OUR OPINION: A Gulf between real illness and false promises
The Patriot Ledger
Posted Dec 03, 2008 @ 06:30 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUINCY — For some of the nearly 700,000 veterans who fought in the 100-hour Gulf War in 1991, there may finally be some vindication and, we hope, an effort by the government to address and treat the mysterious illnesses that have plagued about one-quarter of those who answered the call to serve.
When soldiers and Marines returned from the Gulf War 17 years ago with blurred vision, rashes and headaches, they were told it was all in their minds, a diagnosis inconsistent with their symptoms.
But for the better part of the last two decades, the problems for many have become exasperated – in some cases debilitating – with symptoms such as persistent memory and concentration problems, more severe and constant headaches, head-to-toes pain in joints and muscles, gastrointestinal problems, and other chronic abnormalities that did not fit in with any known diagnosis.
And many of the estimated 200,000 who exhibit the symptoms just aren’t getting better.
Last month, the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses, a select group created by Congress to make a definitive finding on the problems, determined there are indeed physical maladies brought on by Gulf War service, perhaps even triggered by some of the vaccinations, pesticides and preventative treatments against nerve gas exposure given to the troops by military doctors, among other things such as proximity to oil field fires and sandstorms.
The committee, which was based out of Boston University’s School of Public Health, said the $350 million the federal government has spent on studying the illness has been wasted money, focused mostly on proving it doesn’t exist.
And even as the rate of affected veterans increased, funding for treatment and study by the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs, two agencies who are supposed to be veterans’ advocates not adversaries, has declined every year since 2001.
But the research committee found that not only is the multi-symptom illness real, Gulf War veterans have displayed an alarming rate of other fatal and incapacitating diseases and illnesses.
The report found, for instance, significantly higher rates of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, among Gulf War veterans. There also is a heightened incidence of brain cancer among those veterans as well as an increase in birth defects to children born of Gulf War servicemen and women.
It’s clear the current administration will not tackle the issue. VA Secretary James Peake on Monday said he would ask the Institute of Medicine to review the findings, once again delaying and denying relief to those on the front line of the first Iraq invasion.
It will be up to President-elect Barack Obama and the new Congress to deal with the issue and we urge them to make it a top priority, regardless of the economy.
The panel calls for at least $60 million to be spent annually for research and money needs to be allocated to pay for disabled veterans, estimated at $30,000 a year for a 100 percent disability. We’re finding hundreds of billions to send to Wall Street, Detroit, collapsing banks and financial institutes and a myriad of other failing corporations. This one should be a no-brainer.
“This is a national obligation, made especially urgent by the many years that Gulf War veterans have waited for answers and assistance,” the committee’s report states.
The time for study is over and this report should be used as a basis to treat those afflicted and, where needed, make disability payments to veterans who served with honor and dignity without having those values returned as part of our promise to our warriors.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
OUR OPINION: A Gulf between real illness and false promises
