CREW AND VOTEVETS.ORG URGE VA INSPECTOR GENERAL INVESTIGATION INTO PTSD MISDIAGNOSES

28 May 2008 // Washington, DC – Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and VoteVets.org requested that the Inspector General for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) open an investigation into the process and manner by which the VA makes a diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in veterans.

In the wake of the disclosure by CREW and VoteVets.org of an internal VA e-mail advising VA mental health staff in Texas to consider a diagnosis of adjustment disorder in place of a PTSD diagnosis as a cost-cutting measure, both organizations have received new information from VA employees and veterans attesting to the fact that this practice is widespread and systemic. VA Secretary James Peake has repudiated the email as not reflecting VA policy. Details on the e-mail can be found here.

The VA has adopted incentive programs that, by rewarding those employees and hospitals that distribute lower levels of compensation to veterans, encourage adjustment disorder diagnoses rather than the most appropriate but also more costly diagnosis of PTSD.

In addition, the VA's internal computer system permits medical files to be changed by health professionals who did not conduct the initial examinations, a practice that appears to have resulted in changed diagnoses from PTSD to adjustment disorder, even where there is no additional medical evidence to support the downgraded diagnoses.

CREW and VoteVets.org also heard from VA employees who suffered retaliation for their failure to support these practices.

Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, said today, “It is unconscionable that the VA would actively encourage its staff, through monetary incentives, to misdiagnose our veterans’ mental health. Add to that the mind-boggling disclosure that medical files can be altered to downgrade service members’ conditions, and we have a VA that is betraying those it is supposed to serve. The VA Inspector General must spearhead an investigation into these abhorrent practices immediately.”

"Despite what Secretary Peake said, the misdiagnoses being encouraged at the Temple, TX VA Center were not an isolated incident. The only question now is: How widespread is this, and how high up does the problem go?" said Jon Soltz, Iraq War Veteran and Chairman of VoteVets.org. "Those of us who served this nation in war deserve to have full confidence in the programs set up to help transition us back to civilian life. These new revelations personally give me zero confidence in the mental health screening and care system the VA oversees."

On May 14th, CREW also sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the VA asking for all records pertaining to any guidance given regarding the diagnosis of PTSD.

CREW and VoteVets.org’s letter to the VA is available on the left.

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Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a non-profit legal watchdog group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions. For more information, please visit www.citizensforethics.org or contact Naomi Seligman Steiner at 202.408.5565/nseligman@citizensforethics.org.

VoteVets.org is a pro-military organization committed to the destruction of terror networks around the world, with force when necessary. It represents the Voice of America's 21 Century Patriots - those who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. It primarily focuses on nonpartisan education and advocacy on behalf of troops, veterans and their families.

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