Pennsylvania VA Caught Manipulating Data On Patient Care Daily Caller
MICHAEL VOLPE
Contributor
June 3, 2016
In his initial 2013 review, DeNofrio found that out of 647 patients identified as having a TBI who the hospital said were receiving care 414 were not receiving any care. Out of those left, DeNofrio found that 97 were still in need of follow-up appointments.
The Veteran Affairs Office of Inspector General (VAOIG) is currently investigating the Altoona Pennsylvania VA Medical Center (VAMC) for manipulating data in treating patients with traumatic brain injuries (TBI).
“We have opened a case based on a review of the information you sent to our office,” according to a May 10 email sent to James DeNofrio, an Altoona VAMC employee and whistleblower who originally filed the complaint.
Because veterans who suffer TBIs can develop all sorts of physical and psychological issues ranging from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) they require specialized care which is provided in polytrauma at the Altoona VAMC.
The problems started in 2013 when Dr. David MacPherson, then the Chief Medical Officer for Veteran Integrated Services Network (VISN) 4, a region which includes the Altoona VAMC, expressed concerns that the number of TBI patients purported to be treated at the Altoona VAMC appeared to be unusually high.
“Altoona reports a very large number of case managed polytrauma Veterans and I don’t think the report is accurate,” Dr. MacPherson said in a 2013 email to Dr. Santha Kurian, the chief of staff of the Altoona VAMC.
A call to VISN 4 was left unreturned and Andrea Young, public affairs officer for the Altoona VAMC said Dr. MacPherson has since retired.
DeNofrio was then tasked with reviewing the TBI files.
According to subsequent emails sent to superiors, DeNofrio found that not only did Altoona VAMC take credit for providing polytraumatic care to patients who were not receiving it — many who the hospital claimed were receiving care had moved to other parts of the country and DeNofrio discovered one was in jail. He also found dozens of veterans with TBI who were receiving no care at all. read more here
A Navy SEAL's last act of service: A search for the truth about brain disease and the military The Virginian-Pilot By Corinne Reilly Special to The Virginian-Pilot May 28, 2016
On the afternoon of March 12, 2014, Jennifer Collins checked her phone and found a message from her husband, Dave Collins, a retired Navy SEAL. He’d texted to say that she should pick up their son from kindergarten, and then this: “So sorry baby. I love you all.”
Hours later, two police officers showed up at their house in Virginia Beach with news that Dave, 45, had shot himself in his truck a few miles away. Although Jennifer had held out hope for any other explanation, she also knew the moment she read it what the text meant. For months, she’d watched Dave disintegrate into a man she hardly knew. She’d tried everything, but nothing had alleviated his severe insomnia, intense anxiety and worsening cognitive problems.
“I was so frustrated that I couldn’t find the answers he needed,” she remembers.
It was out of that frustration, she says, that the idea came to donate his brain to research. She was still answering a detective’s questions in her living room that night when she blurted it out: Tell the medical examiner to do whatever is needed to preserve Dave’s brain. She hoped the decision might help others struggling with what everyone believed explained Dave’s afflictions – traumatic brain injury and PTSD, the most common wounds of the post-9/11 wars.
“That’s what he’d been diagnosed with,” Jennifer says. “I had no reason to think there was anything else to find.”
In June, three months after Dave died, a letter came from the doctor who examined his brain. It left Jennifer stunned.
What had caused Dave’s unraveling was chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease best known for affecting former professional football players. Associated with repeated head trauma, CTE causes neurological decay, has no known treatment and can be diagnosed only at autopsy. It is linked to memory loss, personality changes, depression, impulsivity, dementia and suicide. read more here
VA Secretary Joins Others in Pledge to Donate their Brains to VA-lead TBI Research Program
April 20, 2016
VA Secretary Joins Others in Pledge to Donate their Brains to VA-lead TBI Research Program
WASHINGTON - Today the Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert A. McDonald announced that he, along with three-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Nancy Hogshead-Makar and former NFL player and Super Bowl champion Phil Villapiano, have pledged to donate their brains to advance brain research conducted by VA in partnership with the Concussion Legacy Foundation.
The announcement was made at the VA-hosted Brain Trust: Pathways to InnoVAtion, a public-private partner event which builds on the trailblazing efforts of a number of distinguished VA brain researchers and brings together many of the most influential voices in the field of brain health to identify and advance solutions for mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
“As I listened to the very powerful personal stories from Veterans and the challenges the world’s top researchers are working to overcome in TBI, I made a decision: I decided to join the hundreds of Veterans and athletes who have already donated their brain to the VA Brain Bank so that I may, in a small way, contribute to the vital research happening to better understand brain trauma,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert A. McDonald. “This is a very, very serious issue, one that affects Veterans and non-Veterans alike. We don’t know nearly as much as we should about brain health, but if there’s one thing I’ve seen after visiting almost 300 VA facilities in the past two years: our Veterans, particularly those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are greatly affected by TBI. VA needs to continue leading the coalition of scientists working to improve their lives.
“Building more and stronger strategic partnerships is one of the five strategies of the MyVA transformation. Today, we witnessed a room full of the world’s leading experts coming together under the convening authority of VA to solve one of our most significant challenges, particularly among our younger Veterans. I’m proud to do my part because I know that the researchers at VA are committed to improving lives and they have my full support.”
“Concussions were ignored for a long time and viewed largely as an invisible injury but chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is something we can see and something we can understand. It reveals that brain trauma can have long-term and devastating consequences,” said Chris Nowinski, former WWE wrester and co-founder and president of the Concussion Legacy Foundation which leads outreach and recruiting for the VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank. “The Concussion Legacy Foundation is working to create a culture of brain donation in America by asking living athletes and Veterans to donate their brains to the Brain Bank to be researched by VA and Boston University researchers. It’s a perfect partnership because the most common victims of CTE are athletes and Veterans and by researching both as a part of one program, the sports community and Veteran community can work together to solve this problem. We all need to work together to solve the concussion crisis.”
The VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank is directed by VA’s own Dr. Ann McKee and is located at the Bedford VA Medical Center. It is now the largest sports mTBI and CTE repository in the world with over 325 brains donated, and over a thousand more pledged.
“The research on CTE all started with VA; it began with a VA patient who was a well-known boxer and from that first case of CTE, it has morphed into a tremendous research effort involving NIH, DoD and many other organizations,” said Dr. Ann McKee. “This is not a problem we can solve in any one lab. It’s going to take medical researchers and scientists working with business to detect where it first starts – on the battlefield and sports field. We will need health assessments going into the future for many years. That will take innovation and real input from industry to stimulate this research. That’s why we need a collective effort and his group of leaders is so important. I’m proud to be here encouraging us all to work together to better care for America’s Veterans and patients.”
Brain Trust: Pathways to InnoVAtion is a two-day public-private partnership event hosted by VA. As the largest, integrated health care system in the country, VA is using its convening authority to bring together many of the most influential voices in the field of brain health – to include the Department of Defense, the sports industry, private sector, federal government, Veterans and community partners - to identify and advance solutions for mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Issues related to brain health and head trauma transcend the Veteran and military community, impacting all Americans. By highlighting the themes of collaborative research, medical technology, and sports innovation for player safety, Brain Trust participants are discussing the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and reintegration of Veterans, athletes, and Americans in general - suffering from head trauma related injuries. The event will also serve as a showcase for many of the advancements that VA is pioneering to improve brain health for Veterans, the military and for the American public at large.
In addition to many of the world’s most accomplished brain research scientists, Brain Trust attendees include sports commentator Bob Costas, Gen. Peter Chiarelli (CEO of One Mind, and the former Vice Chief of Staff of the Army), Briana Scurry (former U.S. Women’s Soccer Player), Jeanne Marie Laskas (author of the GQ article that inspired the movie “Concussion”), Terry O’Neil (16-time Emmy award winner), representatives from the NFL Players Association, the NFL, the NCAA, DARPA, DOD, NIH, CDC, and many more.
Veteran stops in Pinellas during record paddleboarding trip FOX 13 News
By: Kellie Cowan
POSTED:APR 16 2016
"That was like the lights finally coming on for the first time in a long time in a dark room and it was a wonderful place," said Collins
CLEARWATER (FOX 13) - After 20 years of Special Forces service, which included tours in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Iraq, Josh Collins is now taking on the biggest mission of his life: a 3,500-mile paddleboard trek that will take him from Corpus Christie, TX to the Statue of Liberty on his paddle board.
It's all in the name of bringing awareness to fellow soldiers who, like him, suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury.
Collins says Task Dagger Force, a charity dedicated to helping wounded Special Forces veterans and their families, helped save his life.
He's now hoping his recover story will inspire others suffering from TBI and PTSD as well. read more here
Quaker House vigil to draw attention to mental health care for jailed vets Fay Observer
By Drew Brooks Military editor
April 10, 2016
"Approximately one in 10 prison inmates have served in the military," Newsom said. "Many suffer from PTSD and/or traumatic brain injury, which increases the likelihood of violent, aggressive and impulsive behavior and requires a regular regime of therapy and medication."
Activists looking to improve the mental health care for jailed veterans will host a vigil outside the Airborne and Special Operations Museum on Monday.
The event will start at 5 p.m. at the museum, 100 Bragg Blvd.
It's led by the Fayetteville Quaker House, which has circulated a petition in recent weeks aimed at encouraging state leaders to provide better care for service members and veterans behind bars, including Joshua Eisenhauer, a former Fort Bragg staff sergeant who was sentenced to between 10 and 18 years in prison last year for charges related to a 2012 shooting at his apartment.
Lynn Newsom, a Quaker House director, said Eisenhauer suffers from severe combat related post-traumatic stress.
She said he is held in an open room with 30 other prisoners, allowed to see a social worker only about once every two months.
And the prison, she said, abuts a shooting range, which worsens his trauma. read more here
On March 3, U.S. Rep. Tim Walz introduced the Fairness for Veterans Act. The bill essentially does many of the same things Nordgaard is trying to do with his group in Red Wing.
"Walz said the problem is potentially very widespread. Since 2009, at least 22,000 veterans have been discharged who have suffered PTSD or a TBI for misconduct. While not all of these incidents of misconduct can be linked to combat trauma, the potential there is big."
Coffman said his amendment came in response to a three-day series of stories in The Gazette last month detailing how the number of soldiers discharged from the Army for misconduct has surged 67 percent since 2009 at posts with the most combat troops.
(Eric) Highfill and more than 100,000 other troops left the armed services with "bad paper" over the past decade of war. Many went to war, saw combat, even earned medals before they broke the rules of military discipline or in some cases committed serious crimes. The bad discharge means no VA assistance, no disability compensation, no GI Bill, and it's a red flag on any job application. Most veterans service organizations don't welcome bad paper vets, and even many private sector jobs programs for vets accept honorable discharge only.
Observers say the boards are overwhelmed. And, despite a growing caseload from Iraq and Afghanistan, the staff at the Army Review Boards Agency has steadily shrunk. In 2014, it had 135 employees to process 22,500 cases, according to an agency briefing.
That is just for the Army alone.
KPCC reported this number on March 16, 2016
According to data obtained by KPCC from the Defense Manpower Data Center, more than 615,000 Army, Navy, Marine, and Air Force veterans were discharged with less-than-honorable discharges from 1990-2015.
'It is unbelievable': Wounded vets get housing help from Operation Finally Home NBC TODAY Eun Kyung Kim April 4, 2016
Staff Sgt. Patrick Rogers used to come to the rescue of others when he worked as an Army medic in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, a non-profit organization helping wounded veterans is helping Rogers to help pay him back for his service.
Rogers returned home with a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder after being injured by an explosion set off by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan. The injuries made it difficult for him to work and support his wife and their three kids.
That's when he got some help from Operation Finally Home, a non-profit that works with corporate sponsors, builders and developers to provide mortgage-free houses for wounded veterans, keeping their specific physical limitations and needs in mind.
"These houses are built around what the vet's going to need," Rogers said. "In the future months, I will probably be in a wheelchair. I have to have some major surgeries. They build the houses to accommodate everything they could think of for the vets." read more here
They are running to fund help for PTSD and TBI, which is a good thing. But yet again, they are using "22" as if that is a real number. Will these folks raising awareness ever get the point that it is much more than 'just a number' to use?
PHOTOS: Shepherd's Men run through Lynchburg The News and Advance
The Shepherd's Men group came through Lynchburg Tuesday, March 28, 2016 as part of a 1,500-mile journey between Boston and Atlanta to raise money for the SHARE Military Initiative, a donor-funded 12-week-program that treats the physical and psychological effects of traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress disorder. read more here
One hundred percent of the donation goes to the IFHF’s mission of building nine Intrepid Spirit centers around the country that diagnose and treat Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and psychological health conditions in U.S. service members. Currently, Intrepid Spirit Centers are operational at Fort Belvoir, VA; Camp Lejeune, NC; Fort Campbell, KY; Fort Bragg, NC; and Fort Hood, TX. Each Intrepid Spirit center costs approximately $11 million to construct and equip with the latest in brain technology and treatment facilities and spans 25,000 square feet.
In January 2007 the Fund completed construction of the Center for the Intrepid, a $55 million world-class state-of-the-art physical rehabilitation center at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. The Center serves military personnel who have been catastrophically disabled in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and veterans severely injured in other operations and in the normal performance of their duties. The 60,000 square foot Center provides ample space and facilities for the rehabilitation needs of the patients and their caregivers. It includes modern physical rehabilitation equipment and extensive indoor and outdoor facilities.
What's missing? The majority of the veterans in this country, Pre-2001, who fought the wars and carried the scars the same as the newer veterans.
Legislation would halt bad military discharges due to PTSD, TBI Military Times Leo Shane III March 7, 2016
In the past, that decision covered only a select group of Vietnam veterans. The new memo would expand that to all veterans, and waive statutes of limitations for those appeals.
Lawmakers want to avoid having troops disgracefully forced from the ranks because of behavior related to post-traumatic stress or traumatic brain injuries, but Pentagon officials may already be on the way to fixing the problem.
Last week, a coalition of Republican and Democratic lawmakers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan introduced legislation to ensure that military discharge review boards must consider troops’ mental health issues, and must accept a PTSD or TBI diagnosis from a professional as an acceptable rebuttal to a dismissal.
The move could affect thousands of military discharges each year and open the door for a review of more. Army officials have confirmed that at least 22,000 combat veterans have received less-than-honorable discharges since 2009, many for minor offenses like alcohol use or lateness.
For some troops, those infractions are a sign of untreated issues like PTSD and TBI. A less-than-honorable discharge severely limits the care and support options for those veterans, leaving them with decreased medical support and an increased risk of suicide.
“Those discharges could be a death sentence for these veterans,” said Kris Goldsmith, an advocate behind the legislative push. read more here
The terrifying link between concussions and suicide is the headline on the Washington Post and after reading it, it seems as if there is a lot that is contributing to suicides in our veterans.
As someone with over 50 years walking around following a concussion and a fractured skull, it makes a lot of sense but it also causes concern that researchers are still learning how to crawl through researching what is happening instead of being able to run marathons on how to help healing.
The terrifying link between concussions and suicide Washington Post Erin Blakemore Feburary 22, 2016
“The magnitude of the increased risk surprised me,” says Donald Redelmeier, a practicing physician and professor of medicine who led the study. “I always had my doubts about whether individuals fully recover from concussions, but I never thought I’d find a three-fold increase in risk.”
Suicide and brain injury have long been linked by scientists, but just how many people who have had a brain injury end up committing suicide? A new study has a grim answer: It found that the longterm risk of suicide increases three-fold among adults who have had concussions.
That’s the conclusion of a team of Canadian researchers who studied a health insurance database of more than 235,000 people. Their work was recently published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Rather than focus on athletes or people who were hospitalized for days or weeks after head injuries, they looked at ordinary people who had concussions but did not sustain severe brain injury. read more here
Hampton VA nurse convicted of sexually assaulting patient previously raped The Virginian-Pilot By Scott Daugherty 17 hrs ago
According to a news release drafted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Lopez was a nurse in the hospital’s emergency department on Sept. 20, 2014, when a woman sought treatment for a leg injury.
The woman had post-traumatic stress disorder related to a prior rape and two traumatic brain injuries, the release said.
NEWPORT NEWS
Juan M. Lopez, 52, of Virginia Beach is set for sentencing May 19.
He faces the possibility of life in prison.
Courtesy Photo
A former nurse at the Hampton VA Medical Center was convicted Friday on charges of aggravated sexual assault and making a false statement to a federal agent. Juan M. Lopez, 52, of Virginia Beach is set for sentencing May 19 in U.S. District Court in Newport News. He faces the possibility of life in prison.
A federal jury returned the guilty verdicts Friday on the fourth day of trial.
Stephen Plott, Lopez’s attorney, maintained his client’s innocence and said he was disappointed in the jury’s verdict.
read more here
Marine Base Blamed for Triple Killing
Courthouse News
By KATHERINE PROCTOR
February 1, 2016
SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - The Quantico Marine Corps base's failure to monitor a mentally ill sergeant allowed him to kill his ex-girlfriend, her boyfriend and himself in the barracks, the late woman's father claims in Federal Court.
Isaac Castro sued the United States on behalf of his late daughter Sara Castromata's estate, claiming the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va. mishandled the medical records and weapons of Sgt. Eusebio Lopez.
Lopez, who had documented head trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder, was transferred to Quantico, Va. from Camp Lejeune, N.C. in May 2012. Castro claims the Quantico base never obtained or reviewed Lopez's medical records, and that the sergeant stopped receiving treatment for his mental disability as a result.
Lopez moved into Quantico barracks in September 2012, but base command did not ensure that his weapons were registered and stored at the armory, Castro says. His weapons included a semi-automatic pistol, a shotgun and several large knives. read more here
Fort Hood satellite center 'symbolizes hope' for injured soldiers
Killeen Daily Herald
JC Jones
Herald staff writer
January 31, 2016
“It symbolizes that no matter what the soldier has been through, they may be broken, but they’re still standing, and able to heal. It really symbolizes hope,” said Christopher Miller, chief nursing officer at the Intrepid Center.
Eric J. Shelton | Herald
Fort Hood Intrepid Center
FORT HOOD — Soldiers being treated for traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder now have a new home for treatment at Fort Hood.
The National Intrepid Center of Excellence Satellite Center at Fort Hood opened its doors to patients for the first time Jan. 11, ushering in a new era of care on post.
The 25,000-square-foot facility includes state-of-the-art technology, a fully functioning gym, a yoga and meditation area, group session rooms, an outdoor patio and a staff of health care and mental health professionals, all to offer a multidisciplinary, holistic approach to treating TBI, PTSD and other conditions.
“Some of the equipment that we have here now is going to allow us to be better able to quantify objectively how service members are doing upon their initiation of treatment, and then what happens while they’re going through treatment,” Dr. Scot Engel, the center’s director, said.
Ground broke on the center in June 2014. It is the fifth of its kind on military installations across the country, all part of a joint effort by the government and the private sector. The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, a nonprofit organization, donated $11 million to Fort Hood’s Intrepid Center. A similar facility at Fort Bragg, N.C., also opened recently. read more here
Air Force Updates Wounded Warrior Program to Enhance Warrior CARE
Air Force News
by Janis El Shabazz
Air Force Personnel Center Public Affairs
Jan 15, 2016
(Photo: U.S. Air Force/Tech. Sgt. Michael R. Holzworth.)
The Air Force Wounded Warrior Program has enhanced services to provide more comprehensive care for the wounded, ill or injured recovering service members and their caregivers.
"In the past we offered adaptive and rehabilitative sports camps to wounded, ill and injured recovering service members while providing some additional opportunities for their caregivers. While the camps offered a full schedule we felt we could do more," said Marsha Gonzales, deputy chief, Air Force Personnel Center Warrior Care Division.
Through personal interactions with recovering service members and caregivers, Gonzales said program managers determined they could substantially expand the camps by adding more focused and personalized services. This brought about the new Warrior CARE events, a holistic approach to providing the service and support recovering members and their caregivers have come to expect.
Warrior CARE Events now include:
C - Caregiver Support Program (Training and self-care opportunities for caregivers)
A - Adaptive and Rehabilitative Sports Program
R - Recovering Airmen Mentorship Program (Mentorship for new recovering service members who are paired with recovering service members)
E - Employment and Career Readiness Program read more here
Kalispell shooting victim is decorated Army veteran who survived bomb blast
The Missoulian
VINCE DEVLIN
January 14, 2016
KALISPELL – The man who allegedly aimed a rife at two Kalispell police officers Tuesday before they shot him has been identified as a decorated Afghanistan and Iraq war veteran who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a bomb blast.
Ryan Pengelly, 30, was listed in critical condition at Kalispell Regional Medical Center, where he underwent surgery Tuesday following the incident.
The policemen had responded to a residence on Looking Glass Avenue after a report that a woman in the home had made comments that she was suicidal and homicidal, and “that her son had multiple weapons in the house and she had access to them,” according to a Kalispell Police Department news release from Chief Roger Nasset. read more here
Report: VA botched Marine vet’s care
San Diego Union Tribune
By Jeanette Steele
Jan. 10, 2016
Also, Sears told VA screeners about being near two roadside bombs when they detonated — and once losing consciousness — but physicians never gave him a follow-up plan for treatment of traumatic brain injury, or TBI.
Sgt. Jeremy P. Sears in a live-fire training exercise at Camp Pendleton. Courtesy U.S. Marine Corps, by Lance Cpl. Derrick K. Irions
An internal investigation by the U.S. Veterans Affairs department has found that the San Diego VA system botched its care of former Camp Pendleton Marine Jeremy Sears, who killed himself at an Oceanside gun range in October 2014.
After Sears’ suicide at age 35, his family, friends and some veterans advocates have questioned how the VA handled his case. The combat veteran waited 16 months to hear that he would receive no disability pay after serving multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and being diagnosed with a brain injury.
Critics said the VA's medical and benefits divisions let Sears fall through the cracks and more could have been done to save his life. read more here
KARE 11 investigation reveals Mpls VA misdiagnosed 50 brain injured veterans
KARE News
A.J. Lagoe and Steven Eckert
December 30, 2015
"I wrote a check for my life saying hey I'm here to serve my country now it's your turn to take care of me. Give me the medical attention I need."
U.S. Navy veteran Anton Welke.
MINNEAPOLIS - The Veterans Administration has been using unqualified medical personnel to do examinations – and deny benefits - for traumatic brain injuries (TBI) at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, according to records obtained during a KARE 11 News investigation.
VA data from a new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) filed by KARE 11 revealed the number of veterans affected.
Instead of being examined by a traumatic brain injury (TBI) specialist, records reveal 321 cases in which a veteran was examined by a doctor VA policy shows was not qualified to diagnose traumatic brain injuries.
To date, the Minneapolis, VA has re-examined 181 of those veterans and determined the unqualified doctors made quite a few mistakes. In 50 cases, an exam by a TBI specialist revealed the veterans did in fact have brain injuries and should be getting treatment and benefits previously denied.
Welke is one of the Minnesota veterans now receiving the TBI treatment and benefits he was denied for three years after an unqualified doctor in the Minneapolis VA's Compensation and Pension unit misdiagnosed him. read more here
Study: Combat vets wait for 'wake-up call' before seeking help for brain injuries
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Tribune News Service)
By Carl Prine
Published: December 28, 2015
Veterans too often played down their wounds but became detached from friends and family. Many denied their downward spiral until a "wake-up call" forced them to seek help from Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs programs.
Johns Hopkins researchers conducted 38 in-depth interviews with Army combat veterans and their family members, and a model emerged: Veterans too often played down their wounds. Many denied their downward spiral until a "wake-up call" forced them to seek help from Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs programs.
DOD
Tens of thousands of American combat veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan with undiagnosed brain injuries often were "thrown into a canyon" — falling deeper into despair and sometimes flirting with suicide or addiction — before trying to get help, according to a Johns Hopkins University study.
Written by Rachel P. Chase, Shannon A. McMahon and Peter J. Winch, researchers at the Baltimore university's Department of International Health, the study published in the December issue of Social Science and Medicine builds on previous work at Johns Hopkins. That work uncovered tens of thousands of undiagnosed and untreated brain injuries stemming from improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, the signature wound of America's 21st-century wars.
Innovations in body and vehicular armor saved the lives of troops who likely would have died of blast injuries in past wars, but survivors often had higher risk of memory loss, cognitive struggles, mood disorders, migraine headaches, addiction, insomnia and suicide. read more here
Lawyer: Framingham man charged in assaults needs help, not jail
Metro West Daily News
By Norman Miller/Daily News Staff
Posted Dec. 18, 2015
FRAMINGHAM – The lawyer for a man accused of threatening to shoot police after a domestic dispute on Wednesday said a Framingham District Court judge’s decision on Thursday to hold him without bail is wrong.
Daniel R. McNulty, 31, a Purple Heart recipient, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after receiving a traumatic brain injury while serving in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, his lawyer Michael Brennan said. Instead of jail, McNulty needs treatment, he said.
“He clearly needs help and I feel the judge had it wrong,” Brennan said after McNulty’s dangerousness hearing. “When someone who served his country needs help, they should get that help.”
Brennan said McNulty served in the military from 2011-2013. He was injured when when a roadside bomb exploded. read more here
