Barack Obama

VA won't review all traumatic-stress cases

Monday, November 14, 2005

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
By Jason George

Veterans' advocates hail dropping of plan

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has decided not to review the case of 72,000 veterans who are receiving disability payments for post-traumatic stress disorder less than six months after a smaller review found that some veterans' files had insufficient documentation.

"The problems with these files appear to be administrative in nature, such as missing documents, and not fraud," Secretary R. James Nicholson said. "In the absence of evidence of fraud, we're not going to put our veterans through the anxiety of a widespread review of their disability claims."

Joe Davis, spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, called the move "a win for veterans everywhere."

"We're talking about people already approved for 100 percent VA disability, and they were going back and say prove it to us again," he added. "These are people that suffer every day of their lives."

The large-scale review was proposed following a May report from the department's inspector general that found insufficient documentation in some files reviewed earlier. The agency also considered doing a full-scale review because more veterans have been reporting post-traumatic stress since 1999 than earlier.

Post-traumatic stress, which is difficult to diagnose, is a psychiatric disorder that a person who has experienced a traumatic experience, like war, can develop, according to the National Center for PTSD. The disorder can cause a host of physical and mental symptoms, including nightmares and flashbacks.

Illinois' Democratic Sens. Barack Obama and Dick Durbin cheered Thursday's announcement after months of blasting the proposed review.

"Since the day I heard about this wrong-headed, costly and unnecessary review, I have worked with Sen. Durbin and others in Congress to keep it from happening," Obama said. "I'm encouraged that just before Veterans Day, the day when we call on all citizens to remember the sacrifices of those who fought to protect our freedom, the VA has decided to suspend it."

Durbin called the decision a victory for Illinois veterans.

"The initial decision by the VA to review all 72,000 PTSD cases would have caused undue stress and uncertainty for thousands of veterans in Illinois and tens of thousands more across the country," Durbin said.

Last year, both senators began calling on the department to examine why Illinois veterans have been receiving much less than the national average for disability