Showing posts with label Gulf War research. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gulf War research. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Philadelphia Veterans Get Massive Awareness Resource

Connecting the dots for veterans 
Philly.com
DON SAPATKIN, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
LAST UPDATED: Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Tim Wynn came home from Iraq in 2003, suffering from what he now knows was PTSD. Wynn pictured at the 9/11 Memorial in New York.

Just four days after coming home to Northeast Philadelphia from Iraq in 2003, Tim Wynn got into a bar fight. The Marine was arrested for the first time in his life.

That wasn't even the worst of it.

"I can remember, my mother and my girlfriend at the time, now my wife, they didn't know what to do," he said. It took five years and six more arrests before he began court-ordered treatment for the PTSD that he didn't know he had.

His homecoming might have been easier if he could have had access to a new website for Philadelphia-area veterans that went live Monday.

It has 200,000 pages of searchable local resources - legal clinics, housing, job openings specifically for veterans - and tens of thousands more about medical conditions, insurance, and veterans organizations.

There are 30,000 pages on assistive devices alone. A diagram of a human lets you click on body parts to begin seeking information about what might be wrong. A keyword search for bills in Harrisburg - "disability" finds 25 bills - allows you to e-mail legislators involved in the effort.

The site is the first local version of www.networkofcare.org for veterans in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Philadelphia hosts sibling sites for inmates released from prison; every Pennsylvania county has one for people with mental health questions.

They were built by Trilogy Integrated Resources L.L.C., a San Rafael, Calif., company that began the local-links concept in its home state more than a decade ago. The early adopters spent millions of dollars developing the sites, Bruce Bronzan, president of Trilogy, said at a City Hall news conference, at which he demonstrated the veterans' website Monday. The local host, the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disabilty Services, paid a $10,000 setup fee; maintenance costs were waived.

Even caseworkers would not otherwise have access to many of the links on the site, Bronzan said. Veterans don't know that many of the services are out there.

"How does somebody find things when they don't even know that they exist to look for?" Bronzan said.
read more here

Sunday, September 21, 2014

5,500 vets on the street in the Sunshine State

Jacksonville Officials See Population Of Homeless Vets Changing
WJCT News
Peter Haden
September 21, 2014
Volunteers assisted nearly 300 veterans at Jacksonville's Stand Down event Saturday.
Credit Peter Haden
Any trend in veteran homelessness will be seen in Florida. In 2013, officials counted more than 5,500 vets on the street in the Sunshine State-- 10 percent of all homeless vets in the nation. Only California had more.

Brian Richmond, 25, was discharged from the United States Air Force four years ago. He's been homeless for the last three and a half.

"My mom passed away. I ran out of money and couldn’t keep my house up, so had to sell it," he said. "So, I had to come out here - out to the streets."

He slept in a tent under a bridge in Jacksonville for two years. Then he got into the Sulzbacher Center - a transitional housing facility where he stays now.

Richmond was one of about 300 vets that came to the Veterans Stand Down Resource Fair Saturday at the Jacksonville Fairgrounds. They had access to medical and dental care, haircuts, clothes and help with legal issues.

It’s the 15th year in a row Jacksonville has hosted the Stand Down event.
read more here

If you care about homeless veterans, you may be interested in this as well.

Veterans housing initiative imperiled by Shinseki's resignation
But an estimated 50,000 veterans remain homeless, and Shinseki, the driving force behind the initiative, is now gone, forced to resign amid the department's health care scandal. There are concerns that Congress, despite bipartisan support in the past, will not continue to finance the program at its current level.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Think of PTSD in a Different Way

What comes next depends on how you see PTSD
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 10, 2014
Combat PTSD is Change, Change Again

If you think you are stuck the way you are with PTSD, then why bother getting up? Why bother going for help? You wouldn't. Yet if you have even a tiny fraction of hope that tomorrow can be better than today is, then would it be worth trying? Sometimes PTSD is this;
Painful
Transition
from
Stressful
Deployments
"Transition: movement, passage, or change from one position, state, stage, subject, concept, etc., to another; change:"

From one state or condition to another. That is what "transition" is. You transitioned from being a kid to teenager, to adult, to soldier and now, you're transitioning into veteran. You are far from done changing and far from being stuck where you are as you are. Coming home with PTSD is making the PAINFUL TRANSITION FROM STRESSFUL DEPLOYMENTS to living a happier life and healing.

If you want to, you can change right now and start healing. Begin with forgetting about "fitting" back in with the people you spent pre-military life with. Did they go with you? Did they understand you wanting to join? Doubt it. They had no clue what pulled you into joining and they will have no clue what you went through, what it was like with the buddies you were with or what it is like for you now.

Hang out with other veterans. Doesn't matter if they were where you were or in the same country you were in. You'll fit fine with them. It doesn't matter if they are your age or not simply because they are part of the same 7% group you're in. Veteran!

Face another fact that you're going to have to work on the healing thing. You won't change if you don't work at it. You didn't get deployed without training and you can't change again without training to do it.

Discover the different types of PTSD. Combat is different from all others. Look it up online. There is a reason you have PTSD and you begin to heal once you understand the "why" in all of this. Learn why the different parts of you need to be treated and that your mind controls all of it. Your mind controls your body and it also controls your emotions. That part of your brain holds your spirit/soul and it needs to be treated as well as every other part of you.

Learn how to calm your nerves down and how to change your focus off what is bad onto what is good and healing.

You'll get there but it won't be quick and it won't be easy. The only thing you have to decide right now is, do you want to change again or not?

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Whistleblower vindicated over VA suicide cover-up

VA Concedes Whistleblower's Allegations Were True, Including That It Ignored Veterans' Suicidal Tendencies
International Business Times
By Jamie Reno
February 19 2014

A government whistleblower who suffered retaliation from his agency has been vindicated by a Department of Veterans Affairs admission that it failed to reach out to 2,000 veterans in a research study who said they had suicidal ideas, many of whom later committed suicide.

The agency's admission, which has not been previously publicized, resulted from a congressional inquiry into the allegations of Dr. Steven Coughlin, a former epidemiologist at the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Public Health, who disclosed that the VA was guilty of shocking ethical lapses.

It has been nearly a year since Coughlin told the House Veterans Affairs Committee’s (HVAC) Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations that he had waged a protracted battle against his supervisors over ongoing and very serious problems at VA, including its failure to follow up with some 2,000 vets who indicated in a survey that they'd had suicidal thoughts.

Coughlin, who conducted surveys of 1991 Gulf War veterans as well as veterans from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom--Afghanistan, also said that VA obscured facts about the impact of toxic exposures on troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and the causes of Gulf War illness, and that his bosses intimidated, bullied and admonished him for speaking out.
read more here

Linked from Veterans For Common Sense

UPDATE FROM FORBES
Investigation Proves Whistleblower Claims That VA Neglected Some Suicidal Veterans
Rebecca Ruiz
February 28, 2014
After interviewing several VA staff and reviewing 3,000 pages of relevant documentation, the investigators substantiated three of 10 allegations made by Coughlin:

VA lost medical data obtained from the children and spouses of Gulf War veterans that might have demonstrated an association between illnesses, including those related to wartime exposure, in service members and their offspring;

Coughlin’s superiors responded to his concerns in a way that could have been perceived as threatening or retaliatory;

VA neglected to contact participants in a study of Gulf War veterans who shared suicidal thoughts or feelings.
read more here

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Wounded Times Sixth Year of Putting Veterans First

Wounded Times Sixth Year of Putting Veterans First
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
August 10, 2013

Six years ago today, Wounded Times was "born" because of a Marine. He wrote that while he turned to my older site for information on PTSD, he didn't want to read, as he put it, "political bullshit" I wrote. I got defensive and defended my right to post what I wanted to in a rather lengthy email. He responded back with only one question. "Are you doing this for us or yourself?" I cried. He was right.

When I was done crying about the question and the ugly truth about what I was doing to the very people I was trying to help, I made the Marine a promise. From that moment on, I would start a new blog just for them. The only time he would have to read anything political was when a politician did something for them or to them. Wounded Times started that very day.

The political divide sucked me in. I fell into the same trap I complained about the most. The truth is no political party has it all right or all wrong. I had forgotten that. Republicans have been able to claim they are strong on military matters because they are strong supporters of defense contractors. Their spending bills usually involve their issues. They are needed to supply the troops with what they need to defend the country. Democrats have been able to say they are strong on military matters because they tend to do bills for the troops and veterans. Both are necessary but neither of these groups are right on every issue or wrong on them. They just have different views. If they work together a lot can be accomplished but when they are too busy fighting against the other side, things go to hell.

There was a time when I believed that everyone was divided because of what I was watching on TV. I watched FOX after 9-11 because I thought they had the best coverage of it and the wars we were getting into. Then they started talking about how evil it was to think the way I did on too many subjects. I turned to MSNBC and heard a lot about what I agreed with but they were slamming too many of what my friends believed in. I turned to CNN thinking I would hear the middle of the road politically blended with the news but soon I discovered they were not really interested in reporting on what used to matter to the country as a whole with national news coverage. They got political too only they were pushing the divide deeper. Aa the years went on the Marine was proven right. It was all political bullshit.

If we were viewed truthfully, the American people are not all about politics. We don't show up at a neighbors house to help them out only if they belong to the party we do. We don't stand in line at the grocery store talking about politics. We don't offer our blood to help others only if it goes to save the lives of another Republican or Democrat. We work together as Americans.

Our proudest moments have come after tragedy. We proved that after 9-11 and our broken hearts turned to gratefulness for the first responders and construction crews showing up to recover the bodies without giving up. Time and time again, we marveled at the dedication and love they had for each other as well as us total strangers they were willing to die for. They do it all the time but what do we do? When it comes time for budget cuts, they are an easy way out. Cut their jobs and their pensions and then wonder why they don't show up when we need them. Both sides let it happen all the time.

Then we do the same thing to the men and women serving in the military. We cheer them when they go off to war but they better end it fast or we not only lose interest, we want them pulled out because it is taking too long and costing too much money. We never seem to have the ability to demand the leaders come up with the proper plans to accomplish what the troops were sent to do.

We stop paying attention to what is going on, what is happening to them when they come home and only manage to remember them on Memorial Day and Veterans Day. It never really dawns on us they are veterans every day of the year and for the rest of their lives they will live with the wounds born out of battle in our name.

After six years I've heard some pretty lousy things like people complaining about gays in the military even though they have always served including friends of mine. Some of them have PTSD because of the way they were treated by others but they don't give up. They fight to stay in. If they are discharged, they turn around and fight for veterans rights as well as needs.

Patriot Guard Riders began because Westboro Baptist hate group started stalking families with signs thanking God for soldier dying because some of military folks were gay. They are so filled with hate they have corrupted Christianity.

John 3:6-8
New International Version (NIV)
6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’
8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”


In other words, God doesn't have much to do with biology after He started all of life but He has a lot to do with the soul He not only created but remembers. There was a time when people thought that if someone was suffering physically, it was punishment from God and if they lived a long life they were blessed. What is worse is when a baby was born with birth defects, God judged the sins of the parents. Now we know better. Most of us believe our job is to love and not judge but folks like Westboro get more attention than the majority of Christians.

This brings us back to the reason for this site. Veterans are only 7% of the population and less than 1% serve in the military today. Pretty small demographic and even smaller when you consider there are even less disabled veterans. There are only 3.61 million veterans receiving VA Compensation. Even smaller demographic to focus on and that is the part that gets to me the most. We have allowed the national broadcast news to forget all about them.

Their stories are out there and you've read them everyday on the over 19,000 posts on Wounded Times. Could you imagine if CNN, FOX and MSNBC spent a quarter of the time on them as they did on George Zimmerman? What would happen if they reported on the fact that two Medal of Honor Heros have come out talking about having PTSD as much as they covered the Zimmerman trial or Jodi Arias? Dakota Meyer tried to kill himself and the newest veteran receiving the Medal of Honor Ty Carter has been very open about his own PTSD struggle. They haven't gotten nearly enough attention on the courage they showed after combat so that others may find the strength to live and fight the enemy inside of them as much as they fought the ones they could see.

Marine Maj. Gen. James Livingston who wears the Medal of Honor from Vietnam.
"Now I'm a believer in early intervention" by therapists in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, the diagnosis for what was called battle fatigue or shell shock in wars gone by, Livingston said.

He was with 12 other decorated heroes appointed to the special Veterans Disability Benefits Commission as they presented the findings of their two-year study to the House Veterans Committee.

The commission had 113 recommendations for reforming how the military and Veterans Administration cope with disabled troops. They called for hikes of up to 25% in disability payments, and increased funding and programs for PTSD treatment."

Livingston didn't get enough attention or Brig. General Gary S. Patton and Gen. Carter Ham Maj. Gen. David Blackledge and the list goes on but the national news forgets about national heros.

One of my friends told me I was insane to do what I do getting nothing back. I don't get financial support and very little emotional support. It just doesn't make sense to do this much work when I could get so much more attention by falling in line with the political crap or covering another subject. He's right but this is what I made the choice to do over 30 years ago when my life changed and I fell in love with yet another member of a forgotten demographic. A Vietnam veteran with PTSD.

So now after six years of reading Wounded Times, I'll leave it up to you if I go on or not. You keep reading and I'll keep telling the truth about what is going on. This has been six years of insanity for me most of the time but whatever price I paid financially and emotionally has been worth it.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Moving beyond PTSD

Moving beyond PTSD: help is available!
Holloman Air Force Base Public Affairs Office
Story by Staff Sgt. Carolyn Herrick
May 8, 2013

HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. - An estimated 11 to 20 percent of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, 10 percent of veterans of the Gulf War, and 30 percent of Vietnam veterans suffer from PTSD, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Those percentages represent hundreds of thousands of military service members like Master Sgt. James Haskell, a former aerial gunner now stationed at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., who was diagnosed with the disorder in October 2012.

"Different people respond to trauma different ways, so some things that may not be traumatic to one person, for someone else may be traumatic - it depends upon the person," said Maj. Phillip Howell, clinical psychologist and 49th Medical Operations Squadron mental health flight commander.

The basic indicators of PTSD, according to Howell, include a traumatic event and then either re-experiencing that event, avoiding things which remind them of the event, or hyper arousal. If they meet a certain number of criteria for those three symptoms, they are diagnosed with PTSD.

"The sooner you come in and get treated, the better the chances of you recovering," he said.
read more here

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Gulf War illness research threatened by VA, UT Southwestern disputes

When anyone uses money from the government, (the tax payers) they need to live up to the rules in place when they accepted the check. Looks like that didn't happen here.

Gulf War illness research threatened by VA, UT Southwestern disputes

12:20 AM CDT on Sunday, July 26, 2009
By SCOTT K. PARKS / The Dallas Morning News
sparks@dallasnews.com

The UT Southwestern Medical Center conference room was brimming with dignitaries on April 21, 2006. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Dallas billionaire Ross Perot looked on as university administrators and the federal government agreed to spend $75 million to research the causes of Gulf War illness.

More than three years later, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has spent only a fraction of the earmarked money, and contract disputes between the VA and UT Southwestern are threatening the entire project run by noted epidemiologist Robert Haley.



The report also criticizes UT Southwestern for ignoring contract provisions requiring protection of veteran medical data and privacy.

"Given UTSWMC's continued refusal to comply with the terms and conditions of the contract, UTSWMC has given VA no option other than to terminate the contract for default," the inspector general report said.

Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, wrote to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki the day after the inspector general's report became public.

"I ask that you look into this matter immediately and implement the recommendation to terminate the contract for default so that VA's funds can be directed to research projects that will help those veterans affected by Gulf War Illness," Akaka wrote.

read more here

Gulf War illness research threatened by VA

Friday, November 14, 2008

Panel: Gulf War vet health research lacking

Panel: Gulf War vet health research lacking

By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Nov 14, 2008 6:46:12 EST

WASHINGTON — Even as possibly hundreds of thousands of veterans suffer from a collection of symptoms commonly called Gulf War illness, the government has done too little to find treatments for their health problems nearly two decades after the war ended, a panel commissioned by Congress said.

The advisory panel of medical experts and veterans wants at least $60 million spent annually for research, calling it a “national obligation,” according to its report, obtained by The Associated Press.

The report, which goes to the Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake on Monday, said the Defense Department cut research money from $30 million in 2001 to less than $5 million in 2006. Both departments have identified some of their research as “Gulf War research” even when it did not entirely focus on the issue.

“Substantial federal Gulf War research funding has been used for studies that have little or no relevance to the health of Gulf War veterans,” the panel concluded.

Independent scientists have declared that the symptoms of veterans of the 1991 Gulf War do not constitute a single syndrome. They have pointed to pesticide, used to control insects, and pyridostigmine bromide pills, given to protect troops from nerve agents, as probable culprits for some of the varied symptoms.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/ap_gulfwarresearch_111408/