http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070401-031851-5270r
US Iraq vets cheated out of medical care, disability pay
Sherwood Ross
Middle East Times
April 1, 2007
MIAMI, FL, USA -- Over the past six years, some 22,500 soldiers have been
discharged on grounds of "personality disorder," a condition that can be claimed
as having existed prior to their tour of duty, thereby absolving the Pentagon of
its obligation to provide them with medical care and pay for their benefits.
Over the course of a six-month investigation published in The Nation magazine
for April 9, reporter Joshua Kors learned of "multiple cases" in which "soldiers
wounded in Iraq are suspiciously diagnosed as having a personality disorder,
then prevented from collecting benefits."
According to Kors: "The conditions of their discharge have infuriated many in
the military community, including the injured soldiers and their families,
veterans' rights groups, even military officials required to process these
dismissals." They say the military is purposely misdiagnosing soldiers "to cheat
them out of a lifetime of disability and medical benefits, thereby saving
billions in expenses."
With an average disability payment of about $8,900 a year and a medical cost of
about $5,000 per year over a 40-year period per soldier, separating 22,500 of
them would save the Pentagon $8-billion in disability pay and $4.5-billion in
medical care over their lifetimes, the article says.
Specialist Jon Town, of Findlay, OH, was separated on a "personality disorder"
diagnosis even though in October, 2004, a 107-millimeter rocket struck 0.6
meters (2 feet) over his head as he stood in the doorway of his battalion's
headquarters in Ramadi, Iraq. Town's ears were leaking blood from the blast and
rocket shrapnel was removed from his neck. The blast caused substantial
deafness, and he also suffers from memory failure and depression. Inexplicably,
doctors at Fort Carson, CO, diagnosed Town with "personality disorder,"
depriving him of disability and medical benefits.
Russell Terry, founder of the Iraq War Veterans Organization said that given
that each serviceman or woman is screened psychologically when they join the
military: "if all these soldiers really did have a severe pre-existing
condition, how did they get into the military in the first place?"
In the last six years, according to The Nation, the army alone has diagnosed and
discharged more than 5,600 soldiers because of personality disorder, and their
numbers continue to rise. Between January and November of last year, 1,086
soldiers were discharged on such grounds. One unidentified military official
told Kors, "It's like, suddenly everybody [on my base] has a personality
disorder. They're saving a buck. And they're saving the VA [Department of
Veterans Affairs] money too. It's all about money."
In the case of veteran Town, he was told to give back the bulk of his $15,000
enlistment bonus and left Fort Carson owing the government more than $3,000.
According to the magazine, Fort Carson psychologist Mark Wexler assured Town he
would receive disability benefits, VA medical care, and would get to keep his
bonus. When he found out he was being discharged empty-handed, Town said, "It
was a total shock. I felt like I'd been betrayed by the army." When asked if
doctors at Fort Carson were assuring patients set for a 5-13 pre-existing
condition discharge they would receive benefits, Colonel Steven Knorr, Wexler's
boss, replied, "I don't believe they're doing that."
Other veterans contacted by Kors, however, said military doctors tried to force
the diagnosis upon them and turned a blind eye to physical ailments and
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Army Specialist William
Wooldridge said he struck and killed a young girl who was pushed in front of his
ammunition truck in Iraq and has heard voices and suffered hallucinations ever
since. He was discharged with "personality disorder" but 18 months later, a
review board in Memphis voided that 5-13 dismissal, stating his PTSD was so
severe he was, in fact, "totally disabled."
Another veteran, Chris Mosier, of Des Moines, IA, put a note on the front door
of his home saying the Iraqis were after him and then shot himself. His mother,
Linda, said her son's problems began in Iraq when a truck in front of his was
blown up by a roadside bomb and the men inside were burned alive. "He was there
at the end to pick up the hands and arms," she said. "They take a normal kid, he
comes back messed up, then nobody was there for him when he came back. They
discharged him so they didn't have to treat him," she added.
Steve Robinson, director of veterans' affairs at Veterans for America, a
Washington, DC-based soldiers' rights group, pointed out military doctors have
been facing an overflow of wounded soldiers and a shortage of rooms, supplies,
and time to treat them. "By calling PTSD a personality disorder, they usher one
soldier out quickly, freeing up space for the three or four who are waiting," he
said.
A lawyer for Trial Defense Services, an Army unit to guide soldiers through
their 5-13 discharge and who was not identified by name, told Kors: "Right now,
the army is eating its own. What I want to see is these soldiers getting the
right diagnosis, so they can get the right help, not be thrown to the wolves
right away. That is what they're doing."
As for veteran Town, whose case was brought by Robinson to the attention of
Deputy Surgeon General Gale Pollock and others, he says he is doing his best to
keep his head in check and that his nightmares have diminished. "I have my good
days and my bad days," he said. "It all depends on whether I wake up in Findlay
or Iraq."
Sherwood Ross is a Miami-based columnist who covers military and political
topics. Reach him at sherwoodr1@....
Copyright material is distributed without profit or payment for research and
educational purposes only, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107.
Reference: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
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