SHAD - Secret Cold War Chemical and Germ Warfare - 2 July 2008
Posted by Service Officer on July 2nd, 2008
Within the last few days the Associated Press reported that only 6% of health claims filed by veterans of secret Cold War chemical and germ warfare tests conducted by the Pentagon have been granted by the Department of Veterans Affairs. However, by way of comparison, the VA has granted approximately 88%of claims from Gulf War veterans. And more than 90% of the claims from veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have been granted. The VA claims it is not correct to make those sorts of comparisons because each group of veterans has its unique circumstances. It also noted that most of these veterans ended their service more than 30 years ago and that a study by the Institute of Medicine found no clear connection between the warfare tests and the cancer, respiratory illnesses and other problems now being experienced by those veterans. However, that study has been dismissed by some veterans groups as having been conducted in a shoddy manner. According to the DoD, 6,440 veterans took part in the tests. Of the 641 claims that had been processed by the VA as of May, 56 were pending, only 39 were granted, and 546 were denied.
House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner reacted to the information by saying, “This is ridiculous. These guys were there. They all have cancer. Take care of them.” Two weeks ago the House VA Committee held hearings on bipartisan legislation that would grant coverage to the veterans who were involved without them having to prove a link between their diseases and the experiments they participated in. Filner said he hopes to have the bill passed out of his committee by the 4 JUL recess. However, that will only be the start of the battle. Both the VA and DoD oppose the bill. According to the AP story, “The Pentagon only began to disclose details of the tests publicly in 2001, after pressure from veterans and lawmakers. Two years later Defense officials stopped looking for additional participants, despite criticism from the Government Accountability Office, which said untold numbers of veterans and civilians could remain unaware of their potential exposure.” Far too often, the leadership in both the VA and DoD are more concerned with the impact on their budgets than on the need to take care of veterans. [Source: TREA Washington Update 27 Jun 08 ++]
VA LAWSUIT (LACK OF CARE) UPDATE 09: A judge determined 25 JUN that he does not have the jurisdiction to change the way the Veterans Affairs Department cares for returning service members in a lawsuit Veterans for Common Sense filed against VA Secretary James Peake. “The grievances are misdirected,” Judge Samuel Conti wrote in his decision for the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California. “The remedies to the problems, deficiencies, delays and inadequacies complained of are not within the jurisdiction of this court.” But though he found for the defendants, the judge laid out in an 82-page decision many problems he identified within VA from three weeks of testimony. Veterans for Common Sense complained that VA needs better oversight to ensure programs are in place and well-run, and that delays and gaps in mental-health care have led to problems for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, including lost jobs, ruined relationships, homelessness, accidental overdoses in VA facilities and suicide while under VA care.
Conti said the plaintiffs “have demonstrated that their members have suffered injuries in fact”. He wrote, “Given the dire consequences many of these veterans face without timely receipt of benefits or prompt treatment for medical conditions, especially depression and [post-traumatic stress disorder], these injuries are anything but conjectural or hypothetical. As VA concedes, delays in health care, especially for mental health issues, and delays in receipt of disability benefits, which are often the primary or sole source of income for a veteran, can lead to exactly the type of injuries complained of” by Veterans for Common Sense.” In fact, he said, the actions sought by Veterans for Common Sense, including a time limit on how long an appeal can take, would likely improve the situation. “This issue … is whether this and other relief sought by [Veterans for Common Sense] are within the power of the court to grant,” Conti wrote. “The Court finds that [Veterans for Common Sense’s] individual members would have standing to sue.”
The trial brought to light an e-mail showing 1,000 veterans a month attempt suicide while under VA care — written by VA’s top mental health doctor with the subject line, “Shh!” It caused a VA employee to forward an e-mail sent to mental health staff at a Temple, Texas, VA facility requesting that mental health workers diagnose adjustment disorder before PTSD because they didn’t have the resources to deal with PTSD. And it showed that delays in medical appointments, which VA claimed were 30 days, were actually much longer. But Veterans for Common Sense had to prove the problems were systemic — that they affected every veteran. Instead, they showed that many of the problems affected a lot of veterans, but not all of them. Though Veterans for Common Sense intends to appeal the decision, Paul Sullivan, executive director of the organization, said they “stand willing to work with Congress and VA to resolve the many serious problems the court confirmed.” [Source: Marine Corps Times Kelly Kennedy article Posted 27 Jun 08 ++]
