Spat stalls eye-trauma center for troops
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — A military center devoted to finding new treatments for combat eye injuries has been delayed for a year by an ongoing squabble between the Congress and the Pentagon over who will pay the $5 million needed to get it started, according to interviews and Pentagon records.
"I'm the named leader of a concept," says Army Col. Donald Gagliano, an ophthalmologist and retina surgeon chosen in November as director of a "Vision Center of Excellence" that doesn't yet exist. "I don't have a computer."
The delay comes as roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to take a toll on the eyes of servicemembers: 13% of all casualties suffered eye damage ranging from distorted vision to blindness, according to military research.
And a new category of impaired vision has emerged for soldiers suffering traumatic brain injury (TBI) from blast, according to research by the Department of Veterans Affairs. These victims have eyes that no longer work together properly, says VA researcher Gregory Goodrich.
While the military and VA doctors treat these eye wounds, the center is designed to efficiently identify and track them, connect victims with specialists, and promote advancement of eye-care medicine.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Congress | Afghanistan | Virginia | Iraq | Pentagon | George W Bush | Department of Veterans Affairs | Rep. John Murtha | Pennsylvania Democrat | Matthew Mazonkey | House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee | Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania | Traumatic Brain Injury
Even so, a year after President Bush signed the 2008 law mandating the center — a co-sponsor was then-senator Barack Obama — Gagliano has no staff beyond a deputy director and no offices.
Congress provided "more than enough funding to stand up the eye center within the $1.2 billion appropriated for TBI and related injuries," says Matthew Mazonkey, spokesman for Rep. John Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat who chairs the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee.
The language in the financing bill limited use of the money to treatment and research psychological war injuries and traumatic brain injury, says physician Joseph Kelley, Defense deputy for clinical and program policy for health affairs. Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury were created in November of last year.
"No money was appropriated (for a vision center)," Kelley says.
In a letter to Murtha last May, three House Democrats — Tim Walz of Minnesota, Zack Space of Ohio and Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania — urged appropriation of $5 million for the center and $5 million for vision-wound research. Congress provided only $1 million in supplemental funding in 2008. Walz says he was disappointed.
The Pentagon "needs to find the money one way or another and has to move forward with the project," he says.
For this fiscal year, Congress has appropriated $4 million for eye-wound research. The Pentagon has budgeted $3 million to help create the vision center. Gagliano says he may have it up and running in three to four months.
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with billions being pizzed in the wind on stimulus packages and war costs for 2 wars, and thousands of veterans with PTSD being ignored I am sure someone in the Pentagon or Congress can FIND a measly 5 million in a hidden slush fund
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Spat stalls eye-trauma center for troops
Officials: Army suicides at 3-decade high
Officials: Army suicides at 3-decade high
By Pauline Jelinek - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Jan 29, 2009 12:45:02 EST
WASHINGTON — Suicides among soldiers soared again last year and are at a nearly three-decade high, senior defense officials told The Associated Press on Thursday.
At least 128 soldiers killed themselves in 2008, said two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the data has not been formally released.
The final count likely will be considerably higher because more than a dozen other suspicious deaths are still being investigated and could also turn out to be self-inflicted.
The new figure of more than 128 compares to 115 in 2007 and 102 in 2006 — and is the highest since record keeping began in 1980.
It also calculates to a rate of 20.2 per 100,000 soldiers — which is higher than the adjusted civilian rate for the first time since the Vietnam War, officials said.
The Army plans to announce the figures at a news conference later Thursday.
Officials have said repeatedly that troops are under tremendous and unprecedented stress because of repeated and long tours of duty due to the simultaneous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Yearly increases in suicides have been recorded since 2004, when there were 64 — only about half the number now. And they’ve occurred despite increased training, prevention programs, increased psychiatric staff and other Army efforts to stem the rise.
Officials are expected to announce additional attempts to help soldiers at the news conference.
When studying individual cases, officials said they found that the most common factors for suicides were soldiers suffering problems with their personal relationships, legal or financial issues and problems on the job.
The previous number of suicides, combined, among the Army’s active-duty soldiers and National Guard and Reserve troops also was the highest on record — 18.8 per 100,000. But the new pace of 20.2 suicides per 100,000 soldiers is startling because it for the first time surpasses the civilian number, when adjusted to reflect the Army’s younger and male-heavy demographics.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the suicide rate for U.S. society overall was about 11 per 100,000 in 2004, the latest year for which the agency has figures. But the Army says the civilian rate is more like 19.5 per 100,000 when adjusted.
The new rate of 20.2 — which also will be higher if more suicides are confirmed — compares to 18.8 per 100,000 in 2007, 17.5 in 2006 and 9.8 in 2002 — the first full year after the start of the war in Afghanistan
The new Army report follows one earlier this month showing that the Marine Corps recorded more suicides last year than any year since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
That report said 41 Marines were possible or confirmed suicides in 2008, or 16.8 per 100,000 troops. The Marine rate remained unchanged because the Corps is increasing in size, officials said.
Marines and Army units have borne most of duty in the two ongoing wars, which have required more use of ground forces to fight the insurgencies.
But the numbers kept by the service branches don’t show the whole picture of war-related suicides because they don’t include deaths after people have left the military. The Department of Veterans Affairs tracks those numbers and says there were 144 suicides among the nearly 500,000 service members who left the military from 2002-2005 after fighting in at least one of the two ongoing wars.
The true incidence of suicide among veterans is not known, according to a report last year by the Congressional Research Service. Based on numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the VA estimates that 18 veterans a day — or 6,500 a year — take their own lives, but that number includes vets from all previous wars.
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Can we get help now for mental health?
VA USES NAS/IOM In Illegal Manner that Minimizes All Efforts To Get Gulf War Veterans The Help They Need
News: VA USES NAS/IOM In Illegal Manner that Minimizes All Efforts To Get Gulf War Veterans The Help They Need
Posted on January 28, 2009 by gm
by Montra Denise Nichols, MAJ, USAFR(ret)
Urgent!!!! This demonstrates the VA using NAS IOM illegally! There is no legal requirement to have VA tell IOM to form a new panel to review!!!! This is a move by Mark Brown Environmental Agent at the VA headquarters to sabotage the work of the Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee on Gulf War illness Research!
We were notified at last minute on Monday that this meeting would occur. We had previously had months ahead notification!
This time it is not even listed in Events Scheduled on NAS or IOM websites.
I had to do significant hunting on both websites to find this and others also are still trying to find it on their website
Here it is http://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/meetingview.aspx?MeetingID=3170&MeetingNo=1
Now this was done "in cover of darkness" They knew they were doing it but normal procedure was not even followed not listed in calender of events re NAS IOM We found out at last minute! We asked for the phone system to call into as we have done previously we were given wrong number to call in! Then emailing to a blackberry got me the right number not 800 but 866 area code..........but after the meeting had already started by 45 minutes!
VA Mark Brown is up to his usual deny and delay under whose orders or directions!
"The Research Advisory Committee report shows how VA have been skewing IOM Gulf War reports for years. Then VA staff turns around and refers the report to the IOM!"
I request that a full investigation be launched into the misuse of NAS/IOM on gulf war illness! They are sabotaging science and scientist for the past 10 years on gulf war illness.
Please call for a full investigation into VA and NAS/IOM actions to deny and delay Gulf War Veterans from getting real help. This is what VA has done to sabotage the efforts of gulf war veterans and the intent of Congress!
Email Montra Denise Nichols at DSNurse1@YAHOO.COM
Gulf War Veteran Nurse, Gulf War Veteran Advocate
Vice Chair National Vietnam and Gulf War Veterans Coalition
Liked this story? Get top stories in your inbox each week VA USES NAS/IOM In Illegal Manner that Minimizes All Efforts To Get Gulf War Veterans The Help They Need
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I have stated in the past that the March 2003 Sarin study conducted by the IOM's William Page is bogus, and how it ignored mustard agents and ignored the high death and disability rates of the Edgewood veterans used as a control group, these men in reality have a 40% death rate and of the 4022 survivors of the Edgewood experiments 54% of them are disabled they are now suing in Federal Court
www.edgewoodtestvets.org The VA and DOD pay for the IOM/NAS studies and they write parameters to ignore known evidence, that show liability.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
VETERANS ORGANIZATIONS GIVE UNANIMOUS SUPPORT FOR ADVANCE FUNDING OF VETERANS’ HEALTH CARE
Akaka signals intention to reintroduce advance funding legislation
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI), Chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, gathered six top national veterans’ service organizations at a hearing to discuss their priorities for the new Congress. Committee members and the witnesses from the veterans’ groups discussed a number of important issues facing America’s veterans, from the backlog on benefits claims to timely implementation of the new GI Bill. The witnesses were unanimous in their support for legislation to fund veterans’ health care one-year ahead of the regular appropriations process, as provided for in the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform Act of 2008, introduced by Chairman Akaka with bipartisan support in the previous Congress.
Senator Akaka signaled his intention to reintroduce the legislation: “VA operates the largest health care system in the nation, but its funding is unpredictable and often untimely. I join President Obama, Secretary Shinseki, the veterans’ organizations and many others in calling for advance funding for veterans’ health care. I look forward to working for its passage in this Congress,” said Akaka.
Testimony from Veterans Organizations on Advance Funding
The American Legion – “…The American Legion and its colleagues now recommend an alternative to mandatory funding – advance appropriations. The American Legion believes this change would assure timeliness and predictability.”
Disabled American Veterans – “Introduction and passage of the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform Act in the 111th Congress would address DAV’s highest priority in VA health care.”
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America – “The best way to ensure timely funding of veterans’ health care is to fully fund the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care budget one year in advance.”
Paralyzed Veterans of America – “Historically, advance appropriations have been used to make a program function more effectively, better align with funding cycles of program receipts, or provide insulation from annual partisan political maneuvering.”
Veterans of Foreign Wars – “VFW urges funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs to be sufficient, predictable and timely, ending the trend of the last decade wherein VA’s budget has been delivered months late.”
Vietnam Veterans of America – “We believe that Advance Appropriations will solve many of the problems encountered by the VHA, and will enable veterans health care to realize a predictable, reliable, sufficient and perhaps most important, timely funding stream.”
Chairman Akaka’s full statement and links to the witnesses statements are available by clicking here.
Chairman Daniel K. Akaka
January,28,2009
Before we begin today's hearing, I extend my warmest welcome and aloha to the three new Members of this Committee: Senator Mark Begich of Alaska, Senator Roland Burris of Illinois, and Senator Mike Johanns of Nebraska.
For the information of all, the Committee will promptly hold nomination hearings on advice and consent positions so Secretary Shinseki can have his team in place as quickly as possible. It is my hope that the nomination for Deputy Secretary will be made very soon, and immediately following that, I will schedule a hearing in consultation with Senator Burr. Other nominations will be bundled to make maximum use of the Committee's time.
Now to the immediate business at hand - today's hearing offers a valuable opportunity for us to collect the priorities of the Veterans Groups and craft our legislative and oversight agenda for this Session. In the coming months, all of the Veterans Service Organizations will have more formal legislative presentations, but I believe we should hear key priorities now. I am also looking for interplay between the organizations to focus on what can and should be done in the short-term and what can wait for later in the session.
We must, in this time of war, equip VA with the resources necessary to carry out its missions, now and into the future. I have said this time and time again: Veterans' benefits and services are a cost of war and must be understood - and funded - as such.
Many of our views are in agreement, and I believe that together, we have established a good track record relating to VA. VA health care is, in many respects, the best in the Nation. I am proud that our collective work has contributed to the improvements in quality and access. Now, we must keep the momentum going. We must work to achieve President Obama's goal of integrating more Priority Group 8 veterans back into the VA health care system while ensuring that enough resources are available to maintain the quality of care.
As someone who knows firsthand the impact an education funded through the GI Bill can have, we must make certain that the recent improvements to this vitally important benefit are being effectively implemented.
Timely and accurate adjudication of disability claims remains an issue. I expect that benefits' reform, including a hard look at the current appellate process, the role of I.T., and reaching consensus on elements of compensation, will claim much of this Committee's attention this Congress.
Assisting families is essential to successfully reintegrating new veterans back into their communities. Family members are often the primary caregivers for injured veterans, facing wide-ranging needs - from caregiver training to education services to employment issues. VA has taken steps to reach out to these families in recent years, but much work remains.
I know that all of you share my commitment to providing a seamless transition from military to civilian life for the newest generation of veterans. VA must be an active partner with the Department of Defense to ensure that the newest veterans are taken care of when they return home. VA and DoD have undertaken several initiatives to streamline to process for disabled troops. I look forward to working with VA's new leadership to achieve a truly integrated transition for servicemembers.
There are some major legislative initiatives remaining from the previous session that I hope will be enacted this Session. The Committee's bipartisan health and personnel improvements bill, which I just reintroduced as S. 252, is important to this Nation's veterans and to the thousands who work in VA hospitals and clinics throughout this country. Some of you worked to include vital provisions in that bill, such as the enhancements to women's health care, and for that I am grateful. In the near future, I will also introduce a modified version of S. 1315, an omnibus benefits bill, which passed the Senate last Congress. S. 1315 included benefits for both young and old veterans, including numerous modifications to VA's insurance programs and benefits for Filipinos who served under U.S. command during World War II.
I look forward to the statements of the witnesses and to working with each of the organizations in the 111th Congress.
Link to testimony from all witnesses
Villages Vietnam cease-fire anniversary observance gives war’s vets honor they deserve
Villages Vietnam cease-fire anniversary observance gives war’s vets honor they deserve
By APRIL TOLER, DAILY SUN
THE VILLAGES — Since he left Vietnam 41 years ago, Tom Bray has never felt comfortable attending a Vietnam veterans ceremony.
Until now.
“This is the first time I’ve attended a real service in 41 years,” Bray, a Village of Silver Lake resident, said. “I think that says a lot for The Villages that I felt comfortable enough to come.”
Bray was one of a number of Vietnam veterans who attended Tuesday’s Vietnam Veteran’s Day Ceremony at the Veterans’ Memorial Park of The Villages.
The event commemorated the 36th anniversary of the cease-fire agreement among the United States, North and South Vietnam and the Vietcong that helped put an end to the Vietnam War. And most importantly, it allowed local Vietnam vets to receive the welcome home they never had.
“I remember being totally crushed coming back,” retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Stanley O’Loughlin said. “I was proud of what I had done … but I remember being told as soon as we got off the airplane we had to change into civilian clothes before we got on the bus.”
Although Vietnam veterans received less than a hero’s welcome when they returned from their tour of duty, O’Loughlin said there were lessons to be learned from the time the U.S. spent in Vietnam.
Lessons he hopes America does not repeat.
“I’m going to share with you three lessons we have to be sure our country learned from this experience,” he told the gathering.
According to the 23-year Army veteran, those lessons are: not equating politics with American GIs by supporting soldiers no matter your political beliefs; not punishing soldiers by holding back funding that could potentially save their lives; and making sure veterans are taken care of when they return home.
O’Loughlin challenged the crowd, veterans and nonveterans alike, to make sure their voices are heard when it comes to taking care of soldiers of yesterday, today and the future.
“We are proud to be veterans, and we will support our country any way we can and support our fellow brothers and sisters,” he said.
In addition to O’Loughlin’s inspirational words, local Vietnam veterans also had the opportunity to introduce themselves to the crowd and to hear from their fellow soldiers who fought in a war that remains fresh in most veterans’ minds.
“I’m proud to have been there,” Bill Thornton, who served in 1968-69 said. “God bless America.”
“I thank God I’m alive and I’m here,” said Navy veteran Ray Pavelec who served in Vietnam in 1967-68.
“This is in memory of Sgt. David Paul Nash,” Vietnam veteran Dave Johnson told the crowd. “It was early Dec. 29, 1968 … he threw himself on a grenade, sacrificing his own life to protect (two others). He will always be my hero.”
Even though they may have never heard the welcome-home they deserved to hear decades ago, Vietnam veterans in attendance agreed that even after all these years, it feels good to receive recognition for doing their part in keeping America the land of the free and the home of the brave.
“(This event) makes me even more proud to be a Vietnam veteran,” Villager Frankie Lamberti said.
Bray said he doesn’t regret his decision to finally publicly participate in a service that honors him and his fellow soldiers.
“I enjoyed every bit of it,” he said.
April Toler is a reporter with the Daily Sun. She can be reached at 753-1119, ext. 9013, or april.toler@thevillagesmedia.com.
Villages Vietnam cease-fire anniversary observance gives war’s vets honor they deserve
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Iraq death a suicide, Army says
Iraq death a suicide, Army says
Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, January 24, 2009
An Army investigation has concluded that Capt. Roselle Hoffmaster took her own life by shooting herself in the head while alone in her room in Iraq, The (Springfield, Mass.) Republican reported Thursday.
The report was released to The Republican this week, 16 months after the Army announced that the 32-year-old Hoffmaster, an Army surgeon, had died while on deployment in Kirkuk on Sept. 20, 2007.
As the report describes it, Hoffmaster was found dead on her cot by one of her roommates, an M9 Beretta pistol still in her hand, the Republican wrote.
According to the report, one officer told investigators that Hoffmaster was "swamped from the day she arrived at the unit." Hoffmaster was a last-minute replacement for another surgeon, and was unable to attend a joint readiness training center in Louisiana, the officer said. The officer told investigators he felt the Army did Hoffmaster a disservice and called the situation "a ‘perfect storm’ to create tension and anxiety," according to the Republican.
As the report describes events, Hoffmaster received a verbal reprimand from a supervisor on Sept. 20 for not completing a pre-screening for blood donors. After Hoffmaster walked out of the meeting crying, the supervisor told another officer that Hoffmaster needed to "toughen up," according to the Republican.
The paper wrote that according to the Army report, a female major pulled Hoffmaster aside and gave her a pep talk, telling her she was "in the Army now" and that "everything would be OK." Hoffmaster told the major that "she couldn’t do it anymore and that she wanted to quit," one of Hoffmaster’s roommates told investigators.
Iraq death a suicide, Army says
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If these are the doctors that are caring for our mentally troubled soldiers in Iraq, what does that say for military mental health system?
Man, 93, Freezes to Death in Home
Man, 93, Freezes to Death in Home
posted: 1 HOUR 46 MINUTES AGOcomments: BAY CITY, Mich. (Jan. 26) - A 93-year-old man froze to death inside his home just days after the municipal power company restricted his use of electricity because of unpaid bills, officials said.
Marvin E. Schur died "a slow, painful death," said Kanu Virani, Oakland County's deputy chief medical examiner, who performed the autopsy.
WW II Vet Freezes to Death Inside His Own HomeA 93-year-old man froze to death inside his home just days after the municipal power company restricted his use of electricity because of unpaid bills. The temperature inside the man's house was 32 degrees. (Jan. 27)
Neighbors discovered Schur's body on Jan. 17. They said the indoor temperature was below 32 degrees at the time, The Bay City Times reported Monday.
"Hypothermia shuts the whole system down, slowly," Virani said. "It's not easy to die from hypothermia without first realizing your fingers and toes feel like they're burning."
A city utility worker had installed a "limiter" device to restrict the use of electricity at Schur's home on Jan. 13, said Bay City Manager Robert Belleman. The device limits power reaching a home and blows out like a fuse if consumption rises past a set level. Power is not restored until the device is reset.
There was no word Monday whether the device had blown out or confirmation of the amount Schur owed to Bay City Electric Light & Power; city officials did not respond to a call seeking comment.
Belleman said he didn't know if anyone made personal contact with Schur to explain how the device works.
The body was discovered by neighbor George Pauwels Jr., who said Schur had almost $1,100 in unpaid electric bills. Pauwels told the newspaper he saw cash clipped to those bills on the kitchen table on the day he found Schur's body.
"His furnace was not running, the insides of his windows were full of ice the morning we found him," Pauwels told the Bay City News.
Belleman said city workers keep the limiter on houses for 10 days, then shut off power entirely if the homeowner hasn't paid utility bills or arranged to do so.
He said Bay City Electric Light & Power's policies will be reviewed, but he didn't believe the city did anything wrong.
"I've said this before and some of my colleagues have said this: Neighbors need to keep an eye on neighbors," Belleman said. "When they think there's something wrong, they should contact the appropriate agency or city department."
Schur had no children and his wife had died several years ago.
Bay City is on Saginaw Bay, just north of the city of Saginaw in central Michigan.
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This is shameful in the United States that we allow a WW2 veteran to die in winter in his own home because his power bill was behind. I am a disabled veteran and I am ashamed.
