VA mental health hiring is flawed, critic says
By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday May 3, 2012
A representative of a major mental health organization blasted the Veterans Affairs Department for failing to hire therapists whom he says could ease VA staffing shortages and eliminate prolonged waiting periods for veterans in need of care.
David Kaplan, chief professional officer for the American Counseling Association, said Wednesday that VA has ignored licensed professional counselors, or LPCs, in its efforts to fill mental health vacancies in its medical system.
Requirements for LPC licensure vary from state to state, but in general, they are masters degree-level professionals with education and clinical experience in psychotherapy treatment and counseling.
“There’s an unconscionable crisis going on now with mental health treatment for those who have served our country, and the really sorry thing about this is it doesn’t have to be,” Kaplan said.
VA has 1,500 vacancies for mental health staff. It announced in April it plans to hire an additional 1,600 professionals.
But with a nationwide shortage of trained mental health workers, the department will be hard-pressed to fill its staffing needs without recruiting LPCs, Kaplan said.
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Friday, May 4, 2012
Sgt. Able Felipe Duran found unresponsive in his residence
Fort Hood Public Affairs Office
Courtesy Story
FORT HOOD, Texas – Fort Hood officials have released the name of a soldier who was found unresponsive in his residence April 30 in Copperas Cove, Texas. Coryell County Justice of the Peace John Guinn pronounced him deceased the same day.
Sgt. Able Felipe Duran, 47, whose home of record is listed as Colorado Springs, Colo., entered the military in December 1992 as a signal support systems specialist, and was assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, Warrior Transition Brigade, Fort Hood, since March 2011.
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23 Florida WWII veterans knighted in Legion of Honor
23 Fla. veterans receive WWII honor
Posted: May 3, 2012
By Matt Sedensky
Associated Press
BOYNTON BEACH — France bestowed its highest honor Thursday upon 23 men who fought World War II’s most epic battles, liberated concentration camps and brought peace to generations, its latest effort to recognize the dwindling number of surviving veterans of their era.
The veterans were each made knights in the Legion of Honor in a ceremony at the Boynton Beach Civic Center, pinned with a medal and heralded as heroes.
“It’s so essential for the French government to say thanks,” said Gael de Maisonneuve, the consul general of France in Florida. “Your sacrifices and those of your brethren are an example for all of us.”
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Posted: May 3, 2012
By Matt Sedensky
Associated Press
BOYNTON BEACH — France bestowed its highest honor Thursday upon 23 men who fought World War II’s most epic battles, liberated concentration camps and brought peace to generations, its latest effort to recognize the dwindling number of surviving veterans of their era.
The veterans were each made knights in the Legion of Honor in a ceremony at the Boynton Beach Civic Center, pinned with a medal and heralded as heroes.
“It’s so essential for the French government to say thanks,” said Gael de Maisonneuve, the consul general of France in Florida. “Your sacrifices and those of your brethren are an example for all of us.”
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No trial for White Plains cop who shot Marine
No trial for White Plains cop who shot Marine
Racial slur used as a ‘distraction’; Grand jury votes not to indict Officer Anthony Carelli for shooting Kenneth Chamberlain
BY MATTHEW LYSIAK AND HELEN KENNEDY
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Thursday, May 3, 2012
A Westchester County grand jury cleared the White Plains police officer who shot and killed a 68-year-old retired Marine inside his apartment, officials announced Thursday.
The family slammed the decision as a “blatant cover up” and said it would request a Justice Department investigation.
Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore called the killing of Kenneth Chamberlain “a tragedy on many levels” — but not a crime.
“After due deliberation on the evidence presented in this matter, the grand jury found that there was no reasonable cause to vote an indictment,” she said.
The racial slur one officer flung at Chamberlain before another cop killed him was explained as an effort to “distract” him, DiFiore said.
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also
Marine veteran Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. killed by police who "came to help"
Racial slur used as a ‘distraction’; Grand jury votes not to indict Officer Anthony Carelli for shooting Kenneth Chamberlain
BY MATTHEW LYSIAK AND HELEN KENNEDY
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Thursday, May 3, 2012
A Westchester County grand jury cleared the White Plains police officer who shot and killed a 68-year-old retired Marine inside his apartment, officials announced Thursday.
The family slammed the decision as a “blatant cover up” and said it would request a Justice Department investigation.
Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore called the killing of Kenneth Chamberlain “a tragedy on many levels” — but not a crime.
“After due deliberation on the evidence presented in this matter, the grand jury found that there was no reasonable cause to vote an indictment,” she said.
The racial slur one officer flung at Chamberlain before another cop killed him was explained as an effort to “distract” him, DiFiore said.
read more here
also
Marine veteran Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. killed by police who "came to help"
Marine Corps 2011 Firefighter of the Year
Area Marine is Firefighter of Year
Wendy Burton
Muskogee Phoenix, Okla.
May 3, 2012
The first in many ways to achieve the honor -- Lance Cpl. Daniel Dawson of Checotah is the Marine Corps 2011 Firefighter of the Year.
Dawson, who is stationed at Cherry Point, N.C., has been in the service for two-and-a-half years and has already set a record or two with the Marines.
No one ranked as a lance corporal or lower has ever achieved the honor, Dawson said. He is also the first person in his unit to win the award.
At 21 years old, he could be the youngest, too.
And though he's the first firefighter in his family, it's a passion for him. Dawson is the son of Leslie Putman of Checotah and Steve Dawson of Fort Smith.
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Wendy Burton
Muskogee Phoenix, Okla.
May 3, 2012
The first in many ways to achieve the honor -- Lance Cpl. Daniel Dawson of Checotah is the Marine Corps 2011 Firefighter of the Year.
Dawson, who is stationed at Cherry Point, N.C., has been in the service for two-and-a-half years and has already set a record or two with the Marines.
No one ranked as a lance corporal or lower has ever achieved the honor, Dawson said. He is also the first person in his unit to win the award.
At 21 years old, he could be the youngest, too.
And though he's the first firefighter in his family, it's a passion for him. Dawson is the son of Leslie Putman of Checotah and Steve Dawson of Fort Smith.
read more here
Arizona police believe ex-Marine killed 4, himself
Arizona police believe ex-Marine killed 4, himself
Associated Press
Friday, May 4, 2012
Gilbert, Ariz. -- Police said Thursday that they believe a former Marine with ties to neo-Nazi and Minutemen groups shot four people and then killed himself in a suburban Phoenix home.
Gilbert police spokesman Sgt. Bill Balafas said that police believe Jason Todd Ready, 39, was the gunman in Wednesday's shootings in a home in Gilbert.
Ready lived in the home with a woman who was among the dead. In addition to Ready's girlfriend, the dead include the woman's daughter and granddaughter and the daughter's boyfriend, according to media reports.
read more here
Associated Press
Friday, May 4, 2012
Gilbert, Ariz. -- Police said Thursday that they believe a former Marine with ties to neo-Nazi and Minutemen groups shot four people and then killed himself in a suburban Phoenix home.
Gilbert police spokesman Sgt. Bill Balafas said that police believe Jason Todd Ready, 39, was the gunman in Wednesday's shootings in a home in Gilbert.
Ready lived in the home with a woman who was among the dead. In addition to Ready's girlfriend, the dead include the woman's daughter and granddaughter and the daughter's boyfriend, according to media reports.
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Sketching veterans recovering from war, so their stories aren't lost
Sketching veterans recovering from war, so their stories aren't lost
By Chip Reid
May 3, 2012
(CBS News) For nearly 100 years, since World War I, the U.S. military has used combat artists to create a visual record of America's wars.
Among those artists in Iraq and Afghanistan was a Marine named Michael Fay.
CBS News correspondent Chip Reid reports now that he is out of the service, he is documenting America's war veterans as they fight a new battle.
Fay brought the tools of his trade -- pencils and a sketch pad -- as he visited Marine Lance Corporal Timothy Donley at Walter Reed Hospital. His mission was not only to draw Donley, but to draw him out.
Donley lost both legs and part of an arm in Afghanistan, but told Fay he's one of the lucky ones.
"You see a lot of these guys and they've got so much worse injuries," Donley said.
Fay's sketches, including names and details of what happened, have been displayed in museums around the country. He started the project 15 months ago.
read more here
By Chip Reid
May 3, 2012
(CBS News) For nearly 100 years, since World War I, the U.S. military has used combat artists to create a visual record of America's wars.
Among those artists in Iraq and Afghanistan was a Marine named Michael Fay.
CBS News correspondent Chip Reid reports now that he is out of the service, he is documenting America's war veterans as they fight a new battle.
Fay brought the tools of his trade -- pencils and a sketch pad -- as he visited Marine Lance Corporal Timothy Donley at Walter Reed Hospital. His mission was not only to draw Donley, but to draw him out.
Donley lost both legs and part of an arm in Afghanistan, but told Fay he's one of the lucky ones.
"You see a lot of these guys and they've got so much worse injuries," Donley said.
Fay's sketches, including names and details of what happened, have been displayed in museums around the country. He started the project 15 months ago.
read more here
Iraq Veteran graduates with matching gown for guide dog
For Iraq veteran, graduation day at USFSP marks the end of a long journey
By Kim Wilmath
Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, May 4, 2012
ST. PETERSBURG — Mike Jernigan slid into a seat in the front row of the classroom.
He wore a bow tie and a crisp button-down shirt. Green slacks and freshly shined brown leather shoes.
He smiled, bounced his foot on the floor.
"This," he said, "is the conclusion of an arduous journey."
It was his last class.
That journey spanned more than 10 years and thousands of miles. It took Jernigan from an aimless youth in St. Petersburg to the battlegrounds in Iraq. He's changed now, physically and in so many other ways.
He left St. Petersburg able to see, for instance, and with an uninjured brain. But he also left a frustrated 20-something, immature and unsure of himself.
Now, finally graduating from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg this weekend, Jernigan, 33, says he's a better man.
"If I could go back and do it all again," he said, "I'd do it the same."
By Kim Wilmath
Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, May 4, 2012
ST. PETERSBURG — Mike Jernigan slid into a seat in the front row of the classroom.
He wore a bow tie and a crisp button-down shirt. Green slacks and freshly shined brown leather shoes.
He smiled, bounced his foot on the floor.
"This," he said, "is the conclusion of an arduous journey."
It was his last class.
That journey spanned more than 10 years and thousands of miles. It took Jernigan from an aimless youth in St. Petersburg to the battlegrounds in Iraq. He's changed now, physically and in so many other ways.
He left St. Petersburg able to see, for instance, and with an uninjured brain. But he also left a frustrated 20-something, immature and unsure of himself.
Now, finally graduating from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg this weekend, Jernigan, 33, says he's a better man.
"If I could go back and do it all again," he said, "I'd do it the same."
The camera battery is charged, and Jernigan's cap and gown is ready — with a matching gown for his guide dog, Brittani.read more here
Soldier died of rabies?
US soldier dies of rabies after dog bite in AfghanistanWhat is the point of a story like this? The soldier's name was not in it. He was bitten last year? Supposedly he was bitten in January but in August he was sent to Fort Drum? The Army has no record?
Published May 03, 2012
NewsCore
WASHINGTON – A 24-year-old American soldier died of rabies after being bitten by a dog last year in Afghanistan, US health officials said Thursday following an investigation into the rare case.
The otherwise healthy soldier started experiencing symptoms of shoulder and neck pain and tingling sensations in his hands soon after arriving at Fort Drum, N.Y., in mid-August 2011.
His condition escalated to include nausea, vomiting, anxiety and trouble swallowing. By the time he was admitted to an emergency room, he was dehydrated and hydrophobic, meaning he developed an intense fear of drinking liquids because of the painful muscle spasms he experienced while swallowing.
"He was lucid and described having received a dog bite on the right hand during January 2011 while deployed to Afghanistan," said the report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
But an investigation by the US Army turned up no documentation of a reported bite wound or treatment, nor any record of a dog tested for rabies, according to the report.
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This is from the CDC
U.S. Soldiers and Rabies: Investigations of Post-Deployment Exposures
Posted: December 6, 2011
During August, 2011 a U.S. soldier stationed at a military base in New York became ill with symptoms compatible with rabies. Onset of symptoms occurred approximately three months following active deployment in Afghanistan. Diagnostic testing confirmed rabies and characterized a variant associated with Afghani dogs. In more than 30 years, no other rabies case has resulted from exposure during active duty.
During the course of contact tracing and investigating the soldier's exposure, additional soldiers were identified with unreported animal exposures, mostly dog bites. In response to these findings, the Department of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) initiated a collaborative effort to identify soldiers returning from active duty abroad that may have had unreported rabies exposures. Routine exposure assessment is being included in post-deployment evaluations of soldiers and efforts are underway to identify veterans who may have had an unreported exposure in the past 18 months.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Prescriptions for antipsychotics jumped tenfold from 2002 to 2009
Medications like these numbs them and does not allow for healing. You can't heal what you can't feel.
Pentagon to limit anti-psychotic drugs for PTSD
By Patricia Kime -
Staff writer
Posted : Thursday May 3, 2012
The Pentagon is moving to limit off-label use of powerful anti-psychotic drugs for post-traumatic stress disorder — a practice some say may contribute to accidental drug overdoses among troops.
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Dr. Jonathan Woodson sent a letter to the services in February asking military treatment facilities to monitor prescriptions of atypical antipsychotics like risperidone and quetiapine, marketed under the brand name Seroquel.
The drugs, used to treat severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, are sometimes prescribed to troops in lower doses to alleviate symptoms associated with PTSD and anxiety, including nightmares and irritability.
But when mixed with other prescriptions, they can be dangerous and sometimes fatal.
The Food and Drug Administration in 2011 added a warning label to quetiapine, saying its use with some synthetic opiates, including methadone, can increase the risk of a heart-stopping overdose.
In his letter, Woodson said the number of prescriptions for these antipsychotics jumped tenfold from 2002 to 2009, from 0.1 percent to 1 percent.
In fiscal 2010, 1.4 percent of all soldiers and 0.7 percent of Marines received prescriptions for Seroquel.
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Col. Barbara Holcomb became the first registered nurse to command Landstuhl
First nurse takes command at Landstuhl
By NANCY MONTGOMERY
Stars and Stripes
Published: May 3, 2012
LANDSTUHL, Germany — Throughout Landstuhl Regional Medical Center’s long, storied past, medical doctors have almost always been in charge.
But on Thursday, Col. Barbara Holcomb became the first registered nurse – and second woman – to take command of the hospital, considered a jewel in the crown of military medicine.
“ ‘Landstuhl is such an awesome place,’ ” Holcomb, in her change-of command ceremonial speech, recalled a friend telling her when she got the news of her assignment. “ ‘They saved several of my soldiers.’ ”
Such admiration for the hospital staff’s expertise at saving the lives of wounded troops “runs deeply through many military leaders,” Holcomb said. “This is indeed an honor.”
Holcomb relieves Col. Jeffrey Clark, who served less than a year before being nominated for promotion to brigadier general and, next month, to take over as commander of the Europe Regional Medical Command. Clark will replace Brig. Gen. Nadja West, who is to become an assistant Army surgeon general.
read more here
By NANCY MONTGOMERY
Stars and Stripes
Published: May 3, 2012
LANDSTUHL, Germany — Throughout Landstuhl Regional Medical Center’s long, storied past, medical doctors have almost always been in charge.
But on Thursday, Col. Barbara Holcomb became the first registered nurse – and second woman – to take command of the hospital, considered a jewel in the crown of military medicine.
“ ‘Landstuhl is such an awesome place,’ ” Holcomb, in her change-of command ceremonial speech, recalled a friend telling her when she got the news of her assignment. “ ‘They saved several of my soldiers.’ ”
Such admiration for the hospital staff’s expertise at saving the lives of wounded troops “runs deeply through many military leaders,” Holcomb said. “This is indeed an honor.”
Holcomb relieves Col. Jeffrey Clark, who served less than a year before being nominated for promotion to brigadier general and, next month, to take over as commander of the Europe Regional Medical Command. Clark will replace Brig. Gen. Nadja West, who is to become an assistant Army surgeon general.
read more here
Fort Stewart Ex-soldier can’t recall standoff
Ex-soldier can’t recall standoff: lawyer
By Russ Bynum - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday May 3, 2012
SAVANNAH, Ga. — A former soldier charged with taking hostages at gunpoint inside an Army hospital in Georgia suffers from severe post-traumatic stress and has no memory of the 2010 standoff, his defense attorney said Thursday.
The attorney for Robert Anthony Quinones, 31, tried unsuccessfully to persuade a U.S. Magistrate Court judge to throw out statements the suspected gunman made to investigators — including that he planned to kill President Obama and former President Bill Clinton — on grounds that he was too mentally ill to waive his Miranda rights.
Prosecutors say Quinones was armed with an assault rifle and other firearms as he took three employees hostage at Winn Army Community Hospital on Fort Stewart on Sept. 6, 2010, and demanded mental treatment. He surrendered two hours later, and no one was harmed.
Quinones later underwent a court-ordered mental evaluation. His attorney, Karl Zipperer, said in court Thursday that the former soldier had attempted suicide, been hospitalized and diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after he returned from a 15-month tour in Iraq in 2007. That diagnosis led to him being discharged from the Army.
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By Russ Bynum - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday May 3, 2012
SAVANNAH, Ga. — A former soldier charged with taking hostages at gunpoint inside an Army hospital in Georgia suffers from severe post-traumatic stress and has no memory of the 2010 standoff, his defense attorney said Thursday.
The attorney for Robert Anthony Quinones, 31, tried unsuccessfully to persuade a U.S. Magistrate Court judge to throw out statements the suspected gunman made to investigators — including that he planned to kill President Obama and former President Bill Clinton — on grounds that he was too mentally ill to waive his Miranda rights.
Prosecutors say Quinones was armed with an assault rifle and other firearms as he took three employees hostage at Winn Army Community Hospital on Fort Stewart on Sept. 6, 2010, and demanded mental treatment. He surrendered two hours later, and no one was harmed.
Quinones later underwent a court-ordered mental evaluation. His attorney, Karl Zipperer, said in court Thursday that the former soldier had attempted suicide, been hospitalized and diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after he returned from a 15-month tour in Iraq in 2007. That diagnosis led to him being discharged from the Army.
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Wounded Iraq veteran, dancing star, J.R. Martinez is a new Dad
J.R. Martinez, girlfriend Diana Gonzalez-Jones welcome baby girl Lauryn Anabelle Martinez
The Iraq war vet says his daughter has 'a full head of hair and the cutest little lips'
BY CRISTINA EVERETT
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, May 3, 2012
J.R. Martinez has a new little lady in his life.
The Iraq war veteran and “Dancing with the Stars” champ became a father Wednesday night when he and girlfriend Diana Gonzalez-Jones welcomed their first child together.
Baby girl Lauryn Anabelle Martinez, born in Los Angeles, weighed in at 7 lbs., 13 oz. and is 21 inches long.
“She’s already got a nickname – Belle,” Martinez, 28, told People of his daughter.
Read more
The Iraq war vet says his daughter has 'a full head of hair and the cutest little lips'
BY CRISTINA EVERETT
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, May 3, 2012
J.R. Martinez has a new little lady in his life.
The Iraq war veteran and “Dancing with the Stars” champ became a father Wednesday night when he and girlfriend Diana Gonzalez-Jones welcomed their first child together.
Baby girl Lauryn Anabelle Martinez, born in Los Angeles, weighed in at 7 lbs., 13 oz. and is 21 inches long.
“She’s already got a nickname – Belle,” Martinez, 28, told People of his daughter.
Read more
Deadly infection claims San Francisco VA lab worker
Deadly infection claims San Francisco VA lab worker
By Matt O'Brien
Bay Area News Group
Posted: 05/03/2012
State and federal health officials are investigating how a rare and virulent bacteria strain appears to have killed a young researcher at a VA hospital's infectious diseases lab in San Francisco, setting off alarms that the man's friends and fellow researchers may have also been exposed.
The 25-year-old laboratory researcher at San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center died Saturday morning shortly after asking friends to take him to the hospital. For the week and months before his death, he had been handling a bacteria linked to deadly bloodstream infections at the VA hospital's Northern California Institute for Research and Education, said Peter Melton, a spokesman for the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The man, whose name has not been released, was working with fellow researchers to develop a vaccine for a bacterial strain that causes septicemia and meningitis. Hours after he left work, however, the germ that he was studying took his own life.
"He left the lab around 5 p.m." Friday, said Harry Lampiris, chief of the VA hospital's infectious diseases division. "He had no symptoms at all."
read more here
By Matt O'Brien
Bay Area News Group
Posted: 05/03/2012
State and federal health officials are investigating how a rare and virulent bacteria strain appears to have killed a young researcher at a VA hospital's infectious diseases lab in San Francisco, setting off alarms that the man's friends and fellow researchers may have also been exposed.
The 25-year-old laboratory researcher at San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center died Saturday morning shortly after asking friends to take him to the hospital. For the week and months before his death, he had been handling a bacteria linked to deadly bloodstream infections at the VA hospital's Northern California Institute for Research and Education, said Peter Melton, a spokesman for the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The man, whose name has not been released, was working with fellow researchers to develop a vaccine for a bacterial strain that causes septicemia and meningitis. Hours after he left work, however, the germ that he was studying took his own life.
"He left the lab around 5 p.m." Friday, said Harry Lampiris, chief of the VA hospital's infectious diseases division. "He had no symptoms at all."
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