VoteVets: Obama Demanding Investigation over VA Email

[Coexist]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/5/16/182612/404/501/517154

by Brandon Friedman
Fri May 16, 2008 at 07:06:00 PM EDT

Senator Barack Obama involved himself in the VA email situation today by sending a letter to VA Secretary James Peake demanding an investigation into whether or not the Department of Veterans Affairs is under-diagnosing combat-related PTSD as a cost-cutting measure. Obama then requested hearings on the matter and, within hours, those requests were granted by the chairmen of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees.

This move by Obama comes after VoteVets.org and CREW produced an email on Thursday from a VA official--Norma Perez--in which she advised a number of VA employees, including psychologists, social workers, and a psychiatrist that, due to an increased number of "compensation seeking veterans," the staff should "refrain from giving a diagnosis of PTSD straight out" and they should "R/O PTSD" and consider a diagnosis of "Adjustment Disorder" instead.

The story has now been picked up by the AP, the Washington Post, CBS News, the New York Daily News, MSNBC, CNN, the Politico, and the Military Times.

In his to launch an investigation into the incident to evaluate whether Perez was advised to send this e-mail or give this instruction at the urging of her superiors; whether staff members at the Teague Center followed Perez's advice, and if so, how many veterans were affected by incorrect diagnoses; whether officials at other veterans centers have given some similar admonitions to staff members charged with diagnosing PTSD; whether affected veterans have been given immediate re-diagnoses and; whether this is an incident or a trend through the VA system.

Full text here[br />
At VoteVets, we couldn’t be more pleased to see this issue getting the attention it deserves and we will continue to follow up on our end. For further information, you can read more of our coverage on VetVoice here, here, here, and here (the cross-post).

[skipos]

1. Good. nt

[hendo]

2. damn straight

thanks for the heads up.

[Coexist]

3. you are most welcome.