VET-TO-VET

We bring honor and recognition to Agent Orange victims with the gratis, Order of The Silver Rose Medal. We also offer advice for PTSD victims.

I will open with this: It is imperative that every Nam Vet get a full yearly physical with CAT Scan- period!

In the following, I will try to answer the usual questions I am asked:

What do I do if I develop a cancer, illness or Diabetes II that is related to AO?

A. Make an immediate appointment with the VA so you can be diagnosed. Find a local Veterans Service Officer and file a claim ASAP. Do not wait for a diagnosis from the VA. That could take months, and result in lost compensation pay. If it turns out the illness wasn't Agent Orange related, then withdraw the claim. If you meet a Service Officer who refuses to take your claim, leave immediately and find a Service Officer willing to help you. These Service Officers can be found at the VVA or any major national veterans group. They cannot refuse to take any claim you wish to submit. If they refuse to take a claim, file a detailed complaint with whatever group this Service Officer represents.

I have cancer, or am 100% disabled from another illness. What do I do if I find out that I have been diagnosed with another AO illness?

A. File an immediate claim with your Service Officer and make sure the cancer or illness is diagnosed in an approved AO area. You will find these listed on our website.

It is imperative that you try and get the cancer diagnosed prior to your death in an "Approved Site". Many spouses lose their DIC because of this mistake.

I am suffering from erectile dysfunction. Am I eligible for compensation?

A.Yes, if Viagra fails to work for you a claim can be filed separately and you can receive $82.00 a month separately from what comp you receive now. Few Vets know they can receive this compensation. Tell everyone.!!!

Can I receive Compensation for a illness not on the approved AO list?

A. No, but file a claim anyway. You never know when that illness may be approved, and if you have filed a claim, your compensation can be backdated as far as 2 years or longer.

I have PTSD. How and when do I file a claim?

A. This is a very complex question that can be answered by phone, but not always on the computer. Here are some very important things you should never forget: You cannot file a claim for PTSD if you are not under treatment. If you wish to receive the maximum you have due, you need to write a stressor letter, regardless of what others tell you. Do this entire procedure by the book and it may save you having to appeal a decision, which usually takes years. Have your doctors or any professional in the VA write you a personal letter on their letterhead. Ask them to write that you have severe, and chronic PTSD along with your GAFF Score.

What's a Gaff Score?

A. Go to our site and copy the section on applying for PTSD.

A Few More Things You Should Know:

Buddy letters are gold for a PTSD claim. If you are in contact with buddies, write or call them for a letter of support & have them notarized. Join a PTSD group and see the doctor and his assistants as often as possible. Also ask for medications to help you. Never file an incomplete PTSD claim. It will take you years to unravel the mess you have started.

If all else fails, call me. And before I forget, we do this gratis, but we need donations and do accept any amount to keep this mission on track. If you lack funds, it does not matter. We are not here for money. We are here for you!!!!

Contact us:

Gary Chenett

National Director

The Order of the Silver Rose

810-714-2748

http://silverrose.org e-mail: fuzzyfrog@intouchmi.com

Agent Orange and Birth Defects

By Betty Mekdeci,

Executive Director Birth Defect Research for Children

During the Vietnam War, the United States government sprayed over 11 million gallons of Agent Orange, a combination of the defoliants 2-45T and 2-4D and the contaminant dioxin. Since their return from Vietnam, many thousands of veterans have reported that their health has been affected by exposure to Agent Orange and that their children have been born with birth defects and other disabilities.

In 1996, a committee of the National Academy of Science found sufficient evidence of an association between herbicide exposure and several serious health conditions in veterans and spina bifida in the children of Vietnam veterans.

The committee did not find sufficient evidence, however, to decide whether a number of other health problems including reproductive disorders and birth defects other than spina bifida could be attributed to Agent Orange exposure.

Some studies have shown an association between Agent Orange exposure and birth defects in multiple body systems.

An Australian study found patterns of malformation and illness in veterans’ children involving the central nervous, skeletal and cardiovascular systems.

Several studies have suggested an association between paternal herbicide exposure and an increased risk of spina bifida including the Center for Disease Control’s Vietnam Experience Study, CDC’s Birth Defects Study and the Ranch Hand study of Air Force personnel who participated in the herbicide spraying program. The VA has established a payment program for Vietnam veterans’ children who have spina bifida. A more recent study has also found that female veterans who served in Vietnam have increases in children born with birth defects and payment programs have been set up for some of these children.

No study, however, has recorded all the different kinds of birth defects reported by the 65,000 Vietnam veterans who reported reproductive problems to the court during the Agent Orange litigation.

In 1986, Birth Defect Research for Children (BDRC) working with the New Jersey Agent Orange Commission collaborated on a national project to collect these data through BDRC’s National Birth Defect Registry.

The project has been supported by grants from the American Legion, DAV, the Vietnam Veterans’ Assistance Fund and the state of New Jersey.

The National Birth Defect Registry currently has collected data on over 2,000 cases of children with birth defects or disabilities reported by Vietnam veteran families.

Data from the registry have been presented to the National Academy of Science committee, the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences. A pattern of disabilities has been found that may relate to damage to the developing immune system.

Does Agent Orange Attack the Immune System?

In April 1995, BDRC presented data on the children of 1600 Vietnam veterans to the National Academy of Science Committee reviewing the health effects of Agent Orange and its contaminant dioxin. BDRC’s data from the National Birth Defect Registry raised the possibility that veterans’ children were suffering from a pattern of disabilities caused by impaired immune systems. This pattern included increases in chronic infections and allergies; chronic skin disorders, learning and attention problems, emotional/behavioral difficulties; endocrine problems (growth, thyroid), tumors, cysts, cancer and other symptoms of immune dysfunction.

In 1995, the EPA released a 2000-page report on the reassessment of the health effects from exposure to dioxin. The EPA found that the immune system and the reproductive system are the most sensitive to the effects of dioxin. "Postnatal functional alterations involving learning behavior and the developing reproductive system appear to be the developmental events most sensitive to perinatal dioxin exposure," according to the report.

Prenatal exposure to dioxin also causes underdevelopment of the thymus. This can cause suppression of immune function through alteration of T-cells. Dioxin may also cause cancer through suppression of immune function or

promoting the cancerous effects of other compounds. Even low-level exposure to dioxin can result in increased bacterial, viral, parasitic and neoplastic disease. The report adds "the human embryo may be very susceptible to the long-term impairment of immune function from in utero effects of TCDD on developing immune tissue."

In addition, dioxin can target ectodermal cells in the developing embryo. These are the cells that form the skin, mucous membranes, teeth and nails. Children in Taiwan who were exposed to dioxin before birth have problems

with skin pigmentation and the growth of hair, teeth and nails. Like the veterans children in the registry the Taiwanese children also have impaired intellectual and psycho-motor development.

These studies add support to the National Birth Defect Registry findings of increases in learning, attention, immune and endrocrine problems in Vietnam veterans’ children. Data collection continues through the National Birth Defect Registry which is now an on-line project that can be accessed through www.birthdefects.org .

Betty Mekdeci

Executive Director

Birth Defect Research for Children

Dealing With PTSD

Strategypage.com

December 29, 2005: Currently, some 215,000 veterans receive, on average about $20,000 each per year in disability payments for PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). Because PTSD is a mental condition, and difficult to diagnose with certainty (unlike, say, a missing limb or eye), such claims are subject to abuse. But PTSD is an emotional and political issue. It’s also an economic issue. That’s because, like Workman’s Compensation and other types of disability benefits, a large number of consultants and lawyers have appeared, to help applicants press their case, whether there is a case or not. The amount of money paid out for PTSD claims has grown from $1.7 billion in 1999, to $4.3 billion this year. In addition to being an economic issue, PTSD is also a very emotional one.

PTSD, formerly known as Combat Fatigue, was first widely noted in the late 19th century, after the American Civil War. That war was one of the first to expose large numbers of troops to extended periods of combat stress, with long term effect on many soldiers. This was publicized after the war by the newly invented mass media (cheap newspapers made possible by highly efficient steam powered presses). The PTSD symptoms, as reported in the press over 150 years ago, have not changed. At the time, veterans were diagnosed as suffering from “Irritable Heart” (a popular description, back then, for stress related mental problems.) Symptoms noted included fatigue, shortness of palpitations, headache, excessive sweating, dizziness, disturbed sleep, fainting and flashbacks to traumatic combat situations. In World War I, the condition was called Shell Shock, and the symptoms were the same, although there was more attention paid to vets who jumped and got very nervous when they heard loud noises. During World War II and Korea, the condition was called Combat Stress Reaction. Same symptoms. During Vietnam, the term Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome became popular, until it evolved into what we currently regard as PTSD. Actually, if you comb through military writings for the last few thousand years, you will note that PTSD has always existed. Too much combat “leaves a mark on a man” as the ancients were wont to note. But, the condition could always be faked or, more commonly, as many veterans preferred, hidden. Whatever the case, PTSD is real. The only problem is making sure that the real victims get available treatment, and that resources are not drained away by people who are faking it, for financial gain. This is not a new problem, Workman’s Comp scams, often involving baseless claims for stress related injuries, caused many states to change their benefits regulations after the costs spiraled out of control.

Medical research is getting close to being able to diagnose PTSD with a great deal of certainty, whether the victim wants to admit to admit having it or not. For example, it’s now possible, via a blood test, to determine who is most vulnerable to the psychological aftereffects of combat. This makes it possible to keep people out of combat units, who are likely to be most vulnerable to PTSD. This kind of screening, using cruder tools, has been done for a long time. You don’t want people with you in combat, who are more prone to get quickly traumatized by it. Again, the old saying, “he doesn’t have the nerves for it.” In combat, someone having a mental breakdown can be dangerous for those around him. This is one of the reasons for stressful training. It both gets troops accustomed to working under stress, and also identifies those who can’t handle. There are plenty of less stressful, and safer, jobs for these guys. Only about ten percent of the troops in the army have combat jobs, and even in a place like Iraq, only about a third of the troops are exposed to any kind of combat.

Veterans with PTSD Face Campaign of Misinformation, Disinformation, and

Outright Lies.

Larry Scott

www.vawatchdog.org

PTSD vets are fighting an increasingly ugly battle with VA officials and doctors, politicians and politically-controlled media outlets.

When the Washington Post prints a front page story about the politics and money surrounding veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), it attracts lots of attention. And, when that story spells out plans by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) to redefine PTSD and restructure veterans’ compensation, it forces the conservative “spin machine” into action to try to minimize any information that indicates PTSD is a problem in the veteran community.

The trouble with trying to minimize accurate information about the PTSD issue is that misinformation, disinformation and outright lies are the only tools available to make the disorder seem like a minor problem instead of the colossal mental health crisis that it is. Just a few hours after the Post published their well-balanced article about PTSD, the arch-conservative Washington Times and their UPI news service had “borrowed” it and published a severely-edited rewrite. The Times/UPI story referred only to the high cost of PTSD compensation and concerns over veterans making fraudulent claims. The timing is more than coincidence.

I received an email from a public affairs officer at a large veterans’ service organization who doesn’t believe in coincidence, either. His view of the situation was that the VA bosses read the Post article and got angry, ordered the VA public affairs people to rewrite it to fit the current right-wing anti-PTSD sentiment and then told politically-likeminded media people to run it.

A day later, the conservative military web site Strategy Page dot com published an unsigned “news” piece about PTSD which dealt mainly with the high costs of compensation, the issue of fraud and the argument that the disorder “could always be faked.” Again, hardly a coincidence.

Why is so much energy being expended to minimize the issue of PTSD? Money! Currently the VA pays disability compensation to 215,871 veterans with PTSD. That comes to over $4.3 billion a year and that is just for compensation. When medical care and other benefits are added in, the cost could approach $7 billion, or nearly ten per cent of the VA’s total budget.

By minimizing the PTSD crisis in the veteran community and characterizing veterans’ claims as fraudulent, conservatives are trying to create a public climate of acceptance that will allow the VA to go forward with their redefinition of the disorder. That could then lead to a new diagnosis, new treatment protocols and restructured (lower) compensation for veterans.

The VA’s effort to seek a new definition for PTSD was outlined in an article I wrote for OpEdNews dot com in December. That article was also published on a popular, commercial military/veteran web site. Within a few hours, the VA had called the parent company of the web site and demanded that the article be pulled. It was. The editor of the site told me they had to “consider the business model” in making the decision. He indicated that the site could lose valuable advertising contracts with government agencies, such as the armed services, if the article was not pulled.

The long reach of the conservative “spin machine” even found its way into the Washington Post story. In the article, VA spokesman Scott Hogenson is quoted. Hogenson is hardly a “spokesman.” Hogenson is a political appointee brought on by the VA to control the spin. Prior to working for the VA, Hogenson was Executive Director of the Conservative Communications Center (CCC). Hogenson was the CCC’s “hit man” who badgered any media outlet believed to be disseminating information contrary to conservative policy. The CCC’s stated mission is: To provide the conservative movement with the marketing and communications skills and vehicles to deliver their vision and ideas, undistorted, to the American people.

Also quoted by the Post was Chris Frueh, PhD, Staff Psychologist, at the VA Medical Center in Charleston, South Carolina. Frueh has made a name for himself by conducting studies that try to show fraud among veterans who seek treatment for PTSD. His work is published on the ultra-conservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI) web site.

In one of Frueh’s latest attempts at research he studied just 100 veterans who sought treatment for PTSD with the aim of proving combat exposure. His conclusion was that veterans may misrepresent their service record when seeking treatment. He then goes on to discuss the “disability benefit incentive,” an issue which has nothing to do with treatment. One is left with the feeling that veterans are routinely committing fraud to get PTSD compensation. Of note is the fact that Frueh lists B. G. Burkett, of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, as a co-author of this study.

Frueh’s research is flawed and misleading. Veterans who seek treatment for PTSD must go through rigorous examinations and receive a proper diagnosis before they are even considered for compensation. Then, the compensation review process can routinely take five to ten years. If compensation is granted, the veteran must continue treatment to verify the diagnosis and compensation can be raised or lowered depending on “return to function.”

Veterans do not just say they have PTSD and get compensation. Frueh’s implications of fraud are meaningless and denigrating to veterans with PTSD.

Proof of that came late last year when the VA conducted a review of veterans receiving 100 per cent compensation (about $2,300 a month) for PTSD. In a test group of 2,100 identified by the VA’s Inspector General, NOT ONE CASE OF FRAUD WAS FOUND!

Dr. Sally Satel is also quoted in the Post article. Satel is the AEI’s “hired gun” – give her a subject and she’ll spin it. Satel has published for the tobacco lobby. And she has, while working for the White House, urged “coercive,” “intrusive,” and “involuntary care” for the mentally ill. So, Satel’s assertion in the Post article that there is “an underground network [that] advises veterans where to go for the best chance of being declared disabled,” rings hollow.

Veterans who suffer from PTSD have much to fear from the Bush administration. They do not trust the VA system. Why? VA Secretary Jim Nicholson has publicly stated that PTSD can be cured although there is no medical evidence to indicate that is the case. The VA’s former Inspector General espoused the concept that compensation was an incentive for veterans to exaggerate their symptoms. VA disability compensation has been likened to welfare by Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN), Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

The majority of the 215,871 veterans who receive compensation for PTSD are from the Vietnam-era. It has taken them this long to seek and get treatment from the VA and to qualify for disability compensation. With a few hundred thousand more troops coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan, one mental health expert has predicted a “tsunami” of woe.

Caring for the broken bodies and broken minds of our veterans is just another cost of war. But, the Bush administration will do anything to keep that cost to a minimum; from gagging the media to spreading misinformation and disinformation to asking one medical organization to second-guess another and redefine PTSD in such a way that disability compensation can be reduced to an absolute minimum.

Erectile Dysfunction & Vietnam Vets

Question:

I'm a Vietnam vet and have erectile dysfunction, does theVA Hospital cover this? I was in Vietnam in 66-67.

Answer:

Thank you for writing and thanks for your service to our country.

The VA does cover ED. But to get from here to there is sort of complex.

Here's my recommendation.

If you have never had an Agent Orange examination, please go by your nearest VA clinic or medical center and arrange for that to be done. You will get a good physical and a lot of health advice. If you are not registered to receive VA health care benefits, you should register at that time. An appointment will be made for you to see a primary care physician. While you're seeing your primary care provider, you may mention the condition of ED to that person and as a rule, a prescription will be entered for you to receive Levitra, one of the 3 ED medicines available today.

While you are entering the system, you may also find that you're likely eligible for some form of VA disability because of your Vietnam service. Your symptom of ED may be a sign of vascular disease, diabetes, PTSD or other physical and psychological issues.

At this time you should seek out a County Veterans Service Officer and ask for their (no charge) assistance in completing an application for a disability award.

Due to budget constraints, the prescription is for one 20 mg. Tablet of Levitra each month. The dosage is usually 10 mg. per use so you are expected to halve that pill and you have 2 doses each month. Erectile dysfunction is not a priority to VA and there are many ongoing discussions about the politics behind the supposed cost savings.

Many Veterans accept the one tablet each month and then ask their primary care provider to write them a prescription to be filled at a civilian, private pharmacy. The provider will usually be happy to oblige and the Veteran is then required to pay the small cost of the medicine out of pocket.

A word of caution...don't ever be tempted to order any of the advertised (spammed) ED products through the Internet, only use a legitimate pharmacy for your health needs. Anything you may order from these on-line pharmacies may be a fake drug of some sort and cause you a ton of health problems.

I hope this helps.

All best,

Jim

And from Thomas Stoddert:

Several methods are used to determine if you get care for this medical issue. First, are you service connected for this issue as a primary condition or as a secondary resultant of another service connected condition? Second, you may qualify for treatment based on the over all rating percentage already assigned to you by your states VA Regional Office. Third, if you do not meet any of the first set of conditions, then check with your closest VA hospital, they may say “yes” and treat you any way.

Either way contact your closest VA hospital or clinic. I suggest you do so in person. You my find out about other programs designed for people like you regardless of any Rating Percentage.

The best to you.

Thomas