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UPDATE: LAWMAKERS SAY PERSONALITY DISORDER
DISCHARGES SHOULD BE HALTED PENDING REVIEW --
"I am
deeply troubled by a number of reports that
seem to suggest
the Pentagon is using personality disorder
discharges to deny
benefits to psychologically injured
servicemembers."
Background story on this issue is here...
http://vawatchdog.org/07/nf07/
nfJUL07/nf072607-8.htm
For more information on personality disorder,
use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.
php?q=personality+disorder&op=ph
Today's story here...
http://www.estripes.com/
article.asp?section=104&article=47668
Story below:
-------------------------
Lawmakers: Personality disorder discharges
should be halted pending review
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
WASHINGTON — House and Senate lawmakers are pushing for an immediate
halt to most military personality disorder discharges until a full
review of the process can be completed.
On Tuesday, a group of Democratic and Republican House members
introduced legislation to put a temporary hold on the dismissals until
the mental health policies are reviewed and the Defense Department
establishes an independent appeal board where troops can challenge those
assessments.
“When determining whether one of our returning servicemen and women
should be awarded compensation and benefits, I believe we need to err on
the side of the veteran,” bill sponsor Rep. Phil Hare, D-Ill., said in a
statement on Wednesday.
“I am deeply troubled by a number of reports that seem to suggest the
Pentagon is using personality disorder discharges to deny benefits to
psychologically injured servicemembers.”
Lawmakers have been asking defense officials for more information on the
discharges since last month, when news reports identified several
soldiers diagnosed with pre-existing mental health problems after
returning from combat tours. The move left them ineligible to receive
veterans’ benefits despite their combat-related injuries.
Members of the House Veterans Affairs Committee held a hearing on the
issue on Wednesday, criticizing the Pentagon for shirking their duties
to care for injured servicemembers.
Defense officials insist the diagnoses aren’t being used to drop troops
from costly medical rehabilitation programs, but have stated they’re
reviewing the process to make sure diagnoses are being applied properly.
More than 18,600 servicemembers have been discharged for pre-existing
personality issues since the start of 2002, according to Pentagon
statistics. But that number has remained relatively steady each year.
Last week a bipartisan group of senators led by presidential candidate
Barack Obama, D-Ill., worked to include the moratorium in the Senate’s
version of the 2008 defense authorization bill. When negotiations on
that stalled, Obama introduced the proposal as stand-alone legislation.
Both his and Hare’s bill would allow personality disorder discharges to
go through despite the temporary halt if military officials can prove
troops hid documented criminal or medical evidence of a serious mental
health problem.
Hare said he would consider offering his bill as an amendment to a
number of budget bills already before the House, in an effort to get the
proposal enacted as quickly as possible.
“With the benefits of thousands of our wounded servicemembers in
jeopardy, there is an urgent need for action,” he said.
-------------------------
Larry Scott --
