17 vets a month commit suicide under VA care

[CommunityEditor]

After learning that more than 17 veterans per month commit suicide while under the care of the Veterans Affairs Department, senators accused VA of withholding information about suicide rates and demanded the removal of its mental health chief.

“The culture of the VA has to change,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., after a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing Wednesday.

To restore credibility, she said VA must take responsibility and dismiss Dr. Ira Katz, deputy chief patient care services officer for mental health.

“He clearly knew information and was holding it from us here in Congress,” Murray said.

Deputy VA Secretary Gordon Mansfield said he shared Murray’s concerns, but stopped short of taking responsibility for them.

“I apologize for the implications here,” he said, adding that he does not believe VA is engaged in a concerted campaign to withhold information.

Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, chairman of the committee, backed the call for Katz’s resignation.

The accusations began flying Monday after a lawsuit brought to light a series of e-mails about high suicide numbers from Katz.

Murray quoted Katz writing in one e-mail:

“Shh! Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among veterans in our medical facilities.”

Murray asked if VA should try to address the numbers in “some sort of release before someone stumbles on it.”

Katz had just appeared before Congress April 3 and did not mention any problem like that.

Akaka said he was concerned about a potential “suicide epidemic” within the Defense Department and VA.

“We know information about suicides is being suppressed,” he said.

David Chu, undersecretary for personnel and readiness, said the military numbers have been fairly consistent. Although the number of suicides in the Army has gone up over the past year, the “good news” is that the rate is still below the national average.

However, several critics have called into question the value of comparing a generally young military force that has been screened for mental health — as well as general health — to the general population.

Mansfield said the number of veterans who commit suicide under VA care rose from 1,403 in 2001 to 1,784 in 2005.

He did not give recent figures. Although he said he is not the “expert on numbers ... I don’t know that I would call it an epidemic.”

He also said the numbers would be expected to rise slightly in wartime.

But some senators said they see a need for a better response.

“I don’t think there’s any attempt to intentionally not share information,” said Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C. But he noted the importance of getting veterans into treatment programs — especially after a Rand report released last week estimated that 300,000 veterans have post-traumatic stress disorder or severe depression.

Murray, who clenched her jaw and seemed to shake with anger during the discussion, said she is tired of spending “every day for five-and-a-half years” trying to drag information out of VA.

She said a study showed 6,250 veterans killed themselves in 2005 — and in his e-mails, Katz “not only backed up those numbers, but said they were much higher.”

“I’m very upset,” Murray said. “In VA, everyone knew it was higher and there are e-mails showing us that. How do we trust what you’re saying ... if what you’re saying publicly is different from what you’ve said privately? How do we trust what you’re saying today?”

The officials were on the Hill to testify about simplifying the transfer of medical files between VA and the Defense Department.

Chu said they hoped to have most documents viewable — though not available in an interactive way — by September.

But the senators focused much of their time on the suicide issue in light of the newly discovered e-mails.

“The whole culture is repressing information,” Murray told the witnesses. “We are not your enemy. We are your support system.”

She said Congress can’t help VA with funding or legislation if it doesn’t get good information.

Mansfield said he would do all he can to get correct information to the senators.

“In the end, [lying] bites you every time,” said Rep. Jon Tester, D-Mont.


Article: http://www.militarytimes.com/news/20...cides_042308w/

[drschochet]

This is a terrible situation. However, we need to ask some more questions. Why are these Vets committing suicide? Are they being seen in group therapy (or none) because Congress has not allocated enough money for more therapists, and the VA hiring process is so slow? Are they going broke because they are waiting for months on end, for benefits? Do they have PTSD and traumatic brain injury? Are they being told to wait for months for an appointment? When in the treatment process are they committing suicide, or making suicide attempts -- when they are in treatment, when they are waiting for treatment, if their wife or husband decides to leave them (after multiple deployments)? Are they being promised help finding a job, only to be told to check out a website for jobs?

[challedog]

The sad truth is that nearly 1/3 of the suicide prevention resources at many VA medical centers is wasted on Homeless, drunks who think that the VA's emergency services and mental health wards are a homeless shelter. These are typically vets who didn't see combat, who are chronic drug seekers, and have refused every effort of the VA to better their quality of life. They get cold, run out of money, get kicked out of the shelters, and come to the VA. They falsely claim that they are suicidal so that the VA will put them on the mental health ward for 3-5 days where they can get 3 meals a day, a bed, a hot shower, and all their cloths laundered for free. The VA tries to get them on a treatment plan, and into transitional housing so that they can get a job and permanent lodging. These bums refuse to cooperate, and end up back on the street only to come back a month later.

Meanwhile, combat vets suffering PTSD are turned away, with some anti-depression meds because there are no more mental health beds left in the hospital.

Don’t blame the VA, blame the dirt bags that tax the system with fraudulent complaints.

The only people that the V.A. cares for are people that have earned benifits. Your comments calling vets drunk bums is stuipid. The works at the V.A. are there for the pay, the govt. does not care for vets or the soldiers serving today. The govt. cares about there pay and luxury and not getting killed or injured over some muslim that hates america.

[Ranter]

When I was at the VA hospital in San Francisco in November in the recovery room I saw a Vet try to commit suicide right there in front of us.


Talking to the other vet's afterwords they say there is a program for homeless vet's to get admitted for 11 days a year. Homeless vet's take this as room and board.

Well this guy was homeless, had no family, and was an alcoholic. He really had nothing in life and was just there staring into nothing. Well he grabbed his IV and ripped it back and watched the blood run to the floor. There were 3 other of us vet's in the recovery room so they were pushing their nurse call buttons and I was shuffling with my walker out the door for a nurse.

They patched him back together and that was that. There is no treatment for him. He didn't have a service connected injury to treat, or any injury really other than alcoholism. They have this welfare program to try and treat that but when you got someone thats old as heck and thinking of how many years they've probably been in there under that program....there's really nothing you can do about it.

There's alot of people seeing no opportunity or getting burried in debt when there are no jobs. Maybe if this veteran was offered a job living on a camp picking vegetables instead of bringing in illegal immigrants he could have had a purpose in life.

But Congress/Corporate America loves their illegal immigrants and hates their veterans. So they just kill themselves.

[acesfilter]

Whoa...I didn't realize (upon reading the title) that they meant 17 vets per month and not just 17 vets.

The fact that they're supressing information about this speaks volumes. But I wonder how many of these vets had family support systems (spouse, kids, etc).

[DAG48]

I know the Military Disability Evaluation System screw the disabled and contributes to the Suicides of Active Duty/Guard/Reserve Members.

The same can be said of the VA system. It's not just the lack of care in some VA facilities, it's also about how Veterans Rated at less than 100% disability only receive about 50% or less of the Disability Compensation they earned through their blood sweat and tears.

You can look in the Military Times Forums, Disability section, under "What Happen to the Veterans Benefits Commission" thread for a complete analysis of the disability compensation problems that were identified by the VBC and ignored by Congress.

I know solving disability compensation problems will not solve all the Suicide Problems faced by Veterans, but it will surely help some who are financially strapped due to their Service Connected Disabilities.

[lizzie0728]

this is really something serious. The news was out last year and I wonder what did our government do to lessen or eradicate the number.