SENATORS URGE GAO TO STUDY THE MILITARY’S MENTAL HEALTH
CARE
Thursday, April 19, 2007
http://bond.senate.gov/press_section/record.cfm?id=272667
WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senators Barack Obama (D-IL), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Kit
Bond (R-MO), Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Joe Lieberman (I-CT),
Patty Murray (D-WA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) today
sent a letter to the General Accounting Office (GAO) requesting a review of the
Department of Defense’s treatment of service-related mental health conditions
affecting troops that have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The letter comes in
the wake of reports of poor treatment and conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical
Centers, where many patients and family members described not receiving adequate
mental health care, and more recent reports that suggest the Department of
Defense (DOD) has not effectively screened and diagnosed mental health
conditions.
Senators Boxer, Bond, and Obama had previously asked that the Department of
Defense to examine command practices and culture related to mental health care
with no response. As the DOD drags its feet, the senators have requested the GAO
to investigate agency practices related to mental health screenings, diagnoses,
referrals and treatment of service members.
"Recent reports suggest that the Department of Defense is ill-equipped to
effectively screen and diagnose the increasing number of service members who are
suffering from mental health conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder,”
said Senator Obama. “I'm especially troubled by reports of some DOD commanders
downplaying the serious mental health conditions confronting service members
returning home from Iraq, and then redeploying those troops without proper
treatment. It's time for a full accounting of how many of our troops are
affected by post-traumatic stress disorder, other service-connected mental
health conditions, and traumatic brain injuries, and for an evaluation of our
readiness to help the generation of soldiers returning home from war rebuild
their lives."
Senator Boxer said, "Two years ago, military doctors informed me that soldiers
with serious mental health problems were being denied care and redeployed to
Iraq. Sadly, even after we passed legislation and the Defense Department issued
new mental health guidelines, they are not being followed. It is time for the
GAO to investigate allegations of mistreatment and improper discharges. The
health and well being of our service members must be a priority for the Pentagon
and for all Americans."
“Combat stress and its impact on our soldiers and their families is a serious
problem that continues to grow. Reports that our military is unprepared or
unwilling to deal with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome or other mental health
problems are unacceptable. Being unprepared for these problems is no excuse for
inaction. It is our duty to take care of the brave men and women who have
answered the call to duty," said Senator Kit Bond.
“I am deeply concerned about the consequences of the conflicts in Iraq and
Afghanistan on the mental health of those who serve,” said Senator Akaka. “PTSD
and other mental health problems, the often invisible wounds of war, can be
terribly debilitating. As a senior member of the Armed Services Committee and
Chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, I am working to ensure that our
wounded warriors receive a timely diagnosis of mental health problems and prompt
and effective response. This effort must begin while service members are still
on active duty and there have been far too many reports that this is not
happening. The results of this requested GAO review will be of great importance
as we seek to ensure that DOD and VA meet the needs of our newest war veterans.”
“With news that our soldiers will be serving longer tours of duty with shorter
periods of rest at home, there is no better time to ensure the men and women who
serve our country are getting the mental health services they need,” said
Senator Harkin. “We must do away with the stigma associated with mental illness
and remove any obstacles to treatment.”
“We have a moral obligation to care for our wounded troops and ensure they
receive the best care,” said Senator Lieberman. “Post-traumatic stress disorder
is afflicting many of our service members and it is imperative that we
accurately and efficiently diagnose and treat it. The stakes are high for those
that are sacrificing their lives for our country and we must work together to
correct any deficiencies that we find in our military’s mental health system.”
"We can't afford to wait until a year after our service members have returned
home to discover the affects of the unseen wounds of this war," said Senator
Murray. "PTSD is taking a horrible toll on our service members and their
families and we must be sure today that they are being properly screened,
tracked, and treated. We can no longer be unprepared for this mounting problem."
“Our men and women returning from war should receive mental health care equal to
the physical medical care they are given, and anything less is unacceptable,”
Senator McCaskill said. “It took this country 15 years after Vietnam to look at
the mental health needs of veterans. We can’t do that to another generation of
soldiers.”
“The men and women who put their lives on the line for this country deserve the
best care we can provide,” Senator Bernie Sanders said. “What has been revealed
about Defense Department health care is a disgrace that needs to be addressed.
We need to find out whether there is a concerted effort by the Defense
Department to shortchange our soldiers and veterans who are in need of mental
health care and other benefits they have earned.”
The text of the letter is below:
The Honorable David M. Walker Comptroller General Government Accountability
Office (GAO) 441 G Street, NW, Room 7125 Washington, DC 20548
Dear Mr. Walker:
We are writing to request that the General Accounting Office (GAO) undertake a
review of Department of Defense (DOD) screenings, diagnoses, referrals and
treatment of service members who may have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
and other mental health conditions related to their service in Iraq and
Afghanistan. Several of us previously wrote the DOD requesting an examination of
command practices and reports of biases and misdiagnoses in the treatment of
mental health-related injuries such as PTSD and other deployment-related health
problems, including Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), but have not yet received a
response.
The stigmas associated with PTSD and other mental health needs are no less
potent within the military than in the civilian world. Indeed, reports from
soldiers suffering from PTSD suggest that the stigma is worse, with some
military commanders appearing to minimize the significance of PTSD and other
mental health needs; or suggesting that a service member is malingering to avoid
redeployment. There are allegations of commanders at Fort Carson, Colorado
denying soldiers access to mental health care and instead ordering them
redeployed for additional tours in Iraq. We have also heard of cases in which
service members with PTSD are diagnosed as having “personality disorders” that
the Army considers “pre-existing,” thus depriving otherwise eligible combat
veterans of disability benefits and much-needed mental healthcare. Because the
stakes for our service members’ and their health are so high, we must move
quickly to investigate and correct any deficiencies.
We have come to learn about a number of upsetting allegations at Fort Carson.
Therefore, for the purposes of an expedited review, we request to be briefed
initially by GAO on these immediate cases. We ask that you subsequently focus
your inquiry not only on Fort Carson but on system-wide mental health
deficiencies within the DOD.
With the significant burdens already being placed on our service members and
their families with multiple extended deployments, we must ensure that they are
not further burdened with any humiliation, stigmatization or other minimization
of genuine mental health needs. Our service members are risking their lives for
our nation’s security; it is our moral obligation to care for them. We therefore
ask the GAO to assess:
1) Known cases of improper discharges or misdiagnoses and patterns of systematic
stigmatization employed by military commanders regarding the mental health needs
of service members throughout the chain-of-command at Fort Carson and across DOD
departments;
2) The growing number of discharges for personality disorders, and whether or
not such discharges are being improperly used when service members should in
fact be given a mental health diagnosis that DOD does not consider preexisting;
3) The overall number of misdiagnosed cases of PTSD, other mental health
conditions, and TBIs (at Fort Carson and force-wide);
4) DOD progress in implementing previous mandates to develop force-wide criteria
and procedures for screening, diagnosing and referring mental health cases for
follow-up treatment;
5) The efficacy of the DOD’s current mental health safety net and treatment
capabilities: for example, what current mechanisms are available to service
members in the event of misdiagnosis?;
6) The steps and resources required to implement one-on-one, face-to-face mental
health screenings for all returning service members;
7) The number of service members, men and women, reporting mental health
concerns related to sexual assault during deployment; and whether current DOD
personnel training and diagnostic guidance is sufficiently responsive to the
needs of both men and women.
We seek to ensure that the DOD has the resources necessary to diagnose and treat
service-connected injuries that impact the mental health of U.S. service
personnel. It is vital that the U.S. military ensures it is treating the mental
health needs of our forces with the same priority and resource investments it is
devoting to physical injuries. If you would like to discuss this request, please
contact [redacted].
Thank you for your assistance in this matter.