Report: Problems Still Plague Illinois VA Hospital
by David Schaper
November 3, 2009
A new report from the inspector general in the Department of Veterans Affairs finds that the VA Medical Center in Marion, Ill., continues to be plagued by quality management and patient care problems some two years after a suspicious spike in the number of post-surgical patient deaths there.
A 2008 investigation found that at least nine patients died because of surgical mistakes and poor post-surgical care at the VA hospital in Marion, which is in southern Illinois. That report made recommendations to improve conditions at the facility.
The new report finds poor quality management oversight, inconsistencies in the way patient deaths are reported and continuing problems with ensuring patient safety — including the discovery that surgeons were performing procedures they were not authorized to handle.
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) calls the findings "appalling."
read more here
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120053973
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Golden Gate High students say ‘thank you’ to vet paralyzed in Afghanistan
VIDEO/PHOTOS: Golden Gate High students say ‘thank you’ to vet paralyzed in Afghanistan
By KATHERINE ALBERS
Posted November 2, 2009 at 7:42 p.m. , updated November 2, 2009 at 7:57 p.m.
NAPLES — Romulo “Romy” Camargo never had a nickname until he joined the Special Forces.
“The guys had trouble pronouncing my name, so they started calling me Romy,” he said. “Eventually, I started introducing myself as Romy and ordering business cards with Romy on them.”
Those at Golden Gate High School Monday morning left with another name for Camargo: Hero.
Veterans Day came early to Golden Gate High School this year so that the school could accommodate a special visit by Camargo, a Special Forces chief warrant officer. It was Camargo’s first public speaking engagement since he was shot through the neck and paralyzed from the neck down while on a mission in Afghanistan a little more than one year ago.
read more here
Golden Gate High students say thank you
linked from
http://www.icasualties.org/OEF/index.aspx
By KATHERINE ALBERS
Posted November 2, 2009 at 7:42 p.m. , updated November 2, 2009 at 7:57 p.m.
NAPLES — Romulo “Romy” Camargo never had a nickname until he joined the Special Forces.
“The guys had trouble pronouncing my name, so they started calling me Romy,” he said. “Eventually, I started introducing myself as Romy and ordering business cards with Romy on them.”
Those at Golden Gate High School Monday morning left with another name for Camargo: Hero.
Veterans Day came early to Golden Gate High School this year so that the school could accommodate a special visit by Camargo, a Special Forces chief warrant officer. It was Camargo’s first public speaking engagement since he was shot through the neck and paralyzed from the neck down while on a mission in Afghanistan a little more than one year ago.
read more here
Golden Gate High students say thank you
linked from
http://www.icasualties.org/OEF/index.aspx
Afghanistan vets fear for future care
OttawaCitizen: Afghanistan vets fear for future care
OTTAWA — Canada's Afghan veterans are raising serious concerns about their future and whether they will be taken care of by the government in the decades to come, says the country's Veterans Ombudsman.
Retired Col. Pat Stogran says the problems revolve around the New Veterans Charter and some of the provisions in that legislation. One concern is that Afghan veterans who are wounded now receive a lump-sum payment. In the past, former soldiers got a monthly disability pension, he noted.
"I have some significant misgivings about that," said Stogran, a veteran of Afghanistan and missions in the former Yugoslavia. "Personally, my instincts tell me the last thing you want to do when a young soldier comes back from overseas, perhaps with an operational stress injury, or with a dependency on alcohol or drugs, is give him $250,000 to self-medicate."
The money is meant to recognize and compensate Canadian Forces members, veterans and their families for a service-related disability. The award is a tax-free lump-sum payment with the amount depending on the extent of the injury. The maximum amount is slightly more than $267,000.
read more here
Afghanistan vets fear for future care
linked from
http://www.icasualties.org/OEF/index.aspx
OTTAWA — Canada's Afghan veterans are raising serious concerns about their future and whether they will be taken care of by the government in the decades to come, says the country's Veterans Ombudsman.
Retired Col. Pat Stogran says the problems revolve around the New Veterans Charter and some of the provisions in that legislation. One concern is that Afghan veterans who are wounded now receive a lump-sum payment. In the past, former soldiers got a monthly disability pension, he noted.
"I have some significant misgivings about that," said Stogran, a veteran of Afghanistan and missions in the former Yugoslavia. "Personally, my instincts tell me the last thing you want to do when a young soldier comes back from overseas, perhaps with an operational stress injury, or with a dependency on alcohol or drugs, is give him $250,000 to self-medicate."
The money is meant to recognize and compensate Canadian Forces members, veterans and their families for a service-related disability. The award is a tax-free lump-sum payment with the amount depending on the extent of the injury. The maximum amount is slightly more than $267,000.
read more here
Afghanistan vets fear for future care
linked from
http://www.icasualties.org/OEF/index.aspx
Afghanistan choice won't make everyone happy
No matter what President Obama does about Afghanistan, he will not be able to make everyone happy since no one agrees now.
If President Obama increases the number of troops he has no way of really knowing if it will be enough or not. He's being advised by other humans, with differing opinions and just as much experience as well as concern for the lives on the line.
The military families can't agree on what the right move will be either.
It would be wonderful if the Afghan people would finally take full responsibility for their own country since they have proven time after time throughout their history they are perfectly capable of fighting their own battles. The problem is, since most are very poor, they have to decide to fight the Taliban or support them, grow poppies or food. No one really knows what will happen in Afghanistan no matter what he decides to do.
Can we do anything about it and know for sure if we are right or wrong? Not really. Ask a group of Vietnam veterans if it was right to pull out of Vietnam and you will find different answers. Just like what is happening now, no one really knows what the answer is.
The only thing we really can be sure of is for however long this goes on, there will be more casualties. Some will come home to an honor guard at Dover. Others will come home looking as if they were not paying the price of combat, but paying none the less with it embedded deeply inside of them. Some will have to live the rest of their lives missing limbs. The list of wounds is endless and so is our obligation to them.
This we know for sure. The wounded will need to be taken care of for the rest of their lives and the fact they were willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of what the nation asked of them should never, ever be diminished by time or budgets.
Let the experts debate what President Obama should do or not do because the next day after he decides, they will come out against him no matter how many experts he has giving him advice. Let the hot heads on TV say how wrong he is but it will not change the lives of a veteran already paying the price for their service when they are waiting for a claim to be approved, praying they don't end up homeless, or save a family falling apart.
We can!
Navy wife wants US military out of Afghanistan now
By David Edwards
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 -- 9:47 am
The wife of a Navy fighter pilot is calling for President Barack Obama to pull troops out of Afghanistan now. "I think we should pull out of Afghanistan entirely. I think that after eight years of war it has become quite clear that especially to those of us who are the very few americans who are really suffering in this war that the price is not worth it," Lisa Leitz told CNN's Kiran Chetry Tuesday.
"A number of Americans have lost their lives, many military families have been completely crushed by the burden of these wars and we have very little to show for it," Leitz continued. "We have a corrupt Afghanistan government and we have a number of people who are still trying to attack us, particularly not because they belong to the Taliban or terrorist organizations, but rather because we are occupying them.".
Leitz is a board member of Military Families Speak Out. The group is urging President Obama to bring all the troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Not all family members are calling for the war to be ended now. Karen Irwin's son is serving in Afghanistan and she wants the president to send more troops to the war zone. "I would tell the president that our soldiers, our brave young men and women, including my son, have invested a lot of their time in support of that country and our country, putting their lives on the line," she told CNN's Chetry. "Some of them have given the ultimate sacrifice and I think they deserve support of our government and support of our people to give them everything they need to complete this mission and to win, leaving a free afghanistan, leaving the people the opportunities, the personal opportunities that we have here in our country."
read more here
http://rawstory.com/2009/11/navy-wife-afghanistan-withdrawal/
If President Obama increases the number of troops he has no way of really knowing if it will be enough or not. He's being advised by other humans, with differing opinions and just as much experience as well as concern for the lives on the line.
The military families can't agree on what the right move will be either.
It would be wonderful if the Afghan people would finally take full responsibility for their own country since they have proven time after time throughout their history they are perfectly capable of fighting their own battles. The problem is, since most are very poor, they have to decide to fight the Taliban or support them, grow poppies or food. No one really knows what will happen in Afghanistan no matter what he decides to do.
Can we do anything about it and know for sure if we are right or wrong? Not really. Ask a group of Vietnam veterans if it was right to pull out of Vietnam and you will find different answers. Just like what is happening now, no one really knows what the answer is.
The only thing we really can be sure of is for however long this goes on, there will be more casualties. Some will come home to an honor guard at Dover. Others will come home looking as if they were not paying the price of combat, but paying none the less with it embedded deeply inside of them. Some will have to live the rest of their lives missing limbs. The list of wounds is endless and so is our obligation to them.
This we know for sure. The wounded will need to be taken care of for the rest of their lives and the fact they were willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of what the nation asked of them should never, ever be diminished by time or budgets.
Let the experts debate what President Obama should do or not do because the next day after he decides, they will come out against him no matter how many experts he has giving him advice. Let the hot heads on TV say how wrong he is but it will not change the lives of a veteran already paying the price for their service when they are waiting for a claim to be approved, praying they don't end up homeless, or save a family falling apart.
We can!
Man, woman, 2 youths dead in apparent shooting in North Carolina
Man, woman, 2 youths dead in apparent shooting in North Carolina
November 3, 2009 10:34 a.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Chief says police were told there were bodies inside residence Monday night
Police saw body of woman before entering, found bodies of older man and 2 juveniles inside
Police didn't name the four; tax assessor's office, paper say couple, 2 kids live at the home
(CNN) -- Police on Tuesday were investigating the apparent gunshot deaths of four people in a home in the upscale Haymount neighborhood of Fayetteville, North Carolina, authorities said.
Police were called to the residence at 8:08 p.m. Monday by someone who reported there were bodies inside, Police Chief Tom Bergamine said in a news release.
Bergamine said police were able to see the body of a woman in the house before entering. Once inside, officers also found the bodies of an older man and two juveniles -- a male and a female. Police did not name the four.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/03/north.carolina.deaths/index.html
November 3, 2009 10:34 a.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Chief says police were told there were bodies inside residence Monday night
Police saw body of woman before entering, found bodies of older man and 2 juveniles inside
Police didn't name the four; tax assessor's office, paper say couple, 2 kids live at the home
(CNN) -- Police on Tuesday were investigating the apparent gunshot deaths of four people in a home in the upscale Haymount neighborhood of Fayetteville, North Carolina, authorities said.
Police were called to the residence at 8:08 p.m. Monday by someone who reported there were bodies inside, Police Chief Tom Bergamine said in a news release.
Bergamine said police were able to see the body of a woman in the house before entering. Once inside, officers also found the bodies of an older man and two juveniles -- a male and a female. Police did not name the four.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/03/north.carolina.deaths/index.html
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