[Infowarrior] - OT: VA Official Urged Fewer Diagnoses of PTSD

[Richard Forno]

Directing for staff doctors to misdiagnose PTSD in an attempt to cut  
costs, and describing them as "compensation seeking veterans"?????   
Words utterly fail me here.

Of course, aside from the thorny issue of what appears to be a giant f- 
you to our vets, I'm sure the aftermath of this article again will  
raise the issue of Iraq and general military readiness, to say nothing  
about forecasting (let alone budgeting for) military health expenses  
as the result of ongoing operations now in their fifth year.

Stay tuned for what's likely to be her unanimous and bipartisan  
lynching at a likely Congressional hearing.

   ----rf



VA Official Urged Fewer Diagnoses of PTSD

By Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 16, 2008; A02

A psychologist who helps lead the post-traumatic stress disorder  
program at a medical facility for veterans in Texas told staff members  
to refrain from diagnosing PTSD because so many veterans were seeking  
government disability payments for the condition.

"Given that we are having more and more compensation seeking veterans,  
I'd like to suggest that you refrain from giving a diagnosis of PTSD  
straight out," Norma Perez wrote in a March 20 e-mail to mental-health  
specialists and social workers at the Department of Veterans Affairs'  
Olin E. Teague Veterans' Center in Temple, Tex. Instead, she  
recommended that they "consider a diagnosis of Adjustment Disorder."

VA staff members "really don't . . . have time to do the extensive  
testing that should be done to determine PTSD," Perez wrote.

Adjustment disorder is a less severe reaction to stress than PTSD and  
has a shorter duration, usually no longer than six months, said  
Anthony T. Ng, a psychiatrist and member of Mental Health America, a  
nonprofit professional association.

Veterans diagnosed with PTSD can be eligible for disability  
compensation of up to $2,527 a month, depending on the severity of the  
condition, said Alison Aikele, a VA spokeswoman. Those found to have  
adjustment disorder generally are not offered such payments, though  
veterans can receive medical treatment for either condition.

Perez's e-mail was obtained and released publicly yesterday by  
VoteVets.org, a veterans group that has been critical of the Bush  
administration's policies in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Citizens for  
Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a nonprofit government  
watchdog group.

"Many veterans believe that the government just doesn't want to pay  
out the disability that comes along with a PTSD diagnosis, and this  
revelation will not allay their concerns," John Soltz, chairman of  
VoteVets.org and an Iraq war veteran, said in a statement.

Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, said in a statement: "It is  
outrageous that the VA is calling on its employees to deliberately  
misdiagnose returning veterans in an effort to cut costs. Those who  
have risked their lives serving our country deserve far better."

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Peake said Perez has been "counseled" and is "extremely apologetic."  
Aikele said Perez remains in her job.

A Rand Corp. report released in April found that repeated exposure to  
combat stress in Iraq and Afghanistan is causing a disproportionately  
high psychological toll compared with physical injuries. About 300,000  
U.S. military personnel who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan are  
suffering from PTSD or major depression, the study found. The economic  
cost to the United States -- including medical care, forgone  
productivity and lost lives through suicide -- is expected to reach $4  
billion to $6 billion over two years.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/15/AR2008051503533_pf.html