[Peace-discuss] VETERANS and Their Families SPEAK OUT

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

Despite all of our efforts, DOD directives, congressional directives, 
thousands of troops already sick or injured from Gulf War 2, and over 221000 ill / 
injured on peremanent VA disability and overt 13000 dead from Gulf War 1 the DOD 
jerks still will not provide thorough mandated physicals.

THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE! 

doug rokke






Army shies from final physicals

Veterans groups attack new directive

Friday March 19, 2004


By Bruce Alpert

Washington bureau



WASHINGTON -- The Army is scaling back the medical exams it offers
soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, discouraging routine
blood
tests, electrocardiograms and X-rays, according to a Pentagon memo.

The directive from Army Assistant Surgeon General Richard Ursone is
drawing criticism from some veterans organizations and members of
Congress, who say the department should make the exams mandatory and
more comprehensive to enable earlier diagnosis of the kinds of
medical
problems reported by some veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

But in his Jan. 20 memorandum to regional medical commands, Ursone
said
the "performance of routine screening laboratory, radiologic and
electrocardiographic tests in this setting is extremely low yield and
is
discouraged."

Even if giving those tests is "supported by evidence-based medicine,"
Ursone said in his memo, they "may be deferred if the soldier is
without
symptoms and the laboratory tests will delay release from active
duty."

The directive applies to soldiers leaving active duty, which in
recent
months mostly has been troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Pentagon public information officers could not say whether the new
medical exam policies are being implemented for the other military
services.

Mike Duggan, deputy director for national security for the American
Legion, a veterans group, said the Army's decision is a step backward.

"Our position has been and continues to be that soldiers, active or
reservists, deserve to have a complete physical when they leave the
service," Duggan said.

His major beef continues to be that the military requires soldiers
before and after deployment overseas only to answer a questionnaire,
with a medical exam being optional.

"You leave it up to them, and they are, quite understandably, in a
hurry
to get out. But getting a complete exam can be so important in terms
of
diagnosing any medical problems, including some that might not have
active symptoms," Duggan said.

Jack Trowbridge, deputy commander for administration at Bayne-Jones
Army
Community Hospital at Louisiana's Fort Polk, said that though
post-deployment physicals have been scaled back, the military is able
to
assess if there are any medical problems demanding immediate follow-
up.

"We make sure they are fit to go back home," Trowbridge said.

Not surprising

Denise Nichols, a Denver nurse who experienced medical problems
including fatigue and low red blood cell count after coming back with
her Reserve unit from service in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, has been
pressing for complete medical exams -- both before and after
deployment.
Her view is that the physicals, along with good record keeping, could
provide the keys to understanding the types of unexplained ailments
reported after the 1991 war.

"I don't know if the fact that they are cutting back on medical
exams,
or not collecting all the information they should before and after
deployment, surprises me," Nichols said. "After the Gulf War, we
tried
to mandate by law that they do these things and keep good records,
and
they keep on ignoring it."

Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn., plans to ask Department of Defense
officials
about the Ursone memo when he convenes a hearing of his Subcommittee
on
National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations on
March
30, his aides said Thursday. Shays has been urging the department to
do
a better job of collecting medical data both pre- and post-deployment
to
make it easier to diagnose medical problems related to combat service.

But some veterans groups said the military is so overwhelmed with the
large number of troops being deployed to and returning from Iraq that
the soldiers are being encouraged to seek treatment and even routine
physicals at Veterans Administration hospitals once they return home.
Military personnel are given access to VA facilities for two years
after
completing service.

"They asked me some questions, and when I said my back was bothering
me,
they did look at it," said Jerry St. Pierre of Slidell, who completed
a
six-month deployment with his National Guard engineering unit at the
end
of January and departed from active duty at Fort Polk. "But they
basically suggested that whatever I needed fixed or looked at, I
could
go to the VA for two years."

Lawmakers want answers

Rep. Lane Evans, D-Ill., ranking Democrat on the House Veterans
Affairs
Committee, said the "DOD must do a better job ensuring that it is
assessing the health needs, including mental health needs, of service
members."

In 1997, Congress required that DOD provide pre- and post-deployment
medical examinations, but the DOD decided that a self-administered
survey would be sufficient.

Evans said the General Accounting Office recently concluded that DOD
wasn't even doing a good job compiling the limited information from
the
questionnaires.

The Army memo has prompted Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Rep. David
Vitter, R-Metairie, to ask for explanations from the Pentagon about
changes in medical exams.

Rep. Chris John, D-Lafayette, said Congress needs to get answers on
whether the new policy on medical exams is "protecting our troops."

"We should be taking care of our troops as best we can, whether it's
on
the battlefield or when they come home," John said. "Now, I haven't
seen
this memo, and I don't know all the facts, but I think the Department
of
Defense needs to justify any decision to cut back on medical exams."

. . . . . . .

Bruce Alpert can be reached at bruce.alpert at newhouse.com or (202) 383-
7861.