VA Concealing Number of Suicide Attempts

To say that I am furious would be an understatement. It appears as if the Veterans Administration has covered up the attempted suicides of approximately 12,000 veterans every year/ The cause of these suicide attempts was Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and as it turns out it wasn’t because of a lack of resources, it was because the VA, in its reluctance to get involved with the expenses associated with an expensive disorder like PTSD decided not to cover those expenses.

According to a recent Rand study approximately 1.7 million soldiers have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of that number approximately 320,000 have returned with various brain injuries, depression, and psychological disorders such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Until recently the Veterans Administration has claimed that only 1,000 veterans have attempted suicide, but now, two Democratic Senators have called for the resignation of the top VA mental health official. Senator Daniel Akaka of Hawaii and Patty Murray of Murray of Washington State have called for the resignations of Ira Katz, the mental health director of the Veterans Administration and other top VA officials.

Information pertaining to the cover up and the actual number of suicide attempts came to light during a national trial in San Francisco when emails by Katz and other officials were disclosed. The trial is a direct result of two veterans groups, Veterans United For Truth and Veterans for Common sense. During the course of the trial, which does not seek monetary damage but rather oversight to guarantee the safety of our Veterans, the emails revealed some of the following attitudes on the part of Katz and his associates.

“Is this something we should (carefully) address ourselves in some sort of release before someone stumbles on it?” Katz inquired. Another email stated that on the average 18 veterans kill themselves every day and that of that number, 18 per day are successful while, five are under VA supervision at the time. The results are even more tragic when you consider the possibility that only fifty percent of those veterans with depression or PTSD have sought treatment–a fact which may have something to do with the fact that governmental agencies drag their feet when it comes to providing services for those veterans who suffer from psychological disorders, preferring to approve claims for those with physical disorders. Why if you didn’t know better you’d think that the government was dragging its feet where psychological issues are concerned because it believes it can get away with it.

As a direct result of there revelation Senators Murry, Tom Harkin, and our very own Russ Feingold, have introduced legislation which would require the VA to track how many veterans commit and attempt suicide each year. They would also give the VA 180 days to report the number of veterans who have committed suicide since January 1, 1997.

With 838,000 claims filed last year, the government would (of course) like to see the charges dismissed, but it seems to me that this would only give the Bush Administration another pass on its corrupt behavior. It is no accident that this sort of behavior took place during this administration. The Bush Administration has set a new standard for dishonesty. And the fact that the Bush Administration’s VA would choose to play fast and loose with the number of troops who have killed themselves or attempted suicide comes as no surprise. This Administration is so desperate for good news out of Iraq that it will also lie about the bad news, keeping it under wraps as long as possible

Something has gone very wrong when the agency that is supposed to help war veterans becomes more interested in concealing the truth about what’s happening to our veterans. At a time when the system is choking on back cases, the VA is more interested in playing a game of cover up than it is in catching up and helping veterans. This is not a question of incompetence or confusion. As I stated earlier this is an attempt to both save money by denying claims and approving claims and to deny the fact that not all is going well in the Bush War.