By now most have heard the flurry of reports about how much easier it will be for Veterans to get benefits for PTSD. At first glance it would appear the changes would benefit Veterans since the rules on proving the occurrence of stressors has been lessened. No doubt that this was a huge problem for Veterans since the records kept during battles is understandably imperfect and the new changes address this problem. Whats less clear is what the effect of the other change will be in terms of only VA employed psychiatric professionals diagnosing and legitimizing PTSD in Veterans. PTSD is often very difficult to diagnose and what may happen is that Veterans could be dismissed by VA psych professional as having non service related depression. Almost every case of PTSD includes a diagnosis of depression as well. It could give these VA employees an unlimited amount of discretion in terms of PTSD claims and the opinion of qualified non VA psych professionals would basically be ignored. We will have to see the effect of these changes over time to fully comprehend how these changes will or will not help Veterans.
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My comments cover the problems covered in the new legislation, but it should go without saying that reducing the amount of time the Veteran has to appeal their claim, and to lessen the VA’s duty to explain their decisions is not Veteran friendly, and will only make it harder then it already is for Veterans to procure benefits. Here is the explanation by the Secretary. The bill also features an amendment to the Equal Access to Justice Act that makes it harder for attorneys to represent Veterans in the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. As of today it does not appear the bill has been introduced according to a Thomas search, but it appears that it has been subject to hearings.
In what could be called a somewhat surprising and positive development in terms of preserving Central Wasatch wilderness the Forest Service recently rejected Solitude Ski Resort’s proposed expansion into the East side of Silver Fork Creek. According to Brian Ferebee, supervisor of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, said the request was rejected because: The report seeks to inform VA Regional Offices, presumably for the purpose of Veteran’s Benefits, about the health threats that can be expected from various hazardous wastes produced in the middle east conflicts including large burn pits in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the small African nation of Djibouti. Several hundred tons of waste is apparently burned at a base north of Baghdad that includes just about any toxic waste one could think of: rubber, human waste, medical waste, petroleum, chemical waste, and even jet fuel. Hard to believe that such materials would be so freely disposed of. It does not take a human health expert to realize that the plumes of smoke produced from such emissions could cause serious human health threats to those that happen to breathe nearby air. Only since October 2009 were some burn pits closed and proper incinerators were installed. A variety of chemicals and substances known to cause cancer were observed through testing, including dioxins, volatile organic compounds, furans, and particulate matter. Particulate matter, measured in the 10 and 2.5 microgram varieties, were found to be especially problematic in this region due to the fact that background levels are already high, and with the burn pits the levels are even higher. The biggest concerns about such pollution is the harmful effect that such pollution will have on human pulmonary and cardiac function. Other threats highlighted as the sulfur fire near Mosul, Iraq in June 2003. This fire was located at the largest sulfur mine in the world and released somewhere along the order of 42 million pounds of sulfur dioxide each day for around 3 weeks. Those firefighters putting out the fire were said to suffer from skin burns, blood tinged mucous, and constrictive bronchiolitis. This last diagnosis was seen in at least 40 of the firefighters and is said to be quite uncommon. The aftereffects can be seen by lesions and inflammation of the bronchioles of the lungs. More well documented is the water contamination that was a long time problem at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Over one million people and children were potentially exposed between the 1950s and 1985 when the wells were finally shut down. The main chemical of concern is trichloroethylene or TCE. Scientific proof of exposure and causation is quite limited and its unlikely that further study will be able to reveal health problems from exposure. Its not an issue that receives a lot of press even among Veterans, but the Nation published a provocative article on how military doctors are likely deliberately branding legitimately disabled Veterans as soldiers that had pre-existing personality disorders. Nevermind that they never would have been accepted into the military if such a mental impairment existed the practice received enough attention that President Obama helped craft a bill to counteract this practice while he was still a Senator. The story describe a certain veteran who was wounded by a bomb in the Sunni triangle and suffered shoulder trauma, tinnitus, and other ailments such as debilitating headaches, but was told he was faking these injuries, and that he actually had a preexisting personality disorder. Studies from the Pentagon and Harvard have shown that the government and military has saved billions of dollars through this practice. It works well for the military since they can discharge those that are diagnosed with PD and then the soldier is actually required to pay back the military since they didn’t serve their full military term. Since 2001, more than 22,600 soldiers have been discharged with personality disorders. Many of those discharged this way have served 2 to 3 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Worse there are reports that those diagnosed with PD would be put in solitary confinement, would be detained like a prisoner for a month at a time before they were even discharged under a fabricated mental impairment. If the soldier disputes the reasons for a discharge then this could result in a less than honorable discharge which is something to be avoided since it prevents primary eligibility for VA disability. Despite Obama’s initial support for this bill, and bipartisan support, there has not been much if any movement on this bill. The study that was ordered under the Bush Administration has stated that military doctors have not abused this diagnosis and that they are “competent medical professionals” making presumably legitimate diagnoses. When the study’s author is pressed as to if soldier’s families have been interviewed or what the basis for the conclusion is there is no evidence forthcoming. No soldiers that allegedly have PD or their doctors were interviewed as a part of the study. The Salt Lake City Tribune did a nice job covering a new Court and tells the story of a particular Veteran who is typical of many returning Veterans who have problems adjusting to life outside of the military. Many of these Veterans who suffer from PTSD become alcoholic and fall into a cycle of criminal behavior. The City is to be commended for this progressive program since Veterans have backgrounds that are very unique compared to many others who are in the criminal justice system. Its estimated that 1/5th of returning Veterans struggle with Alcohol and Drug problems but of course the reasons for this are different that the typical criminal defendant. The new program will be designed for Veterans who have not committed a violent crime and will be a way for the criminal justice system to reliably track Veterans in the system. Salt Lake City Prosecutor and candidate for County Attorney General Sim Gill, has started another progressive program that will allow Veterans to have their sentences reduced if they enroll in treatment at the Dept of Veterans Affairs. Another important advocate of the program is Federal Judge Paul Warner who will refer Veterans in the federal system to the program. Also it seems that the Salt Lake County jail will now at least inquire if a particular inmate is a Veteran so that help could potentially be provided–although incarcerated Veterans aren’t technically eligible for VA services. Another goal is to increase training to law enforcement officials to deal with Veterans who may suffer from PTSD. Hopefully this program will be expanded across the state. Revealing information on the need of water conservation in certain locales out west. Lends credence to Vegas Water Czar Pat Mulroy’s criticism of SLC and its “pastoral” environment. SLC ought to wise up to the reality that its basically a desert here even though it may not be as dry as some of the other cities on the list. A COMPARATIVE LOOK AT PER CAPITA WATER CONSUMPTION IN UTAH AND OTHER WESTERN CITIES
1)Las Vegas (Southern Nevada Water Authority) 165 gpd
Sources: The Issues Forum website is just about finished – just a few missing pieces of information – but essentially everything is there. Please take a look – www.fogsl.org/issuesforum/2010/ VA Secretary Shinseki has made electronic disability claims processing a priority, and has made year 2012 the deadline for this electronic system to come online. This transition is long overdue since the number of claims has been steadily rising while the time it has taken to process these claims has risen as well. An electronic system will help streamline the processing of these claims since the paper system has many flaws that are all too obvious to anyone who has been involved with a VA disability claim. Without a system overhaul, the VA estimates that by 2015, that backlog of disability claims will increase tenfold to about 2.6 million. Those with service-connected injuries already wait an average of about five months to have a claim processed, and there are frequent complaints about lost paperwork and inaccuracy. The problem as it exists now is that the paper file for any given Veteran is mailed all through the country to be processed which slows down the processing time, but under an electronic system multiple claims processors could view and process the file much more efficiently. Baltimore is one of four pilot sites. The others are in Providence, R.I., Little Rock, Ark., and Pittsburgh.  |
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