VA denies trying to cut costs by reducing PTSD diagnoses.
By on Jun 3rd, 2008 at 5:59 pm
VA denies trying to cut costs by reducing PTSD diagnoses.
Norma Perez, a VA psychologist who wrote an e-mail discouraging diagnosing veterans with post-trauamtic stress disorder, says she did not make the suggestion out of financial concerns. “My intent was unequivocally to improve the quality of care our veterans received,” she writes, in prepared testimony for tomorrow’s Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing. Her May 1, 2008 e-mail warned against “compensation seeking veterans,” and advised diagnoses of “adjustment disorder.” The less severe diagnosis “could save the VA millions of dollars in disability payouts,” the AP reports.
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The government doesn't want to acknowledge these soldiers may have PTSD because then they might have to actually be held accountable--a word unknown to the bush mal-administration.
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:10 pm“My intent was unequivocally to improve the quality of care our veterans received”...
And how the HELL does that work??
Let me get this straight - by this twisted, sick logic, if I had cancer, you'd treat me for the flu, in order to give me better quality medical treatment?
Huh??
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:10 pmYeah, save millions so these jacka$$es can continually screw the veterans who need help with traumatic mental health issues which could damage them for life if not treated properly. This administration should just admit that once these soldiers can't go back to Iraq, they are just a piece of garbage to them. Bush and his flunkies can pour all of the money into Iraq, but when the bills come due at home they try to find the cheapest and most inexpensive ways to treat the service men and women who gave up a lot more than their "golf game" over seas for a man who thinks war is like a video game.
When the presidency under funds health care in such a way, I believe the message is "roll over and die already".
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:13 pmSure, Ms Perez, based upon the past performance of the VA with regard to care of wounded vets, why would there be any doubt about what you said?
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:14 pmIn fact, tell me more about your true intentions.
no, I believe a mosquito bite would be more accurate. She is using adjustment disorder
it sounds like someone having difficulty adjusting to their new neighborhood.
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:14 pmi say, amen to that, sectionop92!
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:17 pmMedical care being denied, or discouraged, to save expenses.
what a unique tale.
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:17 pmRogers-
Don't you mean...
"I have a DREAM that all PATRIOT's who ACT to PROTECT AMERICA will be supported, and not stuck with a huge G.I. BILL... get it?"
rogers Says:
Medical care being denied, or discouraged, to save expenses.
It's very similar to John McCain's health care plan for working poor and middle class.
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:23 pmMedical care being denied, or discouraged, to save expenses.
what a unique tale.
It will be, after we get those remaining rubberstamps out of the House and Senate.
So much the talking point about "respecting their service."
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:25 pmWOW, they cand spend 695 billion a year for ways to destroy but not to heal.
Is this what they call compassionate conservatism?
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:27 pmNorma Perez is a lying scumbag. Just what GW Botch ordered!!
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:33 pmWell, corners are gonna be cut somewhere…do you want nightmares, or to stay with that broken leg?.
A dose of morphine is about 20 bucks. A nightmare, that doesn't end when you open your eyes? Few soldiers kill themselves over a broken leg. A broken mind is another matter.
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:36 pmrogers Says:
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Well, corners are gonna be cut somewhere…do you want nightmares, or to stay with that broken leg?.
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Neither is necessary nor acceptable ; especially because they suffered those injuries over an imbecile's stupid and illegal decision to invade and occupy a sovereign nation without facts or cause.............
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:38 pmWell, corners are gonna be cut somewhere…do you want nightmares, or to stay with that broken leg?.
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:39 pmCut those corners, screw the Vets... TWICE!!
That's the AMERICAN WAY!!!
Awesome...
rogers Says:
Well, corners are gonna be cut somewhere.
Well, Rogers, the Pentagon is only 295 billion over budget, how about we start there?
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:40 pmRogers,
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:42 pmCan you do me a favor and repeat everything you just posted to as many veterans as you can?
I really need the Vets. to understand the Conservative position this election season, your help spreading the word would do this country a world of good...
Thanks
I'm sure the quality of care can always be improved by focusing on cost while making a diagnosis, more than focusing on what's best for the patient.
Just another way our government supports our troops.
/snark off
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:42 pmCut those corners, screw the Vets… TWICE!!
To America's Rogers, they're lifesize GI Joe dolls. If an arm falls off, you throw it away.
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:44 pmA $5bn (£2.5bn) tourism and development scheme for the Green Zone being hatched by the Pentagon and an international investment consortium would give the heavily fortified area on the banks of the Tigris a "dream" makeover
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/06/iraq
So, Rogers, got any ideas, yet, where to cut corners?
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:44 pmrogers Says:
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Well, corners are gonna be cut somewhere…..
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:33 pm
What's a few injuries when we have oh so much to show for it in Iraq ; like a worthless billion dollar embassy and constant sectarian violence ...........Nothing like penny-pinching the Vets after billions of dollars in cash has up and vanished without an investigation or the incompetent(s) being reprimanded and fired.
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:44 pmNorma Perez, a VA psychologist who wrote an e-mail discouraging diagnosing veterans with post-trauamtic stress disorder.
You can always count on the Chimpy administration to find the lowest vermin on the planet to do their bidding ; proud of yourself , you pathetic quack ?
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:45 pmrogers Says
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Well, corners are gonna be cut somewhere…do you want nightmares, or to stay with that broken leg?.
___________________________________
Are you kidding me? We have to choose which maladies to treat? We're the richest country in the world and we can't afford to give all of our vets quality health care for their battle injuries?
It sounds to me that if we can't afford to take care of our men and women in uniform, we should have fewer of them. And, of course, with a smaller military, we shouldn't pick so many fights.
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:46 pmAnother reich-winger not caring about our troops.
Not a unique tale.
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:53 pmAt least roger_roger is showing his true colors as a reich-winger by not supporting our troops. Thank you for your honesty. We appreciate it.
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:54 pmyour foolish to think were the richest and can afford anything.
I know, if only there were some way to save $200 million a day we might have some money left over to take care of veterans, schools, NASA, etc.
Hold the Phone!
Turns out $200 million a day is EXACTLY what we're spending in IRAQ!
Are you pondering what I'm pondering, Roggie?
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:10 pmGood point, redundant roger.
Some of the citizens of the US are among the richest in the world, and several of it's corporations. However it seems many of the afore-mentioned don't act like they are citizens....
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:11 pmrogers couldn't look like any more of a fool if he tried. You really don't know understand a damn thing about post traumatic do you.
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:12 pmI knew a friend at guide dog school who had it, believe me you wouldn't be able to handle it, smartass.
Phycology?.
Let me guess, complain about wastefull spening…that will help.
Actually I was gonna complain about wasteful spelling but that's a different matter...
You're right- if only there were some way to both:
A. Save a Crapload of money... and
B. Reduce the number of PTSD cases that were coming into the VA...
Where could we get the money to treat all these war victims and at the same time stem the rising tide of sufferers... it's a puzzler.
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:22 pmJust psychology? You realize this is one of the debilatiting mental deseases don't you?
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:23 pmEver see a friend have a flashback and talk about killing people?
it's not pretty and sure the hell isn't pop psychology.
I usually have patience but your are acting like the biggest jerk around
Plus Roger:
The arrogance of the Veterans for expecting medical care, right? I mean it's almost as if they feel that this is somehow owed to them!
Please tell the veterans exactly what you think of their selfishness, please...
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:26 pmrogers Says:
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bentley1
what is your solution??.Where can we realistically cut corners, for something no more serious than Phycology?.
Let me guess, complain about wastefull spening…that will help.
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Let's get out of Iraq immediately ; that will put a stop to the most wasteful spending in US history , plus , no more injuries over the worst foreign policy decision in US history..........
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:26 pm.the point is were there now, we might as well spend as little as possible. rogers
That's exactly what the alcoholic in a bar says.......
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:33 pmDamn Roger what is it with you and your obsessions with money. Were you the poor kid that got picked on at school or something. I don't mean to be rude. It just seems from reading you that money is the driver of any and all topics
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:33 pmSo rogers,
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:35 pmYou admit that the concept of leaving Iraq doesn't even enter your reality?
One troll on this thread, and a lame one at that. Where's the fun anymore?
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:36 pmbelac Says:
So rogers,
You admit that the concept of leaving Iraq doesn’t even enter your reality?
You are assuming he has a reality to enter. Nowadays most Bush supporters don't.
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:37 pm"the point is were there now, we might as well spend as little as possible." rogers
How many lives is "as little as possible"?
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:38 pmMy apologies Rogers. It is disrespectful to misspell someone's name. Trust me it was just a typo
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:38 pmVerbalKint:
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:39 pmI withdraw the question... asked and answered.
MCMetal Says:
Let’s get out of Iraq immediately ; that will put a stop to the most wasteful spending in US history , plus , no more injuries over the worst foreign policy decision in US history……….
if they're really gonna complain about these PTSD injuries that could have been prevented...
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:41 pmthe answer has been there all along but they're still hellbent on winning the stupid war they are losing.
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:42 pmI would call Ms. Perez's May 1 memo a case of being "hoist with your own petard." If her intent truly was "unequivocally to improve the quality of care our veterans received", then she wouldn't have put so much emphasis on "compensation-seeking veterans" and "millions of dollars in disability payouts". Yet more evidence supporting the hypothesis that the "Support The Troops" rhetoric is in actuality little more than hot air.
Say...now that I think about it, maybe all the hot air which has been issuing forth from the Bush administration combined with the methane emanating from the bovine excrement they've been shoveling at us for the past seven-odd years has been playing a role in climate change! Whaddaya think?
It beats the explanation which that Army scientist gave, anyway...
June 3rd, 2008 at 8:36 pmI can state unequivocally that last year a VA counselor tried to dismiss out of hand what I had been through while I had been stationed in Vietnam those many years ago. At one point during the counseling session, I told this counselor that she seemed to be engaging in a game of blame the victim. I gave her an example of a woman who is wearing a miniskirt and she is being harassed by men as she is walking down a sidewalk. She replied to me that she would advise that woman to talk to a counselor, implying, of course, that the abuse that she had experienced was somehow her fault, just as she had implied to me that I was to blame because I had not spoken out vociferously enough against the illegal orders that I had been given in fighting against the Vietnamese, even though I had told her that I had already felt tremendously guilty for not having refused those orders.
The VA, like so many other branches of the government, will do anything to cover up their mistakes, even though their prime directive is to [allegedly] help veterans.
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:01 pmYeah...just pretend it doesn't exist and it'll go away. Sounds like a lesson out of Bush's playbook.
http://progressiveworldreview.com
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:05 pmI think its like #2 stated. Diagnosing all these cases would put accountability in the hands of the Bush admin. They don't do that whole "accountability" thing.
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:24 pmNeo-cons: Support the troops War Profiteers
No complaint and talk about needing to cut corners when it comes to the BILLIONS down the financial black hole in Iraq, stolen by war profiteers but only when it comes to getting PTSD treatment...
Rogers, thank you for showing us what Republicans really mean by "Support the troops."
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:52 pmI guess the strikethrough doesn't work...
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:55 pm.
Deny the vet his leg and make him walk on a stump...
That's good medicine?
In the 21th Century, the VA denies a vet his mental capacity and makes him/her survive, or commit suicide. Good medicine?
.
June 4th, 2008 at 1:27 am#52 ucsbclassics53 Says:
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June 4th, 2008 at 1:29 amI guess the strikethrough doesn’t work…I guess our motto really is: support the war, not the troops?
June 4th, 2008 at 6:14 amPerez: I'll improve your medical care by putting a magnetic "I Support the Troops" sticker on my SUV
June 4th, 2008 at 6:23 amrogers Says:
Well, corners are gonna be cut somewhere…do you want nightmares, or to stay with that broken leg?.
Rogers, you are truly despicable and pathetic. Also, your little quip about Belgium being the wealthiest nation in the world (per capita) and then trying to claim that the US may not even be the 9th wealthiest nation in the world is a moronic non-sequitor (like so many of your "points").
Have you seen the figures on our defense spending (NOT including the money being funneled into the sand)?
You are disgusting.
How do you sleep at night?
June 4th, 2008 at 12:13 pmRogers
Plus, the whole "nightmares" and "its only psychology" remarks are vile and show the tremendous depth of your ignorance.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:14 pmwhy are we surprised? this as been going on for decades. take wwII and the "infamous fire" that destroyed everyones medical records and records of proof of serving in wwii. what about vietnam. now if that did not call to the closure of the va system nothing ever will. this system is to either get rid of you by denying claims, short changing on claims or giving the vet so much dope they end up on the 8th floor zombied and eventually dead.
June 5th, 2008 at 1:03 pm