ATTN: Veterans, Families of, Friends of, Caring Others

The beginning of this is an attempt to bring you up to speed on what has been going on this past year leading up to the purpose of this post, a New Investigation on Veterans Care, and the request for those listed in the subject title to get involved with, especially the Veterans having their troubles with the VA and their Care.

Back in July of 2007 the Law Firm of Morrison & Foerster, with help from the legal staff at Disability Rights Advocates, filed a Class Action Lawsuit on behalf of Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth against the Veterans Administration of these United States. A lawsuit, I might add, that shouldn't have found a need for!

You can find out more, for those who haven't followed this, at the DRA website here: Nationwide Class Action Against the VA or at the Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth sites.

Back in January, of this year, Melissa, a lawyer with DRA Legal posted a Real Good News diary on the progress of the lawsuit to that point.

Very recently what some may see as a setback, this Vet. thought this was coming, the Judge in the case made a ruling. I posted a ShoutOut for Action to the citizens of this Country, who the Military Serve, on this setback, but not Defeat! The Soldiers and Veterans Need the Total Involvement of the Citizens of this Country they Serve, They Always Have, but there also is Always Not Enough Sacrifice from same and definantly not the numbers needed to give back what should Not Needed To Be Fought For, the Support and Gratitude of this Nation for those who Sacrifice, up to their Lives, to Serve and Protect!

Here is a News Report on the recent ruling by the Judge:

And here's a Press Conference shortly after that ruling by the Lawyers Involved:

I would hope you visit my link just above, on the Call For Action, as well as the other links, and Get Involved, this Country Owes it's Soldiers and their Families, Especially when they return from it's Excepted Wars of Choice!

Now to get to the reason for this post, the New Investigation on Veterans Care.

A few weeks back Melissa sent me a file and asked that I quietly pass it on to Veterans, and parties who could help out, in the start of this New Investigation asking Veterans to contact DRA Legal to answer some important questions seeking answers that could be used to help All Veterans and the Returning Soldiers.

Well it need not be Quiet anymore. Melissa contacted me yesterday, really sorry I missed your call and have a Well Deserved Vacation next week, and sent me another file requesting that I pass it on Publicly and request others do same. To make it easier for others to download the files, save them, post them up, and pass them out, I have uploaded them to Box.net, a file sharing site I occasionally use. I will just link to the initial first file but will paste the file from yesterday below.

The first file, in PDF, from May 29th can be Downloaded and Viewed Here, this one you may not find the need to save, as the most recent is the important one to pass to those who may want to participate, but I include it as some may find it's need as well.

The most recent, in RTF, from yesterday can be Downloaded and Viewed Here, this is the one you can post up, save and print out to pass around, send the link to others, how ever you find it can help to aid in this investigation working towards Much Needed Change.

Here is the second file contents:

ATTENTION VETERANS WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES

Disability Rights Advocates is conducting an investigation of the accessibility of VA hospitals and clinics. We would like to hear from you about your experiences at these facilities. If you have a mobility disability, a vision disability, a hearing disability, and/or Traumatic Brain Injury, you are entitled to full access and reasonable accommodations, whether or not your disability is service connected. We want to know if these accommodations are being provided. Please contact us at VA Access and we can set up a time to talk with you about your experiences.

If you have a mobility disability:

Whether you use a wheelchair or another form of assistive device, or whether your mobility is impaired in any way due to disability, we want to know about your experience with access at VA hospitals or clinics:

1 Is there adequate accessible parking?
2 Are there access barriers as you travel through the hospital or clinic? For example, are there adequate ramps and accessible pathways? Are doors, counters, elevators and restrooms accessible?
3 Is there enough room for you and your mobility device in patient check-in or waiting areas?
4 Can you get to exam rooms, hospital rooms and laboratories and have your medical care provided with adequate comfort and privacy?
5 Can you access medical equipment such as exam tables, scales and diagnostic equipment safely, independently and with dignity?
6 Can you access other public areas at the hospital or clinic, such as the pharmacy, cafeteria/canteen, or gift shop?
7 Does the staff seem to be knowledgeable and trained to address your needs arising out of your mobility disability?

If you have a vision disability:

Whether you are blind, legally blind, or have low vision, we want to know about your experiences with access at VA hospitals and/or clinics:

8 Are there access barriers such as protruding objects and lack of detectible warnings as you travel through the hospital or clinic?
9 Is there accessible signage so you can navigate through the hospital or clinic?
10 Are you able to obtain information such as forms, notices and prescription information in accessible formats?
11 Can you access your hospital or clinic’s information technology, such as websites or registration kiosks?
12 Does the staff seem to be knowledgeable and trained to address your needs arising out of your visual impairment (including allowing you to be accompanied by your service animal)?
13 Have you experienced other barriers due to your vision disability?

If you have a hearing disability:

Whether you are deaf or hearing impaired, we want to know about your experiences with access at VA hospitals and/or clinics:

14 Can you communicate effectively with VA personnel to make appointments and understand your medical needs and treatment?
15 Do you receive interpreters or assistive listening services when necessary?
16 Does the staff seem to be knowledgeable and trained to address your needs arising out of your hearing impairment?
17 Have you experienced other barriers due to your hearing disability?

If you have Traumatic Brain Injury:

18 Can you communicate effectively with VA personnel to make appointments and understand your medical needs and treatment?
19 Do you receive adequate guidance from VA personnel to make decisions regarding medical care and treatment based on informed consent?
20 Does the staff seem to be knowledgeable and trained to address your needs arising out of your brain injury?
21 Have you experienced other barriers due to your disability?

Disability Rights Advocates is a non-profit organization based in California that is dedicated to protecting the rights of people with all types of disabilities, including disabled veterans. DRA is one of the two law firms that is challenging the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA’s) practices in failing to adequately treat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and we also have a longstanding interest in ensuring disabled individuals’ equal access to prompt medical care. For more information about DRA, please visit DRA Legal.

To set up at time to talk about your experiences at VA hospitals and/or clinics, email VA Access, or call toll-free at 800/332-6177 (or TTY at 510/665-8716).

Once again, you can download and view the initial file, in PDF, HERE.

And you can download the above full text file, in RTF, HERE to do whatever you feel might be the best way to make the contacts needed to help DRA Legal in their Investigation.

Get Involved!!!

You want Change, well that 'Change' can only come from You!!

On this 4th of July Show What Patriotism Is, Really Support The Troops and The Veterans, Sacrifice for once!!

Veterans Care

Are We Letting Down our Nation's Veterans? Again

Hopefully, this ruling will impel our nation’s leaders to work to ensure veterans receive mental health care services they need and deserve.

Ahhhhh folks, You Hire Those Leaders?!!!!!!!

Big Brother or good security at VA?

"A veteran just back from Iraq and Afghanistan with a DUI should be encouraged to get mental health counseling and substance abuse treatment," said Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense. "Is the VA going to hire more doctors? Or are they going to be playing Big Brother?"

The Forgotten Veterans - Memorial Day

Once again Veterans are living with the apathy of the country they served!

Remember Agent Orange or the many other ailments and Government using Military Personal to test the effects from Nuclear Explosions and Drugs, probably not!

Look them up, or search out the Vets, using this technology, who are still trying to Educate you too!

Remember the 1st Gulf War?

How about the Veterans from, with questions about, their rapidly deteriorating health after serving, many having died since, coming under the obscure name of 'Gulf War Syndrom', look that one up as well!

Veterans groups have been fighting for the VA to recognize ALS

Veterans with ALS in race against time

Afflicted with Lou Gehrig's disease, they fight for military benefits as science hunts the cause
"The mind stays strong, but the body..." says Anthony Averella, 53, who served in the Army and National Guard and suffers from deadly Lou Gehrig's disease. He has lost more than 50 pounds in the past year. (Sun photo by Chiaki Kawajiri / May 16, 2008)

The first time he fell, Army Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Averella was strolling on a military base in Afghanistan. He got up, collected himself and brushed aside the concerns of fellow soldiers. Within months, Averella was stumbling regularly, and his hands began inexplicably clenching into fists.

At first, tests revealed nothing. Three years ago, the Maryland soldier found out what was afflicting him: Lou Gehrig's disease.

Well some, once again, are seeking the answers. But how much does the country care?

Military veterans such as Averella are the subject of a Duke University study that will attempt to solve a mystery: Why are soldiers more likely than the general population to suffer from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS?

Early this decade, the Veterans Affairs and Defense departments released a study showing that veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf War were twice as likely as other soldiers to get ALS, and the federal government extended disability compensation. Now, some veterans and advocates, including members of Congress, are pushing the VA to extend those benefits to all veterans with the disease.

How many of you know what's going on, have even thought about these Vets, are willing to Pay to not only find out but to Care For them? I do know there are still deniers of the effects of our spraying Defoliants in Vietnam and the damage done not only to our Military Troops but the Vietnamesse People!

Testifying before a congressional committee last summer, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas R. Mikolajcik, who has ALS, said the government has not done enough research on potential causes and might be exposing service members now in Iraq to an elevated risk of the disease.

"If we know that it happened in the first Gulf War, and now we're exposing millions more, why aren't we doing more, and how are you going to answer those people in three, five, 10 years that come down with this disease?" Mikolajcik said in an interview.

Given the incidence rate of ALS among veterans, Mikolajcik said, the VA should not differentiate between those who served in the Gulf War and those who did not.

"Why should my comrades in arms that were in Somalia, Grenada, Panama, Vietnam, Korea or anywhere else around the world get less than those of us that served in the Gulf War?" he asked.

Study Links Gulf War Service with Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS)

September 26, 2003

Veterans who served in the Persian Gulf in 1990 and 1991 have a nearly
twofold risk of Lou Gehrig's disease compared to veterans of the same era
who did not serve in the Gulf, according to research funded by VA and the
Department of Defense.

2003 Sep 23; 61(6): 742-9. Occurrence of
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis among Gulf War veterans. - Abstract

Read this full Report
on ALS & Military - PDF

A study published in the January 11, 2005
edition of Neurology, found that men with any history of military service in
the last century are
at a nearly 60% greater risk of ALS than men who did not serve in the
military. Conducted
by epidemiologists at Harvard University's School of Public Health, the
study concluded
that "Military personnel have an increased risk of ALS. This increase
appeared to be largely
independent of the branch of service and the time period served."

Initial Symptoms of the Disease

At the onset of ALS the symptoms may be so slight that they are frequently
overlooked. With regard to the appearance of symptoms and the progression of
the illness, the course of the disease may include the following:

* muscle weakness in one or more of the following: hands, arms, legs
or the muscles of speech, swallowing or breathing

* twitching (fasciculation) and cramping of muscles, especially those
in the hands and feet

* impairment of the use of the arms and legs

* "thick speech" and difficulty in projecting the voice

* in more advanced stages, shortness of breath, difficulty in
breathing and swallowing

National Registry of Veterans with ALS

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has developd a nationwide registry
of living veterans who have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This effort
was directed by the Epidemiologic Research and Information Center (ERIC) at
the VA Medical Center in Durham, NC, with cooperation from the VA Medical
Center in Lexington, KY. The ALS Association advised the study leaders. The
National Registry of Veterans with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis stopped
enrollment of new patients as of September 30, 2007.

And why is it most of the mention of 'Gulf War Syndrom' comes from Overseas?

Fighting for those who can't

MEET a lawyer who battles for the rights of servicemen and women - a role that has made her an Inspiring Women finalist.

HILARY Meredith remembers every soldier and widow she's ever worked with.

Hilary's tasks in the courts include campaigning for compensation for widows whose husbands have been killed in service, fighting for awareness of Gulf War syndrome and, now, trying to improve medical care for injured soldiers returning from duty.

Insecticides in pet shampoo may trigger autism

Meanwhile, another study suggests that exposure to organophosphate insecticides double the risk of developmental disorders, including autism. Organophosphates have previously been linked to Gulf War syndrome.

There are other reports that slowly come through, once again most coming from overseas, the reporting and research of what may have caused the suffering those who served in the 1st Gulf war are experiancing.

And our present conflicts are already getting the silent treatment of the possible problems, health wise, that many are starting to experiance, not only the military personal but the citizens of the countries we invaded and occupy.

Afghans to probe whether U.S. used depleted uranium

The Afghan government plans to investigate whether the United States used depleted uranium during its invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and if it might be linked to malformed babies born afterwards.

Kakar said he would like to see the study done as soon as possible, but the Afghan government, which largely relies on Western aid and troops, needed to find ways of funding it.

And once again almost total silence from the American Public as to those they send into, and cheer on, these Wars Of Choice when they return.

Few voice outrage over the Highly Paid Mercenary Army this country supports, few complain about the No-Bid Contracts, and the corruption from, of the Private Companies of Wall Street, few ask Questions as to exactly where the Supplemetal Funding for Wars go let alone where the Monies for the DoD ever increasing Budget go..........................!!

But when anything is mentioned about returning Veterans of our Conflicts and Occupations the Public Embraces the Spin created to Silence those seeking Help and their Advocates!

Ilona meet Ilana, Ilana meet Ilona - Combat PTSD Research

Teen PTSD researcher Ilana Rice

Why do I get the feeling you two are destined to meet? And by all means don't change your first names!

Many already know Ilona Meagher, many have worked with her, and she posts on many of these boards, when not the busy young lady she's become with her dedication to her new found much needed cause as she joined many of us who had already been trying to get others to pay attention to. She has done wonders, as have all those who joined her from ePluribus Media, in their research and their PTSD, and other, Timelines which are used by many.

For those who don't know Ilona, I won't go into a book writing here, she's done enough in a short few years that could turn into a personal history book, already, but will say that she hosts her own well visited site PTSD Combat: Winning the War Within and she has written a great referance book Moving A Nation to Care: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and America's Returning Troops

Visit her site to find out more about this remarkable young woman if you hadn't before.

This post is an introduction, not only to Ilona about Ilana but for all to meet, to what seems to be another remarkable young lady, a very young lady with a growing dedication beyond her years.

Yesterday, 5-24-08, I had NPR on while driving back from getting some work done on my van. Weekend America was on and in the second hour of the show, when I caught "PTSD Research" and I thought "Ilona" as the name given, had the radio down low as my cell had rang. Thought that Ilona was being interviewed and hadn't told anyone about it, than I heard the voice, it seemed much younger and not how Ilona sounded, as we've heard her being interviewed before. Than the name was said again and it was Ilana.

As soon as I got home I brought up the Weekend America site.

This was the title of this short interview and report Teen Researcher Targets PTSD Treatment

A New York researcher hopes that veterans of the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan won't take decades to work through their Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) issues. Maybe her youth as something to do with her impatience -- Ilana Rice is only 16.
For the past year and a half, she's been studying how relationships can help heal PTSD. The high school junior hopes her study will help fill in the gaps in the research about the disease.
She became interested in the subject through her mother's work as a psychologist at a Veteran's hospital. Weekend America's Desiree Cooper asked Ilana to describe the focus of her study:

She has a unique approach to her PTSD research and study, through relationships, and a very intelligent approach I might add, she really has paid attention watching and listening to her mother.

Ilana, why are you interested in PTSD?
When I was younger, my mom is actually a VA psychologist. So that's why I've become so passionate about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in combat veterans. I used to send them Veteran Day cards every year, and some of them saw these cards and offered to meet me. And I've known some of them for many years and when I got older, someone of them shared their stories with me.

I love it when a youngster says "when I was younger", but in this case she's is matured well beyond her young years, with it seems more understanding than the majority of adults who think they are adult.

How hard has it been to find people to fill out the questionnaire?
That has been the single most difficult part of this project. I think it's... a lot of it has to do with the fact that I am a high school student. My resources are not that extensive. I'm really working with a lot of local organizations when it comes to actually finding people. Originally I was looking only at the most current Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, and there are simply not enough of them to fill out a questionnaire so my study would be valid and that my data would be accepted. So I had to expand it to include Vietnam vets, veterans of the Korean War, Desert Storm, as well as the two most recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. And it's also very difficult to find people who have non-veteran romantic partners who are married to or living with them. Sometimes these partners don't want to fill out the survey.

These are but a few cuts of a short important interview, there's abit more at the subject link as well as backtrack links to important PTSD information.

At the bottom, in case some might miss it, you'll find this:

If you are interested in participating in Ilana Rice's study, please Click Here to fill out our contact form.

To Listen to the podcast visit the site link

Earlier they had another report on, that is equally important and also on the subject of PTSD, but this one is covering the Combat Vets of the past before Vietnam.

Decades Later, Haunted by PTSD

Leslie Martin, at the head of the table, is director of PTSD Outpatient Services for Los Angeles Veterans Affairs. She runs the support group for older vets with PTSD. Here she is with "her guys," as she affectionately calls them.
Credit: Krissy Clark

A white cap, gray trousers and a navy-blue jacket, pinned with medals -- that's what Don LaFond will be wearing this weekend when he attends a Memorial Day ceremony in Los Angeles. He goes every year, and he always wears his Purple Heart.
Don earned that medal in World War II in the battle for Saipan. He showed incredible courage -- but also fear:
"You never know where the bullets coming from -- over here, over here, coming overhead. Like mortar shells, bombs, artillery. You're frightened. Anybody who says they're not afraid when they go into combat, they're a big... they're a liar, you know."
Don is 84 years old, and like many veterans of his generation, he has never been too open with his emotions about the war -- until recently. Now, he talks about them every Friday, in a support group for older vets. Weekend America's Krissy Clark dropped in on them:

Every one of these men is in his 70s or 80s. Every one fought in a war that ended more than a half century ago. And every one has been living with strange symptoms since then: constant nightmares, anxiety, emotional numbness. Most of these men had never given the collection of feelings a name. They've discovered recently it is called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.
"I'm 84-years-old now, and all this stuff happened when I was in my early 20s," LaFond says. "It makes you wonder, gee whiz, if it will ever leave your mind."

We could have been much more advanced in treating PTSD once it was finally taken for the serious result of War after Vietnam if the Nation had paid much moree attention to those Veterans who took up the cause and Especially the civilians, to few in numbers, who recognized how serious it is and how common to Veterans of all conflicts. The advancements would have been felt worldwide and understood in the civilian population of those who live through traumatic life events and develope their own PTSD, suffering in silence!

The Veteran's Administration now estimates one in 20 veterans of World War II -- the "good" war -- probably have symptoms similar to LaFond's and probably suffer from PTSD. The numbers are vague, because most older vets were never diagnosed.

Sometimes Martin asks herself why now, after all these years? She thinks there are two main triggers. First, retirement: Men who long buried their war traumas under work and responsibilities have more time to dwell on old fears. Second, because we're at war again now. "It's everywhere," Martin says. "There are movies about it, it's on television." And it brings things up again for her guys.

"Not too many people know that I come to meetings," he says. "People think it's a weakness. I don't want to be classified as such. Macho thing, I guess." But Medina says he does have fewer nightmares since he's come to meetings.

To listen to this podcast visit the site link

There's abit more at the site visit and read, you won't be sorry, it isn't long but it is powerful and informative, especially those who have returned, are still there, or in rotation for another tour In-Country. These two present day conflicts OIF and OEF, and especially with the multiple tours and stop loss, I fear will cause even greater problems for the individuals, their families, their communities as well as the Nation if we all don't step up and give the care promised, for All related War injuries, physical and mental!

We will have many more stories like this, Iraq put his life on the trigger

But the carousing masked Morris' troubled state. His PTSD was so severe, his friends said, that he couldn't sleep. He had terrifying visions of people he had killed in combat.

Morris showed his friends horrific photos from Iraq -- "people with their heads blowed off . . . guts ripped out on barbed wire . . . bullet holes in every piece of body," said a friend, Dustin Newton.

Sometimes, friends said, Morris would show the photos and laugh.

Video Presentations and More

Picking Up the Pieces

With Jane Pauley
Meet the families of wounded veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Soldiers' loved ones are making inspiring and often shocking sacrifices to care for them. Jane Pauley talks to some family members and also interviews ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff and his wife, Lee, who share their personal story of recovery and healing.

When Wounded Vets Come Home

Hosted by Sheliah Kast
Families of veterans disabled in Iraq and Afghanistan are becoming their primary caregivers, and support from the federal government and the military is, in many cases, woefully inadequate. "Inside E Street" visits families, talks to members of Congress, the Wounded Warrior Project, and Veterans of Foreign Wars about the challenges these servicemen and women and their loved ones face.

Resources for Family Caregivers of Vets

Numerous organizations and agencies provide assistance to Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans and their families.

And Much More

And from NPR Morning Edition:
Army Hospitals Struggle to Stop Drug Overdoses

Eleven medications were found in Nichols' body, including painkillers to treat his physical wounds from an explosion in Iraq and drugs to ease the nightmares, insomnia and memory loss caused by his post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.
You can listen here