedom Technique is a first step toward possible wider use of the method in the VA system. If the study is well-designed and shows the technique is effective, ‘that’s exactly the sort of thing we want to take a look at,’ he said.”
      Group Hopes To Help Get Vets Certified As Drug And Alcohol Counselors.   The New York Daily News (12/1, Lauinger, 670K) reported, “Mental distress from the rigors of military service and the horrors of combat can lead veterans to abuse drugs and alcohol.” However, “those same experiences also make veterans ideally suited to helping other veterans beat drug and alcohol addictions, experts and local veterans say.” And now, a nonprofit group called the Outreach Project “is aiming to help more veterans become certified counselors. The Outreach Project is one of the first groups to apply for state funding” in New York “that would provide scholarships for…veterans to train as drug and alcohol abuse counselors, said David Greenberg of the Outreach Project.” The Daily News added, “Among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who received care from” the US Veterans Affairs Department “between 2001 and 2005, one in five had substance abuse problems and almost a third had mental health problems, a recent federal study found.”3.      DeBakey VAMC Providing Assistance To Vision-Impaired Veterans.   On its website, KTRK-TV Houston, TX (12/1, Myers) reported, “The number of US troops returning home with traumatic brain injuries has risen over the past few years. Experts say 60-70% of those also have some type of visual issue that impacts their ability to see.” However, the DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center is using “some odd-looking prism glasses” to “re-train the brains” of veterans suffering from “hemi-spatial neglect — a condition where patients ignore part of their vision because of a lesion in the visual processing section of the brain.” KTRK added, “This spring, the DeBakey VA Medical Center opened a new 2,900 square foot visual impairment services center to provide a wide range of help for veterans in need of specialized vision care.”

4.      VA, Defense Decide To Move EMR Systems To SOA Architecture.   In continuing coverage, FierceHealthIT (12/1, Zieger) reports, “After struggling for years to bring their clinical databases together,” the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense “have decided to move their” electronic medical records (EMR) systems over to a service-oriented architecture (SOA). The “new SOA architecture will help the two entities share outpatient clinical data. DoD and the VA are migrating to an SOA infrastructure on the recommendation of Booz Allen Hamilton, whose study recommended the web-services-based architecture, modeled after loosely-
coupled, reusable components.” The decision “puts to bed rumors that the DoD might ditch its AHLTA EHR in favor of the VA’s VistA.”5.      Sites For VA, LSU Hospitals Announced.   In continuing coverage, Federal Daily (12/2) reports Department of Veterans Affairs officials and the state of Louisiana recently “announced the selection of adjacent New Orleans downtown sites for construction of facilities to replace those lost during Hurricane Katrina.” The new VA medical center and the Louisiana State University (LSU) Academic Medical Center “will be built next to one another under an agreement between” The VA and the city of New Orleans. The “city has agreed to acquire the land for the new VA facility, prepare the site for construction and turn over the site to VA within one year.”
      Paper Says New Orleans “Can’t Afford” Hospital Construction Delays.   A related editorial in New Orleans CityBusiness (12/1) said the “good news is that we finally have a site selected for the shared 70-acre campus” for the VA and LSU “teaching hospitals. The bad news is that it took more than three years to make that decision official. New Orleans can’t afford similar delays for the actual construction of the…hospitals.”

6.      New Clinics Opening In Attempt To Ease Congestion At Portland VAMC.   The Oregonian (12/2, Sullivan) reports drivers have been circling the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center “like a creeping conga line as veterans, many elderly or disabled, wait to squeeze into compact-only parking slots before hurrying into crowded hallways to wait again.” But on Monday, the VA “unveiled a new outpatient clinic in Hillsboro’s Streets of Tanasbourne neighborhood — a giant step toward moving almost all primary care patients off the Portland ‘mother ship.’ By June, new VA outpatient clinics are scheduled to open in the Oregon City area and in The Dalles, with a part-time clinic in Lincoln City.” Another “clinic opened in east Portland in 2007.”

7.      VA Black Hills Completes Preliminary Health Care Needs Assessment.   In a story submitted by the Veterans Affairs Black Hills Health Care System, the Chadron (NE) Record (12/2) reports VA Black Hills “has just completed a preliminary health care needs assessment for veterans living in western South Dakota and the bordering states of Nebraska and Wyoming.” VA Black Hills “is now beginning to expand this needs assessment and will share its findings at upcoming stakeholder meetings” with “veterans, veteran advocates, employees, congressional offices, and other interested parties.”

8.      VA Clinic In Massachusetts Recognized As One Of Nation’s Best.   The Greenfield (MA) Recorder (12/1, Fritz) noted that the Greenfield Veterans Outpatient Clinic on Munson Street “has been recognized by the federal Department of Veterans Affairs as one of the nation’s top community-based outpatient clinics in patient satisfaction. It is the second year in a row” that the clinic “has received that honor. Michael Walsh,” spokesman for Northampton VA Medical Center, which runs the satellite in Greenfield as well as facilities” in Pittsfield and Springfield, “said the Greenfield clinic is constantly expanding its services.”9.      US Government Sues Insurance Company Over Veteran’s Care Reimbursement.   The Sioux Falls (SD) Argus Leader (12/2, Verges) reports the US government “filed suit against an insurance company last week in federal court, alleging it refused to reimburse a Veteran Affairs hospital for a…veteran’s care. The complaint states Elmer Duke, a veteran living” in Custer, South Dakota, “was seriously injured in a 2006 car crash due to another driver’s negligence. Duke was treated for his injuries” at the VA hospital in Ft. Meade,” but according “to the complaint, American Family Insurance Group has refused to pay the government for Duke’s stay, maintaining that ‘the care and treatment provided … was not proximately related to the motor vehicle accident.’ The dollar amount of the controversy is not included in the court filing.”

10.    Veterans Clinic At Camp Grafton In North Dakota Said To Be A Possibility.   The Devil’s Lake (ND) Daily Journal (12/2, Bellmore) reports, “Carl Bloomquist figures there’s a chance Devils Lake’s new Veterans Clinic, slated to come on-line in late 2009, could be located at Camp Grafton south of Devils Lake.” Recently, Bloomquist “learned of that possibility at a…meeting of North Dakota’s Veterans Administration in Bismarck, and he seems to like the idea.” To “help promote that possibility, Bloomquist, who is a member of the Veterans Administration, would like to have a meeting of as many combat veterans as he can find.” He “said it could resemble a meeting of combat vets recently held in Dickinson, and it’s no coincidence that western North Dakota community now has” a veterans clinic. Bloomquist “also said about a dozen social workers have jumped aboard the project to visit with veterans at the various clinics. ‘Some don’t like to talk about their experiences,’ Bloomquist added. ‘But some do.'”