Canceled VA appts pushed vet to suicide attempt
Investigation confirms San Diego VA falsified wait times for patients
San Diego Union Tribune
By Jeanette Steele
March 31, 2016
An investigation released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says the San Diego VA hospital triggered one veteran’s suicide attempt in 2014 by repeatedly canceling his mental health appointments.
The investigation also found that at least two San Diego VA employees instructed appointment clerks to “zero out” wait times in the scheduling database, presenting an unrealistically positive picture of how long patients were waiting for mental health care.
The tactics may have affected hundreds of San Diego veterans seeking mental health treatment.
The VA’s inspector general found that employees in the San Diego mental health clinic scheduled more than 700 appointments with a 98 to 100 percent rate of zero-day wait times -- described as virtually impossible without data manipulation.
The findings are among more than 70 investigations the VA has released nationally over the past few weeks.
The investigations of VA facilities in several states followed a sweeping scandal in 2014 that started over allegations of falsified wait times at the Phoenix VA hospital.
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Linked from RawStory
Sunday, April 3, 2016
UK Veteran's Charity Took on PTSD in 1972
Post Traumatic Stress - and what a charity decided to do about it in 1972
By Staffordshire Newsletter
Posted: April 03, 2016
Medics often called the condition "shell shock" the resulting stress of being in quagmire trenches and never knowing whether they would live to see the end of the day.
The phrase post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been in use since the 1980s but in reality it is a condition known to mankind since the beginning of time though one has to admit that the reasons for its diagnosis grow year by year.
The Second World War, the Korean War, the troubles in Northern Ireland, 9/11, conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have all taken their toll on people experiencing the most unimaginable stress.
read more here
Just because you didn't know about it did not mean it wasn't happening. I am with Point Man International Ministries and it started in 1984 working with veterans as well as families to help them heal PTSD. After all, it was happening to us as well. No wound of war is new!
By Staffordshire Newsletter
Posted: April 03, 2016
The association housed single homeless people referred to them by welfare bodies, the probation service and hospitals, but many of the "guests" were men suffering from the long-term after-effects of wartime stress.SOME soldiers returning from the First World War complained about being unnerved and ill at ease after being faced with constant bombardment and witnessing the most dreadful sights imaginable to humankind.
Medics often called the condition "shell shock" the resulting stress of being in quagmire trenches and never knowing whether they would live to see the end of the day.
The phrase post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been in use since the 1980s but in reality it is a condition known to mankind since the beginning of time though one has to admit that the reasons for its diagnosis grow year by year.
The Second World War, the Korean War, the troubles in Northern Ireland, 9/11, conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have all taken their toll on people experiencing the most unimaginable stress.
read more here
Just because you didn't know about it did not mean it wasn't happening. I am with Point Man International Ministries and it started in 1984 working with veterans as well as families to help them heal PTSD. After all, it was happening to us as well. No wound of war is new!
Amputee Iraq Veterans Taking on Everest Climb
Two Iraq veterans strive to be first combat amputees to climb Everest
USA TODAY
Gregg Zoroya
April 3, 2016
Chad Jukes lost part of his right leg after a roadside bomb explosion in Iraq in 2006. The same happened to Thomas Charles "Charlie" Linville when he was Marine in Iraq in 2011.
"There is a pressure to show the world that I can climb Mount Everest," said Jukes, 31, who, like Linville, has become a skilled mountain climber using a prosthesis. "To say, 'I have one leg, but I can climb Mount Everest. I have PTSD, but can climb Mount Everest. I have a traumatic brain injury, But I can climb Mount Everest.'"
Linville, 30, who is married and the father of two daughters, said he went from being a strong Marine to having people have pity for him after the amputation.
"Getting to the top I kind of view as vanquishing those demons, showing all these people that, 'Don't you have pity for disabled veterans because we're capable of so much more than you think," Linville said.
read more here
USA TODAY
Gregg Zoroya
April 3, 2016
Chad Jukes lost part of his right leg after a roadside bomb explosion in Iraq in 2006. The same happened to Thomas Charles "Charlie" Linville when he was Marine in Iraq in 2011.
Now Jukes, a former Army reserve staff sergeant, and Linville want to defy their disabilities in the most extreme way — by climbing the highest mountain in the world within the next two months. They could be the first combat amputees to reach that summit.(Photo: The Heroes Project)The Heroes Project founder, Tim Medvetz, and Charlie Linville looking at Mount Everest in 2014.
"There is a pressure to show the world that I can climb Mount Everest," said Jukes, 31, who, like Linville, has become a skilled mountain climber using a prosthesis. "To say, 'I have one leg, but I can climb Mount Everest. I have PTSD, but can climb Mount Everest. I have a traumatic brain injury, But I can climb Mount Everest.'"
Linville, 30, who is married and the father of two daughters, said he went from being a strong Marine to having people have pity for him after the amputation.
"Getting to the top I kind of view as vanquishing those demons, showing all these people that, 'Don't you have pity for disabled veterans because we're capable of so much more than you think," Linville said.
read more here
Military Suicides For 2015 Four Hundred and Seventy Five Lives Gone
Four Hundred and Seventy Five Lives Gone
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
April 3, 2016
By the end of March the military decided that attempted suicides should no longer be treated as crimes.
No one is talking about those attempting suicide after all the training they had anymore than they are talking about the fact young veterans are committing suicide at triple their peer rate.
The leaders show no sign of changing anything they are doing and more puzzling than anything else is, they don't seem to understand they are causing a lot more harm.
There are less serving in the military now, yet after all the training, billions in funding programs that have failed, they continue to push the programs. Why? Seriously, why would they do that?
What has Congress done with all their hearings? Has anyone been held accountable for any of this?
The anguished cries of families and friends all across the country while elected officials seem satisfied with holding hearings producing more graves filled than combat itself. The chirp of crickets coming out of Washington have proven they have no ideas or any intention of holding anyone accountable including themselves.
Congress has jurisdiction over the Department of Defense, just as they have jurisdiction over the Department of Veterans Affairs. They write the rules but have not righted the workers of iniquity.
Fort Hood has just reported they had four suicides in the first quarter of 2016.
What will Congress do about any of this? Hold more hearings with grieving families trying to spare other families from the same pain? How many more years do they get to do that when the results get worse?
How many more charities do we have to put up with doing this and that to raise awareness about suffering when they failed to begin to comprehend the message they share is one of death based on a headline instead of the report that should have been important enough for them to actually read? They have had four years to read the Suicide Report from the VA and learn those numbers came from limited date from just 21 states.
How many more need to die while this lie has been allowed to be repeated over and over again while publicity is provided for those doing the "awareness raising" when no one is aware of the simple fact the quoted number is wrong or the simple fact that the majority of the veterans committing suicide are over the age of 50?
How many times will you write a check then wash your hands of your own responsibility in all of this? Have you held politicians accountable? Have you held heads of charities accountable or even asked where they money was going or why they deserved it?
Do we really care about all these lives gone when they should have been healing to live better lives? What the hell is wrong with us?
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
April 3, 2016
By the end of March the military decided that attempted suicides should no longer be treated as crimes.
"Tucked into recent massive changes to the Uniform Code of Military Justice is a reminder for military officials that suicide attempts are not a crime."On April 1st the Pentagon released the number of Service Members, National Guard and Reservists lost to suicide.
The Pentagon reported Friday that 265 active-duty service members killed themselves last year, continuing a trend of unusually high suicide rates that have plagued the U.S. military for at least seven years.
Data released Friday also show that suicides among reserve troops — reservists in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps and the National Guard — were 210 last year. That is an increase from 170 suicides in 2014 but down from 220 suicides in 2013.Keep in mind when you read those numbers 265+210=475. More than one a day after all these years of "prevention" training publicity but no accountability.
No one is talking about those attempting suicide after all the training they had anymore than they are talking about the fact young veterans are committing suicide at triple their peer rate.
The leaders show no sign of changing anything they are doing and more puzzling than anything else is, they don't seem to understand they are causing a lot more harm.
There are less serving in the military now, yet after all the training, billions in funding programs that have failed, they continue to push the programs. Why? Seriously, why would they do that?
What has Congress done with all their hearings? Has anyone been held accountable for any of this?
The anguished cries of families and friends all across the country while elected officials seem satisfied with holding hearings producing more graves filled than combat itself. The chirp of crickets coming out of Washington have proven they have no ideas or any intention of holding anyone accountable including themselves.
Congress has jurisdiction over the Department of Defense, just as they have jurisdiction over the Department of Veterans Affairs. They write the rules but have not righted the workers of iniquity.
Fort Hood has just reported they had four suicides in the first quarter of 2016.
What will Congress do about any of this? Hold more hearings with grieving families trying to spare other families from the same pain? How many more years do they get to do that when the results get worse?
How many more charities do we have to put up with doing this and that to raise awareness about suffering when they failed to begin to comprehend the message they share is one of death based on a headline instead of the report that should have been important enough for them to actually read? They have had four years to read the Suicide Report from the VA and learn those numbers came from limited date from just 21 states.
How many more need to die while this lie has been allowed to be repeated over and over again while publicity is provided for those doing the "awareness raising" when no one is aware of the simple fact the quoted number is wrong or the simple fact that the majority of the veterans committing suicide are over the age of 50?
How many times will you write a check then wash your hands of your own responsibility in all of this? Have you held politicians accountable? Have you held heads of charities accountable or even asked where they money was going or why they deserved it?
Do we really care about all these lives gone when they should have been healing to live better lives? What the hell is wrong with us?
Saturday, April 2, 2016
Marine Son Pretending To Be Doctor Shocks Mom During Chemo
Marine Surprises Mom During Chemotherapy by Posing as a Doctor: 'I Haven't Seen You for Almost Two Years!'
PEOPLE
Lindsay Kimble
April 1, 2016
While facing her first round of chemotherapy treatment after her breast cancer diagnosis, Mary Glasure was understandably nervous. The 59-year-old woman's family helped ease her fears, however, with an incredible surprise.
In an emotional video, Mary is seen meeting with doctors at the Tony Teramana Cancer Center in Steubenville, Ohio, when she encounters a very rude "doctor."
"I have a lunch appointment I need to get to so let's hurry up," the faux-physician in blue scrubs demands of Mary, which elicits a surprised response.
When Mary turns around to face the now-unmasked man, however, she quickly realizes it is actually her son, Corey Hoffmaster, a U.S. Marine.
read more here
PEOPLE
Lindsay Kimble
April 1, 2016
While facing her first round of chemotherapy treatment after her breast cancer diagnosis, Mary Glasure was understandably nervous. The 59-year-old woman's family helped ease her fears, however, with an incredible surprise.
In an emotional video, Mary is seen meeting with doctors at the Tony Teramana Cancer Center in Steubenville, Ohio, when she encounters a very rude "doctor."
"I have a lunch appointment I need to get to so let's hurry up," the faux-physician in blue scrubs demands of Mary, which elicits a surprised response.
When Mary turns around to face the now-unmasked man, however, she quickly realizes it is actually her son, Corey Hoffmaster, a U.S. Marine.
read more here
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