Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 12-01-09

What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans

1. Supreme Court Cites PTSD In Throwing Out Vet’s Death Sentence.
2. Mother Pushes To Improve Care For Wounded Vets.
3. DFAS Now Handling VA’s Payroll Processing.
4. Shinseki Asked To Streamline Clinic Contracting Process In New Mexico.
5. Funeral Set For Veteran Involved With Chemical Exposure Lawsuit.
6. VA, DOD Creating Unit That Can Confirm Veterans’ Classified Service.
7. New Jersey Official Admits Making False Claims About Veteran Status.
8. Location Selected For One VA Clinic, But Bidder Lost On Second Facility.
9. VA Study Cited In Column On Body Temperature.
10. VA, Kaiser Permanente To Exchange Patient Medical Records.

1.      Supreme Court Cites PTSD In Throwing Out Vet’s Death Sentence. The Los Angeles Times (12/1, Savage, 776K) notes that on Monday, the US Supreme Court "threw out a death sentence for a decorated Korean War veteran, ruling for the first time that combat stress must be considered by a jury before it hands down the harshest punishment." The decision "appears to be the first in which the court has said post-traumatic stress disorder was the type of circumstance that called for leniency. It comes as thousands" of US "soldiers are being treated for PTSD suffered as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."
     The Chicago Tribune (12/1, 534K) publishes a similar version of the Times story, while the New York Times (12/1, A16, Liptak, 1.09M) says the court’s unanimous decision "displayed unusual solicitude for a death-row inmate, noting that ‘our nation has a long tradition of according leniency to veterans in recognition of their service, especially for those who fought on the front lines.’" The Times adds that George Porter Jr., the inmate, "was convicted in 1987 of murdering his former girlfriend" and her boyfriend.
     Court Notes VA Secretary’s Testimony, Special Proceedings For Troubled Vets. The Washington Post (12/1, Barnes, 684K), meanwhile, points out that in a footnote, the court "cited the testimony of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki that nearly a quarter of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans seeking treatment at a VA medical facility had received PTSD diagnoses. In another, it noted that California and Minnesota had set up special sentencing proceedings for those who alleged their crimes were influenced by PTSD." 

2.      Mother Pushes To Improve Care For Wounded Vets. On its website, NPR (12/1, Zwerdling) reports, "Since Nellie Bagley’s son, Jose Pequeno, was terribly wounded in Iraq," she has been "using the power of that tragedy to prod the government to treat wounded veterans and their families better." Dr. Steven Scott, "one of the head physicians" at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Tampa, Florida, where Jose received treatment, "says he realizes that everybody can’t take care of a severely wounded relative at home. … But if families want to, Bagley and Jose have shown the VA how to help them do it." NPR added, "Most members" of Congress "support legislation that would actually pay family members who take care of seriously wounded vets," as well as provide such family members with training and therapy. Evidence "suggests that wouldn’t cost taxpayers any more money than putting the vets in a nursing home. If anything, it might save money." NPR adds, "According to the Union Leader newspaper in Manchester, N.H., Bagley has been convicted twice" for stealing. 

3.      DFAS Now Handling VA’s Payroll Processing. The sixth item in the Federal Times‘ (12/1) "News Digest" column reports, "The Defense Department’s Finance and Accounting Service," or DFAS, "is now handling the payroll process for the Veterans Affairs Department’s 298,000 employees." The Times notes that VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said the shift allows the VA to focus on its "primary job – serving America’s veterans."
 4.      Shinseki Asked To Streamline Clinic Contracting Process In New Mexico. The Carlsbad (NM) Current-Argus (12/1, 7K) reports US Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) "has urged the Department of Veterans Affairs to act quickly to approve the relocation of several VA health clinics in New Mexico that are no longer able to adequately serve New Mexico veterans." In a "letter to VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki, Bingaman asked that the VA streamline the contracting process that has prevented the VA from leasing larger clinic facilities."  

5.      Funeral Set For Veteran Involved With Chemical Exposure Lawsuit. The Indianapolis Star (12/1, Thomas, 239K) reports a funeral is scheduled to be held Tuesday for 52-year-old James C. Gentry, a "retired Indiana National Guard commander who testified in October that exposure to a lethal carcinogen in Iraq caused" his lung cancer, which took Gentry’s life last week. The Star notes that last spring, Gentry joined a Federal lawsuit that "accuses Texas-based KBR and several related companies of concealing the risks faced by 136 Indiana National Guard soldiers potentially exposed to a cancer-causing agent." Gentry’s "story and that of his fellow soldiers stirred Bayh to write the Health Care for Veterans Exposed to Chemical Hazards Act of 2009, which is now with the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. The legislation would make affected soldiers eligible for medical examinations, laboratory tests, hospital care and nursing services," and "would recognize a veteran’s own report of exposure and include it in a Department of Defense registry."  

6.      VA, DOD Creating Unit That Can Confirm Veterans’ Classified Service. On its website, WTHR-TV Indianapolis, IN (11/30) reported, "A 13 Investigates report is sparking a national policy review over benefits for reservists who go to war, but aren’t officially activated. For years, a local pilot" named Steve Avery, who served in Desert Strom, "says his squadron has been unable to prove they are sick and dying from war illnesses. More importantly, some can’t find records to show they even served. Congressman Steve Buyer, the ranking Republican" on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, "called for a top-level review. Two weeks later, the VA" responded, "saying the agency is not privy to records for covert or classified missions." However, the VA and the Department of Defense "are now creating a special Operations Command with McDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida," that "will be able to confirm veterans’ service, with data on classified or covert missions, without breaching confidentiality requirements. The official start of the program is expected in coming days." 

7.      New Jersey Official Admits Making False Claims About Veteran Status. The AP (12/1) reports 64-year-old William Devereaux, "an official in New Jersey’s Military and Veterans Affairs Department," has "admitted he falsely claimed a heroic record in the Vietnam War as a paratrooper and artilleryman." Devereaux "also said his military service left him totally and
 permanently disabled and was qualified for a property tax exemption. As part of his guilty plea to theft charges Monday," he "agreed to serve 30 days of house arrest, five years probation and to reimburse Laurel Springs more than $54,000 in unpaid taxes. Devereaux is also resigning from his job with the state Division of Veterans Services, where he is director of veterans programs." The Philadelphia Inquirer (12/1, Boyer, 326K) publishes a similar story.  

8.      Location Selected For One VA Clinic, But Bidder Lost On Second Facility. The Brattleboro (VT) Reformer (12/1, Audette) reports, "A Veterans Administration Community Based Outreach Clinic will be located in a building in the Exit 1 industrial park in Brattleboro." That is "good news for area veterans, but there is bad news for veterans on the New Hampshire side of the river. The opening of a veterans center in Keene has hit a roadblock, said" Andy LaCasse, spokesman for the VA medical center in White River Junction, who added, "We had a firm that was a very good selection and went through the bidding process," but "just last month they took their name out of the hat." So, the Reformer noted, the VA "will have to restart the bidding process. The VA had hoped to hire staff and open both clinics at the same time, said LaCasse."  

9.      VA Study Cited In Column On Body Temperature. In the New York Times‘ (12/1, D2) "Science Q & A" column, C. Claiborne Ray writes, "’Normal’" body temperature for humans "is now thought to be lower than 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit and to vary significantly during the day." Ray adds, "A widely reported study, done at a Veterans Administration hospital and reported in The Journal of the American Medical Association in 1992, found that in 148 healthy adults recruited to study a new vaccine, baseline temperatures varied from 96 to 99.9 degrees Fahrenheit, with an average of 98.2. Only 8 percent of the subjects had a ‘normal’ 98.6-degree reading." 

10.    VA, Kaiser Permanente To Exchange Patient Medical Records. In continuing coverage, Federal Computer Week (12/1, Lipowicz, 90K) reports, "The Veterans Affairs Department will begin exchanging patient medical records this month with Kaiser Permanente as part of a demonstration of large-scale health data exchange, agency officials announced. The pilot program," which "connects Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect and the VA’s electronic health record system (EHR), known as VistA, two of the largest electronic health record systems in the country," will "exchange information using" the Federal "government’s Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) and its set of security and interoperability protocols created by the Health and Human Services Department (HHS). The goal is to share VA patient data with private-sector health care providers, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said in a news release." Federal Computer Week adds, "The VA is participating in a dialogue with industry on the possibility of making VistA available to the private sector."

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