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FIGHTING FOR EXTENDED MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS BENEFITS

 -- Homemaker and mother Angie Newbold-Steffen of Omaha

and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington are separated

physically by thousands of miles, but they're united

spiritually by a common cause.

 

Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)

 

Story here... http://www.fremontneb.com/
articles/2007/05/17/news/news2.txt

Story below:

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Fighting for veterans benefits

By Beverly J. Lydick/Tribune Staff

 

Homemaker and mother Angie Newbold-Steffen of Omaha and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington are separated physically by thousands of miles, but they’re united spiritually by a common cause.

Both women want to see expansion and improvements in benefits for veterans.

Murray, elected to the Senate in 1992 and a member of the Veterans Affairs Committee, spoke May 9 at a hearing about a bill she originally introduced in 2005 and re-introduced this March.

Murray’s proposal, S.847, eliminates the current seven-year window that allows a veteran to claim service connectedness for multiple sclerosis and extends that service connectedness window indefinitely.

Supporters of Murray’s bill include MS Vets, the National Gulf War Resource Center, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Disabled American Veterans — and Newbold-Steffen.

Her son, Todd Newbold, has multiple sclerosis which Newbold-Steffen believes is directly related to his service in the military. Newbold enlisted in the Marines Corps while still enrolled at Archbishop Bergan Catholic High School. After graduating in 1988, he served in the Persian Gulf War of 1990-91, assigned to a helicopter support unit near

Al-Jabail, Saudi Arabia.

During her son’s tour, Newbold-Steffen said, his unit was hit by a SCUD missile and ordered to wear their gas masks.

Newbold was honorably discharged in 1992 and became ill in 1996.

“His vision was very affected by light. He was always cold, no matter how hot the temperature,” his mother said. “His gait was funny and he had no concentration.”

Tests revealed lesions on Newbold’s brain. He was 26.

“The doctors weren’t sure of the cause,” said Newbold-Steffen. “But they knew he was a Gulf War vet. They suggested he go to the (Veterans Administration) hospital in Omaha.”

There, Newbold-Steffen said, her son was told he’d have to wait six months before doctors could run additional tests.

“All I could think of was getting my son healthy,” Newbold-Steffen said.

She started calling elected officials and Newbold was eventually admitted to the VA hospital in Houston for follow-up tests — and a diagnosis of demylinization disease which physicians said suggested multiple sclerosis.

Newbold was then released.

“There was no treatment, no follow-up, absolutely nothing,” said Newbold-Steffen. “At the time, he was a computer programmer. His body eventually healed itself to where he was able to function again in his work.”

Newbold married and became the father of four children. His health problems returned in 2004.

“He started feeling ill again,” said Newbold-Steffen. “He had difficulty concentrating and was unable to continue working.”

First treated by a private physician, Newbold returned in 2006 to the VA hospital in Omaha where tests showed changes in his spinal fluid. In April, following an attack that affected the left side of his body, Newbold, now 37, was finally diagnosed as having MS.

The confirmation came 15 years after his discharge from the Marines Corps.

Under current law, a veteran who is diagnosed with MS up to seven years after their honorable discharge can receive a service-connected status.

In her May 9 statements to the veterans affairs committee, Murray criticized that time frame.

“If (veterans are) diagnosed seven years and one day after they leave the military, they’re not eligible,” Murray said. “That limit doesn’t make sense because a person with MS might not show symptoms for years — even though they have the disease. Veterans with MS should not be penalized because their symptoms were diagnosed more than seven years after separation.”

In April, Newbold-Steffen attended a meeting of the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Illness in Washington, D.C.

“We went because Todd has been ill for so long and we have been trying to get answers, but there are none,” she said. “It’s been extremely frustrating.”

She said her attendance at the meeting of doctors and government officials was well received.

“I was the first parent there, the only person from the public who was there,” she said. “I told them the whole story of Todd.”

Leaving the room during a break, she returned to find Daniel L. Cooper, Veterans Administration undersecretary for benefits, speaking with the research advisory committee.

“They were questioning him about funding,” Newbold-Steffen said, “Then they said, ‘We have a mother here we’d like you to talk to.’”

She said Cooper expressed concern about her son’s health and offered to locate clinicians who might help him.

As of today, she still had not heard from Cooper’s office.

Asked about people who don’t believe in the existence of Gulf War Syndrome and its accompanying symptoms, Newbold-Steffen said, “I don’t know if they’ve had someone who’s been ill. I don’t know quite honestly if I’ve ever heard a doctor say (the syndrome) doesn’t exist.”

Newbold-Steffen said her concern reaches beyond her own family.

“I really am concerned for all the vets who suffer not only from MS but other illnesses,” she said. “You can pull up all these Web sites of Gulf War veterans who are sick. … We need to speak for up for our vets. They deserve the best. We must have money for them.”

What our senators say

Julie Edwards, deputy communications officer in Sen. Ben Nelson’s Washington office, issued the following statement Wednesday concerning his position on S.847, a veterans’ benefits expansion proposal by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.)

“As Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee, Sen. Nelson believes we need to keep our promises to our veterans, especially proper health care when they return from the front lines. The VA has the best acute care available. They are saving the lives of our soldiers every day. However, with the influx of significant numbers of casualties from Iraq, the VA system is struggling to keep up with the demand for services. We’ve seen failures in outpatient treatment and delays in other treatment. The VA needs to meet the treatment demands of our soldiers and Sen. Nelson will support new policies that achieve that objective in a responsible way.”

Jordan Stark, a staff member in the Washington office of Sen. Chuck Hagel, said Wednesday the senator is not currently co-sponsoring Murray’s bill. Stark said Hagel’s staff is studying the proposed legislation.

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Larry Scott  --