Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 10-31-09

What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans 

1. White House Blog Hails Shinseki-Gates Mental Health Summit. 
2. Technology Writer Hails Shinseki, Others At VA For Tough Line On IT Contracts. 
3. Brain-Injured Vet Fighting VA For Full Disability. 
4. Iraq, Afghan Veterans With Traumatic Brain Injury Has More Severe Vision Problems. 
5. Using Iraq-Afghan Vets’ Records, VA Doctor Probes Gender Differences In Pain Perception. 
6. Non-Profit Groups Gets Segways For Wounded Vets. 
7. IAVA Executive Director Rieckhoff Profiled. 
8. Honor Flight Participant Calls It "Tremendous Program." 
9. Fort Myers Vet Center Will Hold Open House November 3. 
10. Article Debunks Swine Flu "Myths," Including Anthrax Vaccine Tie To Gulf War Syndrome. 

1.      White House Blog Hails Shinseki-Gates Mental Health Summit.  On the White House Blog (10/29), VA Director of New Media Brandon Friedman recaps the VA-DOD mental health summit held earlier in the week. He writes, "The problem of post-traumatic stress is new for neither Veterans, nor for the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. However–from ‘soldier’s heart’ after the Civil War to ‘shell shock’ to ‘combat fatigue’–the services have typically handled PTSD only to the point that it doesn’t boil over into a major social or political problem. And while that’s been good enough for many, it hasn’t been good enough for America’s combat Veterans. However, that’s why DoD and VA are now coming together to not only seek practical solutions to mental injuries, but to de-stigmatize them as well. This week, for the first time, the departments are holding a joint national summit meant to harness ‘the programs, resources and expertise of both departments to deal with the aftermath of the battlefield.’" He notes VA Secretary’s opening remarks stressed that "as a provider of mental health services, VA is challenging all of our assumptions about mental health care. We are undergoing a fundamental and comprehensive review of our programs to see that our approaches are Veteran-centric, uniform, and accessible." But, he continued, "VA does not operate in a vacuum. Our collaboration with DoD is mission-critical because we share the same clients–the same population–at different stages in their lives. There can be no ‘seamless transition’ or ‘continuum of care’ without serious and high-quality collaboration between both departments." And that collaboration, according to Defense Secretary Robert Gates is something that has, thus far been lacking." Friedman, himself an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran, acknowledges that "Both the military and the nation at large have far to go in terms of treating and de-stigmatizing the mental wounds of war," but concludes that "any first step in a comprehensive process must include joint efforts on the part of VA and DoD. And now that Secretaries Shinseki and Gates are driving the dialogue between the medical field and ground combat commanders, that step has been taken." 

2.      Technology Writer Hails Shinseki, Others At VA For Tough Line On IT Contracts.  An IEEE Spectrum (10/30, Charette) technology consultant contributor, in the publication’s blog, follows up on his earlier coverage of the decision to suspend work on the IT projects by writing that "It is about time an organization held IT projects — government and contractor-led — accountable for their promises. Secretary Shinseki, Deputy Secretary Gould and CIO Baker deserve praise for courage under what has been no doubt some political fire. I am quite certain that all three have been fielding phone calls from disgruntled US Congressman and Senators demanding to know why their constituent’s IT project was canceled. Let’s hope their idea spreads across government, as well as into the commercial sector where too many projects are also abject blunders."
      VA Halts 15 IT Projects, Sets New Timetables For 17 Others.  Government Computer News (10/29, Beizer) reports, "A review of 45 suspended information technology projects at the Veterans Affairs Department has caused
15 projects to be stopped or have funding cut, according to W. Scott Gould, deputy secretary of the VA. Leaders of another 17 projects have committed to meeting milestones to deliver new functionality to customers, Gould said Oct. 26 at the Executive Leadership Conference in Williamsburg, Va. The remaining 13 projects have been re-planned or restarted, Gould said." At the conference, Gould said that the leaders of the 17 projects have been told "basically you’ve got 60 days. You tell us what that new schedule is and if you don’t make it we’re going to shut you down," adding that many projects "are challenged by the inability to meet basic cost and schedule performance measures." In July, the VA announced that it was temporarily halting 45 IT projects that were over budget or behind schedule.  

3.      Brain-Injured Vet Fighting VA For Full Disability.  WJXT-TV Jacksonville (10/30) reports that Anthony Rogers, an area veteran, "suffered a brain injury while serving in Iraq, and his life hasn’t been the same since. Rogers has constant seizures, up to several times an hour." His mother says that "A good day can be 40 seizures," while "A bad day can be as many as 130." After years finding the right doctors after years of searching, Rogers is "now being forced to fight for something else — his full disability payment. Even with a letter from his doctor that says he can’t work, Catron said the Veterans Administration will only give her son a 40 percent payment." His mother "said she just started working with Sen. Bill Nelson’s office, and they told her they will look into what’s going on." 

4.      Iraq, Afghan Veterans With Traumatic Brain Injury Has More Severe Vision Problems.  Asian health portal MedIndia (10/30) reports on VA research, presented in the past week at the AAO-PAAO ophthalmic convention, showing that Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with vision loss from traumatic brain injury "have significantly poorer quality of life than comparable civilian patients." Glenn C. Cockerham, MD, Stanford University, and colleagues at the Veterans Administration Palo Alto Department of Ophthalmology, found among veterans with traumatic brain injury from combat explosions "most had severe vision problems" with significantly lower scores on two standard quality of life tests than most patients with similar disorders. 

5.      Using Iraq-Afghan Vets’ Records, VA Doctor Probes Gender Differences In Pain Perception.  The New York Times (10/30, Dao, 1.09M) reports that studying whether men or women feel more pain by reviewing the records of veterans of the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, researchers at the Yale University School of Medicine and Veterans Affairs Connecticut Health Care System "found that women were less likely than men to report any pain, 38.1 percent to 44 percent. By a smaller margin, 18 percent to 21.2 percent, the women veterans were also less likely than the men to report having persistent pain. However, in a finding that did correspond to gender studies of pain among civilians, the researchers found that among veterans with pain,
women more often reported significant (as opposed to mild) pain, 68 percent compared to 62.6 for men." The lead investigator, Dr. Sally Haskell, a women’s health care doctor in the VA system, called the results "surprising." 

6.      Non-Profit Groups Gets Segways For Wounded Vets.  Stars And Stripes (10/31, Gromelski) reports on the Segs4Vets program sponsored by the non-profit group Disability Rights Advocates for Technology, which furnishes Segways to wounded veterans. Over the past four years, the group has provided more than 400 of the personal mobility devices to wounded veterans. "You go to Walter Reed, you’ll see Segways all up and down the hall, guys using them to come to therapy," says the group’s founder. "They can leave it all on the table there; they know they’ve got the energy to get back. It’s allowing them to really work hard in their physical therapy, knowing they don’t have to preserve as much energy to get back to their quarters or their home." 

7.      IAVA Executive Director Rieckhoff Profiled.  CNN (10/31, Hornick) profiles Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America executive director Paul Rieckhoff, noting that he was standing behind President Barack Obama last week during the signing of the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act. An Iraq War infantry platoon leader and six-year veteran, Rieckhoff "has come a long way from combat in Iraq. Tailored suits and policy papers now replace his military uniform and M-16."  

8.      Honor Flight Participant Calls It "Tremendous Program."  The Geneseo Republic (10/30, Depies) reports on a local WWII veteran’s experience on a recent Honor Flight, who says that the "best part of the day was the reception at the airport," when the returning veterans were greeted by area residents in a line, which he says, "no exaggeration, had to be about a block long." He calls the Honor Flight "just a tremendous program"   
 9.      Fort Myers Vet Center Will Hold Open House November 3.  The Lehigh Acres (FL) Citizen (10/30) reports that the Fort Myers Vet Center will hold an open house November 3. Team leader John Peptis calls community-based Veterans Centers "a key component of VA’s mental health program, providing veterans with mental health screening and post-traumatic stress disorder counseling"; he also notes that U.S. Medicine Institute of Health studies have deemed Vet Centers a best practice model for strengthening peer-to-peer relations.  

10.    Article Debunks Swine Flu "Myths," Including Anthrax Vaccine Tie To Gulf War Syndrome.  A NOW Toronto (10/30, Boles) magazine article "Swine Flu Silliness," that attacks what it calls the six "most popular myths about H1N1," puts at number-three "Squalene in anthrax vaccines was what caused Gulf War Syndrome." That claims, it writes, "is wishful thinking on the part of those afflicted. Yes, a lot of noise was made about a possible connection, and many studies were done, and absolutely no link was found. If that doesn’t convince you, consider that squalene has been in over 22 million vaccines in Europe since 1997, with no problems. If you’re still dubious, consider that squalene occurs naturally in the human body — you can find it in the oils of your fingerprints."