Secretary of Army encourages MilBloggers
Sep 30, 2008
BY Lindy Kyzer
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Army News Service, Sept. 30, 2008) -- Secretary of the Army Pete Geren and Chief of Public Affairs Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner participated in a live blogger's roundtable panel at the 2008 MilBlog Conference held Sept. 20 in conjunction with the Blog World Expo.
The live blogger's roundtable was an inaugural event for the conference, providing military bloggers with the opportunity to ask questions of Army leadership.
The 3rd annual MilBlog Conference brought together key military bloggers, including active-duty Soldiers, military supporters, civilians and veterans who blog about military issues.
Secretary Geren led off the panel by taking questions from bloggers on topics from policy to how he would rate his own Internet savvy.
"I use the Internet a great deal," said Geren. "I use it for research; I have many Web sites that I go to regularly as a way to research and get news to stay informed.
As far as blogging, I can tell you that it's not something that I was very familiar with more than a couple years ago."
Geren went on to say that the rise of bloggers who were able to influence news and make headlines made him take a closer look. And over the past year, in particular, he has looked for ways to increase the Army's knowledge of blogs and new media, and has participated in two roundtables with on-line journalists, in addition to encouraging other leaders within the Army.
Geren acknowledged that the Army's increased awareness of blogs is critical as it looks to reach out to 17-25 year-olds - "the heart and soul of our Army."
"It's just a recognition that the world changes, and there's probably nothing more dynamic in the word than information technology and communications technology," said Geren. "And the way we communicated 20 years ago is different than 10 years ago and 10 years ago is different than today, and six months from now is going to be different from today as well. And as an organization, as an institution, we've got to work very hard to keep up. We're a national institution - we've got over 1 million Soldiers, Active, Guard and Reserve, over a million dependents, when you consider spouses and kids. And we have multi-millions of parents out there. And as an institution, it's critical that we reach out and communicate with as many parts of the expanded Army family as well as the general public as we can."
The Secretary also offered that as young people increasingly find their news online, the need to be in that space is crucial to educating and informing the American people.
"We've got to embrace every form of media, and this new medium - and particularly blogging, for many people - has replaced traditional media as a way to get news," said Geren. "And not only to get news, but to educate themselves, the back and forth that blogs offer. So I see it as an addition of what we're doing, and a mechanism to reach some people who you don't reach at all through so-called traditional media."
Maj. Gen. Bergner offered the unique perspective of having participated in blogger's roundtables as a spokesperson for Multi-National Force-Iraq.
"I found in the course of doing those that I sometimes learned just as much, if not more, from the questions and the perspectives I was offered, as perhaps those who were participating in the roundtables learned from me," said Bergner. "So I really do value the interaction and the opportunity to hear the perspectives of milbloggers in particular."
Bergner offered his perspective on what bloggers bring to the table that makes their perspective so critical.
"It's the personal aspect of what bloggers are able to convey," said Bergner. "No one can do it with the same personal insights, the perspective, and the texture that comes with those dialogues. That is what is so meaningful for the American people and so important for the Army because all of us want Soldiers to be able to tell their story, like only a Soldier can do."
Bergner also offered a roadmap toward the future, stating that the Army has and will continue to evolve its practices with the growth of new media and on-line communications.
"We really do have some cultural challenges, and it really is all about getting some new ideas into the Army, but also getting some of the old ideas out of the Army," said Bergner. "And that's going to be a bit of a generational challenge."
Bergner went on to say that the secretary of the Army and Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. George Casey are just the people to help bring about that cultural change, having already made tremendous progress in the growth and advancement of the Army. Bergner highlighted the advances the Army has made in just a short time, and credited the operational organization of the Army as a great "forcing function."
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I guess my invitation got lost in the mail or in Ted Stevens "tubes" I guess keeping veterans news up and commenting on it, does not make me a military blogger....oh well I will keep on keeping on...
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Secretary of Army encourages MilBloggers
CB Exposures Web Site
Eric P. Muth
Milford , CT 06460
HRC
Force Health Protection and Readiness
Department of Defense
ATTN: CB Exposure Manager
5113 Leesburg Pike, Suite 901
Falls Church, VA 22041
September 19, 2008
Dear CB Exposure Manager,
I have gone through your CB Exposures Web Site http://fhp.osd.mil/cbexposures and as a former Edgewood Volunteer I find it troubling and believe the writers were uninformed or deliberately printed misinformation and revisionist fabrications.
In the recent past I sent documents to the DOD proving what I am about to address and I can supply them again if need be. Army "core values" dictate corrections, lest a stain be left on its Honor for not owning up to having crossed the line at Edgewood in the name of National Security.
First I'd like to address an omission: For many years the CBR NCO School at Ft. McClellan placed Mustard agent on the wrists of students, I was one of them, exposing them to GB and CS gas environments and flamethrowers, but there is no mention of that on the site. Mustard is now known to be a carcinogen.
Cold War Exposures background: While Nazi's were being tried at Nuremberg and some hanged for their human experimentation the U.S. gave the Japanese experimenters a pass [War Crimes Office 1947]. This was in order to obtain their research results on Chinese, Manchurians, and POW experiments which resulted in many deaths. From those Secret documents it can be readily seen that the Cold War was changing our morality.
You state that DOD is conducting extensive research to find names of those exposed. In the case of 7,839, 1951-1979 Army volunteers, their records were in the hands of the Office of the Surgeon General from 1979 [USAMRICD 2007]. The Edgewood Volunteers 1955-1975 were included in those files. In addition Edgewood Arsenal had the volunteer's names and all their personal information. They supplied their data bank containing that information to the CIA. [CIA IG report, 6 May 1974] "The following activities were conducted with the Edgewood Arsenal. We obtained a large data base from them. They supplied U.S. Army volunteers for testing our candidate compounds. We transferred funds to them for their efforts."
[CIA Memorandum 3 May, 1974] "I asked about the listings of peoples names. He said it was a stack a foot high. Names would cross check to their Edgewood ID number." Among the "other organizations" you mentioned being at Edgewood you failed to mention the CIA and that the Army was a CIA contractor. During the 1977 Senate Hearings CIA's Admiral Turner promised the Congress that he would find those who were subjects of their unwitting experimentation directly or by funding same. He stated that the agency would aid and compensate victims and the Edgewood Veterans were certainly victims under projects MKULTRA and MKSEARCH. In 2004 he wrote that the agency only found one person, but that he was dead.
The National Academy of Sciences received Volunteer's information from the Army for a study conducted by its National Research Council, a CIA contractor whose heads were involved in the original research at Edgewood. You point to these studies as Army redemption, as though no one was hurt. You neglected to include important issues say drugs, and you did not mention the final NRC report in 1985 which stated: "An issue of great concern was the relatively small groups of men exposed to psychochemicals and their effects on interpretability. Briefly stated, it was felt at the onset by the panel reviewing psychochemicals that data obtainable from a survey might add little to our understanding of the long term health effects of chemicals tested. However, the limited information available from follow-up on these soldiers does not permit definitive conclusions regarding the nature and extent of possible long-term problems resulting from chemical exposure at Edgewood ." These studies are over two decades old and are virtually irrelevant. For example; today the DOD admits that flashbacks can re-occur in the absence of re-exposure to drugs.
The original case files on Edgewood Volunteers were transferred to the National Archives in Suitland , MD in 1982. [GAO, 1994] Veterans Disability: "The Army's Medical Research and Development Command in Ft. Detrick , MD , has the names and service numbers of all test participants and a list of chemicals to which the service members were exposed." NAS supplied our contact information to its IOM in 2000 for another purported study on Edgewood volunteers.
[IOM 2007] "DOD asked IOM to perform a more focused study on long term effects of anticholinesterase agents given to participants." The IOM committee was not charged with examining past exposures to specific chemicals, like those at Aberdeen/Edgewood and assessing whether they caused disabilities in military personnel." Edgewood veterans thought this study was to help them, but it is obvious now that this was a Gulf War issue and we were deceptively recruited for it.
Many agencies and commands had the volunteer's information and the DOD wrongfully resisted releasing our names for decades. It was two Congressmen [Evans & Strickland] who somehow obtained the lists of our names sending them directly to the VA for notification in 2005. The VA Secretary [Nicholson] sent the lists to the DHSD DOD and asked them to find addresses. He was alerted by some of us that the current contact addresses of some 4,000 survivors were in the hands of the IOM.
DOD Experimentation, according to your site, was conducted to evaluate the ability of US Forces to fight on a Chemical and Biological battlefield. You also state that the purpose of the studies was to ensure that the U.S. Military could adequately protect its service members from possible wartime exposures to chemical warfare agents. You describe medicines tested and mention benadryl. There were others including ecstasy EA 1475, radioactive alcohol, Ritalin, Benzedrine, Dexedrine, Lydocaine and Mescaline which Edgewood doctors used to kill Harold Blauer.
[AR 70-25 1962] DA-Use of Medical Volunteers: 2. c. The experiment must be such as to contribute significantly to approved research and have reasonable prospects of yielding militarily important results essential to an Army research program. There is little doubt that this AR was not faithfully observed or followed because these substances did not have any military importance. We allege that it is likely that these compounds had importance to covert CIA operations and that testing humans had great importance to the manufacturers of the drugs who likely paid Edgewood for our services.
In 1993 the Director of Defense Research and Engineering, in response to [GAO Report, 1992] "Human Experimentation" stated: The DOD will, to the extent feasible, make available to the Department of Veterans Affairs information that may be useful in assessing disability claims of veterans. The DOD did nothing for Edgewood Volunteers.
Regarding the security non-disclosures we signed: According to your site in 1993 Deputy Secretary of the DOD issued a memorandum which never reached those for whom it was intended, the volunteers. He stated that volunteers were released from their oath, but in sharp contrast to this memo, in 2006, the VA sent us a letter;
"To former service members who participated in these tests DOD has stated: You may provide details that affect your health to your health care provider. On the other hand, you should not discuss anything that relates to operational information that might reveal chemical warfare vulnerabilities or capabilities." It would appear that DOD attempted to continue to perpetrate a hoax on volunteers in league with the VA. You see, we did not have copies of the non-disclosures [ US Senate report 1977] which stated that the penalty for violating our oath was punishment under UCMJ, but that Code only applies to active duty personnel. Our oath wrongly, but effectively, kept us out of the VA, and from making applications for medals many of us were promised. Men of Honor, Edgewood Volunteers were silent all those years for naught.
You state that testing was conducted with the volunteers consent and that Volunteers were given study information. This cavalierly implies that we volunteered so we got what we deserved. [U.S. Army IG Report page 84, 1975]
"… most cases the agreement was signed prior to arrival or the first day after arrival. In either case, it was usually signed before a subject was selected for a specific test. Therefore, it was unlikely that meaningful information regarding all hazards to his health were provided the Volunteer prior to his signing the Participation Agreement." The only known volunteers to have ever received a volunteer information booklet were those participating in 1969. The Participation Agreements included the statement "I am completely aware of all hazards." The Volunteer's letters of Commendation stated [DA HQ Edgewood Arsenal 1973]
"… medical volunteer, you deliberately made a commitment to undergo procedures whose outcome could not be fully known in advance." Obvious it is, the "consents" were nugatory the moment they were signed as is ratified by Edgewood itself.
[GAO Veterans Disability, 1993] "Military procedures have long required that volunteers be fully informed of the nature of the studies in which they participate and the foreseeable risks. However, prior to 1975, these procedures were not always followed." " … were not informed about the nature of the experiments, the chemicals to be administered, or potential adverse effects." Experimentation ended in 1975. The Army IG and the GAO seem to agree that our consents were a sham.
Often you point to "low dose" exposures to somehow exonerate illegal experiments, and the unethical experimenters, who routinely violated their Hippocratic Oath's.
I am citing only one of my references on dosage. [Army LSD Study, 1980] "The highest single dose known to have been administered to Army Volunteers was approximately 5,250 micrograms. As of 1971 only eight cases have been reported in which seizures have apparently resulted from LSD administration." You state that the study investigators assured the participants that the exposure levels administered would not result in serious or life threatening side effects, but you reveal that there were 400 substances and that "not all" were harmful and you show "14%" of the agents administered "were lethal" compounds. It would appear that you do not consider seizures serious or lethal compounds lethal.
As a sidebar, note that you erroneously stated IOM, but it was the NRC three volume studies 1980-1982.
Your page of Briefings and Reports does not contain important documents such as the [Army IG Report, 1975] which informs that most procedures and regulations were virtually ignored at Edgewood, nor have you considered the [GAO 1994] report which reveals that there were VOLUNTEER DEATHS at Edgewood and that long term effects to exposures often did not present for 20-30 years and more.
Finally, please note the findings published in the [Psychiatric Annals, November 2007]. Chemical Weapons Exposure: "Interestingly, PTSD rates among veterans who participated in voluntary Chemical Weapons Agents research under controlled conditions, and never were exposed to hostile enemy fire, were found to be higher than PTSD rates for veterans who participated in actual combat, in which the physical wounds inflicted were far more severe. Thus, the psychological trauma of CWA exposure is tantamount to the most intense and traumatizing types of stress found anywhere in human experience." Apparently the DOD is in denial, because I am acquainted with Edgewood veterans who are PTSD VA compensated and the acknowledged cause was Edgewood .
You state that there was other testing at Edgewood outside the auspices of the Volunteer program. This testing, you suggest, was conducted by various organizations. Why is it you are reluctant to name the CIA, FBN and Army Intelligence? Evidence proves that the CIA funded Army programs at Edgewood for twenty years and the evidence [CIA Family Jewels pg. 413] shows clearly that the CIA supplied drugs to Edgewood given them by manufacturers because they had bad side effects [CIA MORI DOC 1451843]. Pharmaceutical manufacturers gave drugs to the CIA and they delivered them to Edgewood specifically for use on military volunteers and that was despite having themselves written that "No US citizen should be the object of CIA operations." Obviously volunteers were not informed of these efforts therefore; the Army wrongfully condoned unwitting experimentation along with uninformed witting experimentation.
In 1956 Edgewood changed the name of its psychochemical program to K agents. CIA MKULTRA 1958, Sub-Project-45 in the psychochemical and "K" fields dealt with chemical stressor drugs. " … the major effort will be related to studies directly concerned with the production and control of the stress reaction in human beings." In 2005 the Army HRC Awards Branch admitted that an Edgewood Volunteer applicant was in the Edgewood MKULTRA Program. In 1973 contrary to law the CIA destroyed what they thought were all the MKULTRA and the drug files.
The big lie! [Chemical Warfare Laboratories Special Publication 2-13, 1958]. Stated therein: Volunteers would be subjected to "non-hazardous" exposures therefore, it follows that they would not receive hazardous duty pay saving the Army some $55.00 per month, per man. However, Edgewood experimentation was hazardous and similarly stressful to combat therefore, combat related as is noted in
the Supplemental Guidance on Combat Related Special Compensation, established by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense 2008. Edgewood Volunteers meet criteria under Hazardous Service and Instrumentality of War. The DOD knew our service was hazardous [Defense Instruction Number 5030.29, 1964] Investigational Use of Drugs: "DOD assumes full responsibility for the protection of humans involved in research under its sponsorship, whether this involves investigational drugs or other hazards." The Army at large also knew what we were doing was hazardous.
[AR 70-25 1962] DA-Use of Volunteers as Subjects of Research
2. Definition: " … unusual and potentially hazardous conditions are those which may be reasonably expected to involve risk, beyond the normal call of duty, of privation, discomfort, distress, pain, damage to health, bodily harm, physical injury, or death." All the latter came to pass. Of twenty-two survivors known to me half, including myself, are VA disabled and therefore, fully know now, that this service was hazardous and that we were all set apart from our fellows psychologically.
1958 Letter of Commendation to Volunteer: "3. You are hereby commended for exposing yourself above and beyond the call of duty." Cover letter: "The participation of military personnel in these activities contributes materially to the accomplishment of work which is vital to the National Defense."
[CDRL Special Publication, Edgewood Arsenal, 1961] Medical Research Volunteers, Peacetime Heroes: " .. they serve far beyond the call of normal duty in a cause that vitally effects the nation's defense posture.
We were patriotic young men wanting to do something for our country. However, because of those like you, who lack documentation, or do not possess a full understanding of the history in this matter, our services to this nation are denigrated. Rather than to reveal the truth and give just praise to the volunteers you are history revisionists portraying that which you wish had happened at Edgewood . Joining you, just recently the Army HRC Awards Branch denied Volunteers even a lowly ARCOM [HRC Award Branch 2005] " … service as a CW Volunteer at Edgewood is certainly NOTEWORTY, he is not eligible for consideration of an individual award since the purpose and intent of the Army's Awards Program is to recognize those soldiers who actively engage in acts of heroism, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service." Like you, they do not understand. Otherwise moral men with bunker mentalities assault the dignity of yesterday's heroes. We can no longer allow such actions to stand because we know that somewhere, yet to be found, there is a grateful nation.
I expect a satisfactory response to this return receipt sent letter within seven days of receipt or it will be c.c. addressed along with the documents to many officials who may not see this as nearsightedly as you do.
In the 2003 VA VHI CBR, they admitted that we Edgewood Volunteers were justifiably angry men. If you have seen that in this letter hopefully you have been convinced to understand and accept it, because we have good reason to be hurt and therefore, angry.
Sincerely Yours
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Officers learn to help veterans in crisis
Posted on Mon, Sep. 29, 2008 Recommend (0)share email print comment reprint
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Officers learn to help veterans in crisis
BY DARRYL E. OWENS
Orlando Sentinel
ORLANDO -- Though aging vets from past wars present ongoing problems, Barbara Lewis, crisis intervention training commander for the Orange County Sheriff's Office, said deputies are facing the issue more now because of veterans home from the current wars.
''We're seeing it in these economic times: stressors in their lives pushing them over the edge,'' Lewis said. ``Anything we can do as law-enforcement officers to protect our returning vets is important.''
Given the troubling incidence of post-traumatic-stress disorder -- or PTSD -- associated with recently returned troops, mental-health experts have pushed for alternative ways for law enforcement to deal with vets in nonviolent incidents.
A recent RAND Corp. study found nearly 20 percent of returning troops -- about 300,000 -- have PTSD or major depression.
Of those, only 53 percent sought treatment. Many others are battling traumatic brain injuries and depression that also can alter mood and behavior.
''A lot of these kids in Iraq and Afghanistan are 21-, 22- and 23-year-old kids,'' said Lt. Victor Uvalle, who commands the crisis intervention team for the Orlando Police Department, which partners with Lakeside Alternatives for training. ``We need to understand they are people in crisis, and that could be from a variety of things.''
In the field, police officers trained in crisis intervention try to calm volatile situations by building rapport, Uvalle said. They ask simple questions: What's your name? Where do you live? Are you a veteran? Officers also probe the subject's mental state: Are you hearing noises?
Keeping vets out of the justice system is an important payoff of crisis intervention training, said Michele Saunders, executive director of Florida's Partners in Crisis, a grass-roots mental-health and substance-abuse coalition that during the past four years has pushed for expanding such programs statewide.
''It helps that veterans feel the officer is here to help them, that they will take care of them, especially if the veteran is paranoid or having a flashback,'' she said.
Since debuting its program, Act Corp., a Daytona Beach community mental-health center, has trained 468 police officers and community leaders in Volusia and Flagler counties.
''The goal . . . is to show law-enforcement officers or other first responders that . . . you get to see people at their worst,'' said Sini Summerlin, a crisis intervention training coordinator with Act Corp. ``I want to show that these are everybody's sisters, brothers and mothers.''
The Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA)
$31-million initiative provides military families with access to youth development, family strengthening, and health and well-being programs at America’s YMCAs
WASHINGTON DC, September 18, 2008—The Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA) today announced a new $31-million initiative with the Department of Defense (DoD) to provide eligible military families and active duty personnel with access to youth development, family strengthening, and health and well-being programs through memberships at community YMCAs nationwide. Membership fees will be underwritten by the DoD and administered through Military OneSource. YMCA of the USA, the national resource office for America’s 2,686 YMCAs, will help launch the initiative at Ys across the country.
The ASYMCA-DoD Outreach Initiative responds to a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008, which requires the Secretary of Defense to develop a plan to support military family readiness and to ensure that military family readiness programs and activities are available to all military families, including those of the National Guard and Military Reservists.
“YMCA of the USA is proud to partner with ASYMCA and DoD to ensure that our nation’s military and their families have access to some of the best youth development, family strengthening, and health and well-being programs available at YMCAs in communities across this country,” said Neil Nicoll, president and CEO of the YMCA of the USA. “Our YMCAs have the unique capability to provide families of deployed military service members with support that is generally only available to families who live near a military base.”
The program is expected to serve more than 27,000 military families and active duty members.
“The YMCA and ASYMCA have a history of commitment to developing innovative programs that help military families lead healthy lives, improve personal and family relationships, become better leaders, strengthen positive values, and develop specific skills, while at the same time building a sense of community,” said Frank Gallo, Rear Admiral, USN (Ret), national executive director for the ASYMCA. “Seldom has our support been as critical as it is today with active duty soldiers, National Guard, members of the reserve and their families under more strain than at nearly any time in our history.”
Eligible participants can sign up by identifying a participating local YMCA on www.ymca.net during the month of October, providing proof of eligibility by showing a military identification card and a copy of deployment orders, and completing an eligibility verification form. Eligibility forms can be found at www.militaryonesource.com .
Those eligible to participate in the new initiative include:
All interested families of joint deployed National Guard and Reserves;
Active Duty families assigned to newly established Joint Bases created by the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process;
Active Duty Independent Duty station personnel (single or family members); and
Relocated spouses and family members of deployed Active Duty personnel.
“There is no question — deployed soldiers who know their families are well taken care of during deployment are better equipped to deal with its pressures,” added Gallo. “This partnership between the DoD, YMCA of the USA and ASYMCA seeks to provide this support.”
More information about the ASYMCA-DoD Outreach Initiative can be found by visiting www.asymca.org. For information about participating YMCAs, please visit www.ymca.net after Oct. 1.
# # #
About the ASYMCA: The ASYMCA operates more than 150 program centers around the globe. The ASYMCA has consistently provided educational, recreational, social and spiritual programs to military members and their families since the Civil War. It earned a four-star rating from Charity Navigator for the second consecutive year, and an A- rating from the American Institute of Philanthropy. The ASYMCA, an affiliate of the YMCA of the USA, is headquartered in Alexandria, Va.
About YMCA of the USA: YMCA of the USA is the national resource office for the nation's 2,686 YMCAs, which serve 21 million people each year, including nearly 10 million children under the age of 18. YMCAs respond to critical social needs by drawing on their collective strength as one of America's largest not-for-profit community service organizations. Through a variety of programs and services focused on the holistic development of children and youth, family strengthening, and health and well-being for all, YMCAs unite men, women and children of all ages, faiths, backgrounds, abilities and income levels. From urban areas to small towns, YMCAs have proudly served America's communities for nearly 160 years by building healthy spirit, mind and body for all. Visit/www.ymca.net to find your local YMCA.
Contact:
Robert Jameson
Armed Services YMCA
202-715-1535
Robert.Jameson@dittus.com
Mamie Moore
YMCA of the USA
312-718-1898
Mamie.Moore@ymca.net
Monday, September 29, 2008
VA’s delays preventing urgent care for veterans
VIETNAM VET SAYS HIS URGENT CARE WAS DELAYED
BECAUSE VA IS SWAMPED WITH "NEW" VETERANS --
"I asked them why they couldn't get me in sooner,
and they said they were filled right up."
Helped by daughter Marlene Neamon, veteran Delonne J. Scharf and wife Patricia leave Roswell Park after his tests. (photo: Robert Kirkham / Buffalo News)
For more about older vets being pushed to the end of the line at the VA, click here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08
/nfAPR08/nf042808-1.htm
Story here... http://www.buffalonews.c
om/cityregion/story/450769.html
Story below:
JOIN THE DEBATE
Comment on this story and interact
with other readers... below...
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VA’s delays preventing urgent care for veterans
Congestion, system of funding at issue
By Lou Michel NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Delonne J. Scharf has lost a lot in his service to the United States.
Now the 64-year-old disabled Vietnam War-era veteran from West Valley may face life-or-death consequences because the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system, he says, is overwhelmed by returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I want other veterans to know what I have gone through. Maybe it will help someone else,” said Scharf, who Thursday finally won a battle to have the VA pay for follow-up cancer surgery and tests at Roswell Park Cancer Institute.
In two weeks, when the procedures are performed, he says, he will know for sure whether his cancer has spread.
Scharf said that Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Buffalo imposed repeated delays in providing him care and that he never once saw a VA cancer specialist after he first complained of a lump below his right ankle in May.
His story of delays is a familiar one, according to the Disabled American Veterans, a Washington, D. C., veterans advocacy group. “It sounds like Mr. Scharf has been caught up in the funding system,” said Thom Wilborn, an official of the group, explaining that toward the end of the federal fiscal year in September, medical procedures and referrals are sometimes delayed.
“Without Congress’ approval of a funding plan, the VA is forced to reduce its health care services,” Wilborn said.
Although Scharf signed and hand-delivered a release authorizing the VA to respond to his complaints, VA spokeswoman Evangeline E. Conley on Friday declined to discuss his situation, explaining that it has been the VA’s long-standing policy to refrain from publicly discussing patient cases.
Scharf said he found himself in unfamiliar territory when the VA began delaying his treatment. For decades since the Air Force veteran lost his right eye and sense of smell in a service-related motorcycle accident in Spain, he said, the VA provided him excellent health care.
“They have great doctors, but they’re overcrowded,” Scharf said of the increased workload the VA faces with newly returning wounded veterans.
According to the military, an estimated 33,000 service members have suffered injuries, and thousands of them have filtered into VA hospitals across the country.
It’s an increase that local VA officials have acknowledged when announcing ways to improve keeping up with the demand for services. For Scharf, the increase hit home when he was told that the soonest he could receive an MRI was in late July.
The scan, he said, determined that surgery was needed. That was scheduled for about two months later. Scharf and his wife, Patricia, began complaining.
“I asked them why they couldn’t get me in sooner, and they said they were filled right up,” Scharf said.
A VA doctor in Buffalo, he said, confided to him that if Scharf were a patient in his private practice, care would be delivered a lot faster.
Scharf’s complaints about delays appear to be confirmed by copies of his medical records he provided to The Buffalo News. A July 31 report from Dr. Bhaskar Bhattacharyya states:
“[Scharf] is strongly adamant about having it removed ASAP, however it was explained to the patient that availability is an issue for podiatric surgery. Given that fact, patient will be sent to Dr. [Mark] Finkelstein to see if surgery schedule can be accommodated for patient.”
Patricia Scharf said VA doctors explained to her “that we have some [patients] who are more serious than your husband, and we have to see them first.”
But the complaining cut the wait for surgery. On Aug. 15, a VA surgeon removed a tangerine- size section from Delonne Scharf’s right foot. A body scan was then scheduled for five weeks later to determine whether the cancer had gone into his lymph nodes.
That’s when the husband and wife, frustrated at more waiting, began seeking a VA referral to Roswell Park.
Patricia Scharf said the referral was denied because of the costs.
“I said they have doctors at Roswell and that’s all they do is treat melanoma,” she said. “The VA doctor told me he didn’t think we could get a referral because it would cost the VA thousands of dollars.”
Desperate, they went to Roswell Park anyway, as Delonne Scharf’s health began to slip. He said he lost 30 pounds, was sleeping all the time and was filled with anxiety. His relatives, seeking help, sent out e-mails and posted messages on an Internet site. The Scharfs also kept calling the VA.
Thursday, the pressure paid off. “I’m doing a whole lot better,” Scharf said. “The VA just called and told me they’re giving me the referral.”
Friday, he was at Roswell Park getting preoperative tests.
He says he won’t know for sure whether he is cancer-free until he undergoes the additional surgery in two weeks, but whatever happens, he wants to let the public know how he was treated by the VA.
His hope, he says, is that other veterans with serious illnesses are not forced to accept what he believes is government-rationed health care.
“They can spend the money over in Iraq,” Scharf said, “but they can’t spend the money to help the veterans. My story may help somebody down the line by getting priorities straight.”
lmichel@buffnews.com
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This is a damn shame that any person is treated this way, veteran or not, given the fact that it is a VA hospital treating him this way, then they should be held accountable, would anyone want their family members treated like this.
U.S. Troops Partner With Costa Rican Officials to Provide Medical Care
U.S. Troops Partner With Costa Rican Officials to Provide Medical Care
By Air Force Staff Sgt. Joel Mease
Special to American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 26, 2008 – More than 20 servicemembers from Joint Task Force-Bravo deployed to Costa Rica Sept. 23 to provide airlift support and partner with Costa Rican health officials for a medical readiness exercise Sept. 25-27 in two remote villages.
A Costa Rican health department dentist helps a patient in La Pena during a medical readiness exercise with Joint Task Force-Bravo Sept. 25. During the three-day MEDRETE U.S. servicemembers partnered with Costa Rican medical teams to provide care to more than 2,000 patients. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joel Meas
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.
During the three-day exercise, medical professionals from the United States and Costa Rica are providing medical care to an estimated 2,000 patients.
Health officials with the Costa Rican government said the opportunity to work with U.S. servicemembers is very appealing to them.
“This was my first time working with the U.S., and I was very impressed with how organized they are to provide these services,” said Luis Jimenez, a dental assistant with the Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social. “It would have been very difficult for us to provide care to these areas without the (airlift JTF-Bravo) provided.”
The terrain in some of the more remote areas of Costa Rica can make it extremely difficult to bring in medical supplies. In the village of La Pena, it might have taken anywhere between 12-14 hours by horse because there are no roads a truck could have taken, Jimenez said.
Because of the difficult terrain, the last time the village of La Pena was seen by a team of medical professionals was about five years ago, said Dr. Mario Lopez, JTF-Bravo liaison officer.
“The access JTF-Bravo provides with its airlift and medical supplies to people in need is just tremendous,” Lopez said. “The support they can provide allows me to do what I love, which is helping people make their lives better.”
Helping people in need and working with another government is what Jason Vargas, a Costa Rican. nurse, also enjoys about participating in these missions.
“It’s very important to me to help these people out. They don’t have many medical services, and it’s not too often we are able to come out to help them,” Mr. Vargas said. “The support (JTF-Bravo) provides is very helpful and allows us to provide care much faster than we would have.”
(Air Force Staff Sgt. Joel Mease works in the Joint Task Force-Bravo public affairs office).
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Our military doing some constructive good work and helping people at the local level in Costa Rica SALUTE to them and the outstanding job they have performed on nehalf of the American public.....
Vermont gets grant to help troubled vets
Vermont gets grant to help troubled vets
September 29, 2008 3:05 PM ET
WATERBURY, Vt. (AP) - The state of Vermont is getting a $2.1 million grant to help serve veterans and other people with post-traumatic stress disorder and similar problems.
The grant will help the state create new services to help victims of trauma-spectrum illnesses who are at risk of getting in trouble with the law if they're not already.
An early goal is to shift 300 people away from detention to treatment and support. Eventually, state officials hope to screen an additional 38,500 adults and divert about 825 of them to treatment.
The grant money is being made available by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration.
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Why are the states being forced to deliver the mental healthcare that the Veterans Administration is supposed to be delivering? Is the VA not able to provide the help veterans need, if not why not?
