BernieHund: The Political Watchdog

Back on my soap box, friends.  I have tried to give the VA the benefit of the doubt, or perhaps, I was lost in wishful thinking.  Amid recent reports of the VA improving everything they do to help and assist our wounded (physically and mentally) I had great hope that our country had finally decided to step up to the plate when it comes to our beloved veterans. 

And, so it turns out that these men and women who fought in Iraq were lied into war and their mental and physical health care was lied about when they left it.  Today I listened to Secretary of Defense Gates chastise our military for lack of performance or change in practices.  I didn’t hear anyone from the government chastise the VA for its piss poor performance.  It seems that it is quite okay to take our young men and women and break them, but it is something not properly addressed when it comes to repairing them.

Thanks to CBS news

Now, CBS News has obtained never-before seen patient data from the Department of Veterans Affairs, detailing the growing number of suicide attempts among vets recently treated by the VA.

The data reveals a marked overall increase - from 462 attempts in 2000 to 790 in 2007.

“This is highly statistically significant,” said Dr. Bruce Levin, head of the biostatistics department at Columbia University. Levin is one of three experts who analyzed the data for CBS News.

“I’d characterize it as something that deserves further attention,” Levin said. “Overall the data suggests about a 44 percent increase and that is not due to chance.”

According to the experts, two age groups stood out between 2000 and 2007. First, ages 20-24 - those likely to have served during the Iraq-Afghan wars. Suicide attempts rose from 11 to 47.

According to the report, this negligence is nothing new.  It further reported on veterans who are of the age range to have served in Viet Nam.  Of course, those of us in that age range are fully aware that the government denied almost every health issue reported in those days…. from PTSD to Agent Orange.

And for vets ages 55 to 59, suicide attempts jumped from 19 to 117.

In both age groups, the attempted suicides grew at a rate much faster than the VA patient population as a whole.

None of us are so naive as to believe that every suicide can be prevented.  But, the numbers reveal a significant failure.

In addition, this VA study, also obtained exclusively by CBS News, reveals the increasing number of veterans who recently received VA services … and still succeeded in committing suicide: rising from 1,403 suicides in 2001 to 1,784 in 2005 - figures the VA has never made public.

What is even more disheartening is that the VA has denied the existence of such statistics.  According to Rep. Robert Filner, Chairman of the House Committee of Veterans’ Affairs, the committee has requested information repeatedly.  When asked to respond to the new disclosure…

 ”Well, given the fact that we keep asking for data and they say, ‘we don’t have any,’ yes, it surprises me,” Filner said.

It angers Filner. “If we can’t get the correct information, we can’t do our job. We can’t prevent every suicide but you can prevent a whole lot of them and it’s our duty as a nation to do that.”

Certainly, the VA should have given up the numbers to the House Committee.  But, to assume that the committee has no responsibility for the negligence is something beyond my comprehension.  What world do they live in?  I cannot accept the fact that the House or the Chairman would just take the word of the VA, a system that is known to lie and be guilty of nothing short of criminal negligence when it comes to caring for our veterans.

When given a chance to respond to the disclosures, the VA gave the pat answer…. another lie.

The VA declined to speak on-camera about this story, but in an e-mail, said it “takes the issue of veteran suicide very seriously” and “has been doing a thorough data investigation to document the number of patient suicide attempts…”

It insists the patient suicides are “…consistent with national trends,” despite recent studies that show veteran suicide rates are substantially higher than those of non-veterans.

Typical!  The VA would not send a spokesman into the light of day to respond to the allegations and information made by CBS.  Instead, the Veterans’ Administration sent an e-mail.  That says something, don’t you think?  An e-mail! 

As much as I am against the continuation of the War in Iraq… or war in general… we owe a debt to those who serve and have served.  This is not a statement of war or about war.  Our concern should be for the men and women we are killing, maiming, disfiguring, disabling both physically and mentally.  These men and women are our members of the generation who will lead this country forward, who will help shape our place in the world in the future.  They have paid the price at a young age and we cannot kick them to the curb like a crushed can. 

It is not alright for our veterans to sleep in the streets.  It is not alright for our veterans to go without the benefits the government promised them.  It is not alright for our veterans to receive anything less than the best care when they return home. 

Once again, the disgrace of the VA tops the list of mismanagement and negligence.  And, as for Dr. Katz, the head of the VA for mental health…. he should be fired.  He denied the problem before Congress.  In 2007 he called the numbers presented to him concerning the number of suicides “a back of the envelope calculation” claiming that CBS has presented numbers that did not coincide with his statistics.  It was discovered three days later that he sent an email confirming the CBS numbers.  Repeatedly, Dr. Katz has lied about the numbers and made every effort to cover up the trail of his lies and misrepresentations. 

Unfortunately, as with so many of the other federal agencies, civilian or military, the head of the mental health department of the VA needs to be fired!  It’s time to clean house across Washington.