The Latest and Greatest Newsletter from Utah Veterans. Com

Women Vets Get Worse Care, Review Finds
Outpatient care at many VA facilities needs vast upgrade, officials say.

Associated Press June 14

Washington - Women veterans aren't receiving the same quality of outpatient care as men at many Department of Veterans Affairs' facilities, according to an agency review obtained exclusively by The Associated Press.

The review appears to validate the complaints of advocates and some members of Congress who have said the health care system needs to focus more on women's health.

Women make up about 5 percent of the VA's population, but that number is expected to nearly double in the next two years as more women return home from Iraq and Afghanistan and seek care.

The review of the quality of care at VA facilities, which was mandated by Congress, found that at about one-third of its facilities, the quality of outpatient care given to women wasn't as good as what was offered to men.

It said that the VA has made strides in improving care for women veterans, such as creating onsite mammography services and establishing women's clinics at most of its medical centers. It also said the VA is attempting to recruit clinicians with training in women's care and broadening its approach to better address diseases prevalent among women such as lung cancer.

However, it said that there were barriers that remained, such as the need to train more physicians in women's care and for more equipment to meet women's health needs.

"VHA is continuing to investigate the possibility of gender disparity in delivery of care through research efforts aimed at further delineating the factors involved," the review said.

It noted that other studies have found better surgical outcomes and decreased mortality for women at VA hospitals compared to women who receive care under the Medicare Advantage Program or under private care. And, performance of breast and cervical cancer screening exceeds that of commercial and some government plans.

But Dr. William E. Duncan, associate deputy undersecretary for health for quality and safety at the Department of Veterans Affairs, said any discrepancies in VA care were unacceptable and the agency is aggressively addressing the issue.

"We're striving to understand the reason for these health disparities and to eliminate differences in veterans health care based on personal characteristics," Duncan said.

Data was not available to compare the inpatient quality of care between men and women.

Overall, women make up about 14 percent of the U.S. Armed Forces. Of the 1.7 million troops who have deployed in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than 190,000 - or about 11 percent - are women.

Among the Other Findings:

• Older and younger veterans appear to be receiving the same quality of care;
• About 86 percent of homeless veterans seen by VA received primary care, mental health care and/or substance abuse services;

• About 98 percent of appointments were completed within 30 days in primary care clinics and about 97 percent were completed during that period at specialty clinics;

• Overall quality of care appears to be good when reviewed using commonly accepted health care benchmarks;

• Minority veterans surveyed were generally less satisfied with inpatient and outpatient care than white veterans, but it wasn't clear if the quality of care offered was different. A more comprehensive study of care for minority veterans is expected to be complete this summer.

Five Marines, on the chopper.
Born out of the fiery depths of Fallujah, Iraq, during Operation Phantom Fury in 2004, five talented musicians joined forces in hopes of creating the ultimate, no-holds-barred, in your face rock group. Playing only on acoustic guitars and ammo cans, the hardcore group of United States Marines began writing songs about the true face of combat; a side of the story that the media has never and will never show the public.

When it was time to go back to the United States, these five war dogs decided that they needed a name for their bombastic, hard hitting band of trained madmen; they decided to call themselves the “American Hitmen”.

Note from Andrew:
I saw American Hitmen last night at the University Mall Starbucks. They were raising money to send Starbucks back to the Marines in Falujah by the pound. An acoustic fundraiser. I was impressed for once. Usually hate bands. I hope they will play for Utah Veterans in September for Suicide Prevention Week. I'm sure you will dig their crazy sounds.
Check out the http://www.americanhitmen.com/ website!

America's Medicated Army
from Time Magazine

An increasing number of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are treated in the field for PTSD with SSRI drugs. The effects, and side effects, of these drugs such as Zoloft and Paxil have recently been called into question by the National Institute of Mental Health. Other questions linking psych meds to the epidemic of suicides among soldiers and veterans are troublesome.

In 1994 then Major E. Cameron Ritchie, an Army psychiatrist, was among the first to suggest that SSRIs should deploy with Army combat units. In a paper written and published after she returned from a combat deployment to Somalia, Ritchie noted that the sick-call chests used by military doctors "contain either outdated or no psychiatric medications." She concluded, "If depressive symptoms are moderate and manageable, medication may be preferable to medical evacuation."
Read the entire story from Time here. It's chilling.

Along the same lines is a recent article from West Virginia's Charlotte Gazette"

A Putnam County veteran who was taking medication prescribed for post-traumatic stress disorder died in his sleep earlier this month, in circumstances similar to the deaths of three other area veterans earlier this year.

Derek Johnson, 22, of Hurricane, served in the infantry in the Middle East in 2005, where he was wounded in combat and diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder while hospitalized.

Military doctors prescribed Paxil, Klonopin and Seroquel for Johnson, the same combination taken by veterans Andrew White, 23, of Cross Lanes; Eric Layne, 29, of Kanawha City; and Nicholas Endicott of Logan County. All were in apparently good physical health when they died in their sleep.
Read the entire story from the Gazette here

Click here for the Latest and Greatest page 2

VA Begins Next Phase of Combat Vet Outreach

Calls to Ill or Injured Veterans Completed

WASHINGTON (May 30, 2008) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today it has completed making calls to veterans potentially
identified as being ill or injured from Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF-OIF), and will immediately begin targeting
over 500,000 OEF-OIF veterans who have been discharged from active duty but have not contacted VA for health care.

"We promised to reach out to every OEF and OIF veteran to let them know we are here for them -- and we are making real progress in doing so,"
said Dr. James B. Peake, Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

A contractor-operated "Combat Veteran Call Center" is making the initial calls on behalf of VA. All potentially sick or injured veterans on VA's list received an offer to appoint a care manager to work with them if
they do not have one already. VA care managers ensure veterans receive appropriate care and know about their VA benefits.

[ The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has selected EDS to provide outbound calling services and inbound callback support to facilitate the Combat Veteran Call Center outreach and education campaign to make combat veterans more aware of health care services and benefits available from the VA. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.

The Combat Veteran Call Center will increase awareness of the extension of health care and benefits eligibility for veterans of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is the first task order awarded under the General Services Administration's $2.5 billion USA Contact contract vehicle. Calls will reach out to nearly 570,000 recent wartime veterans over the next six months. From BNet]

Let's see... $2.5 billion divided by 570,000 vets is $4,395.96 per vet. Sounds like EDS and Ross Perot got themselves a nice little contract. And isn't EDS headquartered in Texas? hmmmmmmm aw.

In the new phase, beginning today, veterans who have not accessed health care from VA will be called and informed of the benefits and services available to them. Additionally, military personnel received
information about VA benefits when they left active duty, and the Department had sent every veteran a letter with this information after their discharge.

For five years after their discharge from the military, these combat veterans have special access to VA health care, including screening for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.

VA personnel have been deployed to the military's major medical centers to assist wounded service members and their families during the transition
to civilian lives.

"VA is focused on getting these veterans the help they need and deserve," said Secretary Peake. "I expect these calls to make a real difference in many veterans' lives."

Benefits Benefits Benefits

Brian Hunnewell at the Provo Vet Center was recently telling me that the Utah Department of Veteran's Affairs has recently updated their list of Utah Veterans Benefits. It's a great resource. Check out those benefits here... Just a few of those many benefits include:

News from the Supremes
via The Patriot Post

Judicial Benchmarks: Indiana voter ID OK

The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to the Democrat Party and the ACLU on Monday when it ruled that Indiana’s law requiring voters to produce a photo ID at the polls was not excessively burdensome. The Supreme Court’s decision paves the way for other states to take steps to prevent voter fraud. Liberal justice John Paul Stevens joined the court’s conservative justices in upholding Indiana’s law, and he wrote the majority opinion. “There is no question about the legitimacy or importance of the state’s interest in counting only the votes of eligible voters,” Stevens wrote. “Moreover, the interest in orderly administration and accurate recordkeeping provides a sufficient justification for carefully identifying all voters participating in the election process. While the most effective method of preventing election fraud may well be debatable, the propriety of doing so is perfectly clear.”

We at Utah Veteran fully support Justice Stevens opinion. What scares the whatfor out of us is the blatant vunerability of electronic voting machines to tampering and vote theft. Check out the video from Princeton University here.

Think of this next time you are having a really miserable day...

A little boy, about 10-years-old, was standing before a shoe store on the roadway, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering with cold.

A lady approached the young boy and said, 'My, but you're in such deep thought staring in that window!'

'I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes,'was the boy's reply.

The lady took him by the hand, went into the store, and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel. He quickly brought them to her.

She took the little fellow to the back part of the store and, removing her gloves, knelt down, washed his little feet, and dried them with the towel.

By this time, the clerk had returned with the socks. Placing a pair upon the boy's feet, she purchased him a pair of shoes.

She tied up the remaining pairs of socks and gave them to him.. She patted him on the head and said, 'No doubt, you will be more comfortable now.'

As she turned to go, the astonished kid caught her by the hand, and looking up into her face, with tears in his eyes, asked her. 'Are you God's wife?'

Click here for the Latest and Greatest page 2

THE STATE OF VETERAN’S LOANS

Banning Military Propaganda Could Be Hard to Do

GAMES AT THE MENTAL HOSPITAL .....

Women Vets Get Worse Care, Review Finds
Outpatient care at many VA facilities needs vast upgrade, officials say.

America's Medicated Army
from Time Magazine

Along the same lines is a recent article from West Virginia's Charlotte Gazette"

A Vietnam Veteran tells his story of PTSD, holding nothing back

Judicial Benchmarks: Indiana voter ID OK

Think of this next time you are having a really miserable day...

THE STATE OF VETERAN’S LOANS

Banning Military Propaganda Could Be Hard to Do

GAMES AT THE MENTAL HOSPITAL .....

Women Vets Get Worse Care, Review Finds Outpatient care at many VA facilities needs vast upgrade, officials say.

America's Medicated Army from Time Magazine

Along the same lines is a recent article from West Virginia's Charlotte Gazette"

A Vietnam Veteran tells his story of PTSD, holding nothing back

Judicial Benchmarks: Indiana voter ID OK

Think of this next time you are having a really miserable day...

Women Vets Get Worse Care, Review Finds
Outpatient care at many VA facilities needs vast upgrade, officials say.

America's Medicated Army
from Time Magazine