CREW AND VOTEVETS.ORG RESPOND TO CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY FROM VA ON DELIBERATE MISDIAGNOSES OF PTSD

4 Jun 2008 // Washington, DC – The two groups responsible for exposing a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employee’s directive to psychologists to diagnose veterans with “adjustment disorder” instead of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), as a cost-cutting measure, today responded to testimony by VA employees before the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs.

At a news conference, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and VoteVets.org were joined by Senators Daniel Akaka (D-HI), the chairman of the committee, Patty Murray (D-WA), and Bernard Sanders (I-VT), as well as two veterans who had their PTSD claims denied by the VA, even though they had been determined to have the mental injury.

Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW said, “Today’s hearing is further evidence why the Inspector General must move forward in its investigation into the widespread misdiagnoses of veterans with PTSD in order to cut costs. It is unconscionable that administrators, like Norma Perez, and those higher up the food chain are instituting a process by which our service members are being lied to on a regular basis. This practice cannot continue.”

“What is clear, from what we have heard from countless veterans and the inadequate responses from the VA at today’s hearing, is that there is a serious problem that is more widespread than we may even know,” said Jon Soltz, Iraq War Veteran, and Chairman of VoteVets.org. “Veterans clearly are having problems getting diagnosed with PTSD, and even when they are diagnosed, cannot get approved for disability claims. This is shameful treatment of the men and women who fought for our nation in war.”

The groups and Senators were joined by Iraq War Veterans Will King, of Jackson, Tennessee and Kenneth Gumm, who was treated at the Temple, Texas VA Center where problems were first exposed.

Gumm was diagnosed and treated at the Olin E. Teague Veterans’ Center in Temple, TX. That is the center where PTSD coordinator Dr. Norma Perez directed psychologists to diagnose veterans with “adjustment disorder” and not PTSD, due to the associated costs that come with PTSD and time needed to treat it. Gumm eventually did get a PTSD diagnosis, but is having his claims for disability denied by the VA.

“I know from firsthand experience that veterans with PTSD must fight another war when they get home – a war for the medical and mental health care that we deserve,” said Gumm. “This is a war that too many of us are not equipped to fight, and when we have PTSD, do not have the patience or time to fight. We are losing the war against the very agency that is supposed to help us.”

King did not receive a PTSD rating upon his return from Iraq, but only later, when he was required to fill out a mental evaluation form. Even then, despite exhibiting strong PTSD symptoms, he was only given a 30% disability rating, keeping his disability payments for PTSD relatively low. His appeals for a higher rating were denied. The VA falsely claimed that he worked on a family farm (his family has no farm), that he attended college (even though he was forced to drop out due to low grades related to his inability to concentrate), and that he was frustrated with people with low work ethic (ignoring the fact that his anger and frustration were signs of PTSD). King was also told that his volunteer status with VoteVets.org was evidence that he could hold down a job.

“VA administrators who determine our PTSD ratings are going into our mental evaluation and notes from our counseling sessions to cherry pick data need to deny our claims,” said Will King. “They do so, while overlooking clear signs we deserve to be rated for PTSD and in my case a higher rating.”

CREW and VoteVets.org have written to the inspector general of the VA, requesting an investigation into these matters. All materials related to the work VoteVets.org and CREW has done can be found at www.citizensforethics.org.

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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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