Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

From the VA:

1.      Shinseki Maps Broader Attack On PTSD. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (11/7, Fuoco, 205K) begins a four-part series on the mental health challenges for veterans of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, noting that “Record numbers of veterans from the Afghanistan and Iraqi wars are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder because the conflicts are the longest combat operations in America’s history and they contain elements that provide fertile ground for fermenting the condition.”

As a result, “government and military services are responding to the growing problem. In February, President Barack Obama proposed a 2011 budget of $125 billion for the Veterans Affairs Department, including $5.2 billion for mental health, an 8.5 percent increase over current spending. VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki said that 20 percent of the patients seen last year in VA health care facilities had a mental health diagnosis. He noted the department had added more than 6,000 mental health professionals since 2005, bringing to 19,000 the number of employees dedicated to mental health care.

The increased budget will allow the department to continue its expansion of programs dealing with PTSD, which Mr. Shinseki called ‘central to VA’s mission.'” The article also notes the easing of evidence that veterans must show to win a diagnosis of PTSD to receive treatment and disability benefits, as well as greater military attention to diagnosing and treating PTSD.

 2.      Burn Pit Held Responsible For Iraq Veteran’s Injuries. The website of the Tampa Tribune (11/5, Altman, Carson, 162K) reports, “Bill McKenna served two tours as a U.S. Army sergeant in Iraq. No bullet ever hit him, no shrapnel from an improvised explosive device ever pierced his skin. But sitting on the couch of his Spring Hill home, it’s obvious he’s suffering from the wounds of war: He’s blind in one eye, is missing some teeth and his head is scarred. He has cancer, knee problems, doesn’t hear well and has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

McKenna’s cancer, according to him and to his doctors at the James A. Haley Veteran’s Hospital, is directly attributable to constant exposure to the thick, acrid smoke that wafted almost every hour of every day across Balad Air Base in Iraq where McKenna was stationed for about 18 months.” The article says that at bases throughout Iraq and Afghanistan, burn pits produced thick, toxic smoke are they combusted “body parts, Humvee parts, human waste, plastic meal trays and other garbage,” with jet fuel added. It also notes that burn pit-related health problems became so pervasive that the VA “took the unusual step of issuing a 25-page training letter to VA claims examiners about the dangers of burn pits and what to look for when dealing with claims.”

While the VA, which says it is taking claims on a case-by-case basis, originally denied McKenna’s claim “on the basis that there are no scientific studies linking the disease to his exposures in Iraq,” the agency reversed that stand after receiving a medical opinion linking his condition to exposure to the chemicals and toxins. A VA study with the Institute of Medicine on the long-term effects of burn pit exposure, begun in November, is due in May.

 3.      City Of Montgomery, State DVA Host First Veterans Day Parade. WNCF-TV Montgomery, AL (11/6, Blackwell) reports, “The City of Montgomery, along with the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs will host the Inaugural River Region Veterans Day Parade on Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 11 am. The theme of the parade is ‘A Tribute to Freedom.'” Participants will include “Veterans Service Organizations, VA groups, marching bands, honor guard marching units, all branches of the military, MPS, Boy Scouts of America and JROTC units,” among others, and Gov, Bob Riley and the mayor of Montgomery will speak.

 4.      Wisconsin DVA Will Hold Veterans Day Observance. The Superior (WI) Telegram (11/5) reports, “The Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs observes Veterans Day at 1 p.m. Thursday at the Northern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery.” The keynote speaker will be Col. U.S. Army Reserve (Ret) Peter Moran, vice-chairman of the Wisconsin Board of Veterans Affairs, a 30-year Army veteran.

 5.      Statewide Veterans Conference To Be Held At University Of Iowa. The AP (11/8) reports, “Officials say a statewide veterans conference is planned at the University of Iowa” on Tuesday. The event is “hosted by the university’s veterans office and student organizations, among others.”

 6.      Duckworth Address Veterans In Peoria. WHOI-TV Peoria, IL (11/5, 6:33 p.m. EDT) reported that local veterans “welcomed a Purple Heart recipient today. Tammy Duckworth spoke today at the Sunrise Veterans Day observance luncheon.” Appearing on camera, Duckworth urged that veterans be thanked publicly for their service, and suggested that “You can watch out for those family members that have someone deployed. If they need a little extra help around the home. A service member in Iraq or Afghanistan doesn’t need to worry about who’s helping to shovel the snow off the walkways so their family can get in and out.” The report noted Duckworth’s VA position and that she “continues to serve as a major in the Illinois Army National Guard. WEEK-TV Peoria, IL (11/5, 7:04 p.m. EDT) offers a similar report.

 7.      VA Palo Alto MD Co-Authors Study On More Effective Stroke Preventative For Cardiac Patients. A medical column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer (11/5, Castillo), addressing cardiac irregularities and stroke, highlights research published in the New England Journal of Medicine, of a study by two doctors, one of them from the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, showing that a new drug, dabigatran, more effectively prevented stroke among patients with atrial fibrillation than did the standard treatment.

 8.      San Francisco VAMC Doctor’s Study Finds Pain Common In Last Months Of Life. USA Today (11/7, Gordon, 1.83M) reports that nearly half the public reports moderate or severe pain in their last four months of life, and a quarter report it during their last two years of life. The study, whose lead author is Dr. Alexander K. Smith, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and a staff physician at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, was published in the November 2 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. While many studies have been done of pain linked to specific conditions, this “may be the first to address pain from all conditions toward the end of life.”

 9.      Study Of VA Patients Finds Improved Fitness In Diabetics Lower Mortality Risk. The Philippine Star (11/7, Chante, 260K) reports that a study of 2,690 patients in VA hospitals in Palo Alto and Washington, DC found that middle-aged men with type 2 diabetes can reduce their long-term mortality through exercise. The finding found improvement in mortality risk for all patients, regardless of their body-mass index, from attaining a higher level of fitness.

 10.    Merit Board Ruling Undercuts Intern Program Criticized As Violating Vets’ Preference. The Washington Post‘s “Federal Eye” blog (11/5, Davidson) reports, “A Merit Systems Protection Board decision significantly undercuts the Federal Career Intern Program, which organized labor has long claimed violated the statutory preference given veterans seeking U.S. government employment. In two cases brought by veterans, one against the Office of Personnel Management and the other against the Veteran Affairs Department, MSPB found ‘a violation of appellants’ veterans’ preference rights.’

The decision is an important victory for federal employee unions and has serious implications for a program widely used by some agencies to fill vacancies.” Some agencies have used the federal career internship program to fill jobs without publicly advertising them. The entry noted that, in the case against the VA, plaintiff Larry Evans “charged the department with violating his veterans’ preference when it used the intern program to fill all nine openings for veterans’ service representatives in its Columbia, S.C. facility.

Two federal unions sided with Evans, whom the MSPB ruled “is entitled to reconstruction of the hiring process” to see if he “would have been selected for the position he sought.” The article also notes that the VA “had no immediate comment.”