VA Watchdog Stuff
cups, hats, shirts
click here to
support the site






Be sure to get all five
VA Watchdog dot Org
RSS feeds --
Daily VA
News Flashes
House CVA
Veterans' News
Senate CVA
Veterans' News
VA Press
Releases
VSO Press
Releases

Download your
free copy of the
2008 VA benefits
handbook here...
 

Printer-Friendly Version

A LESSON LEARNED FROM VIETNAM WINS "THERE OUGHTA

BE A LAW" CONTEST -- "We never took care of those people.

We failed them morally, economically and psychologically."

For more about traumatic brain injury, use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=traumatic+brain&op=ph

Story here... http://www.mercurynews.
com/columns/ci_8837174?nclick_check=1

Story below:

-------------------------

Learning a lesson from Vietnam

By Patty Fisher
Mercury News

Jerome Blum has never been in combat. But as a young military doctor 50 years ago, he saw the effects of combat on others. And he never forgot the dedication of the servicemen he met.

"They were nice, kind, hard-working people with a great deal of spirit," he recalled.

So when Blum learned that thousands of troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan were suffering from undiagnosed traumatic brain injuries, he was furious and wanted to do something.

There ought to be a law, he thought, to make sure that these men and women get the treatment they need.

'Oughta Be A Law'

State Sen. Joe Simitian agreed. The Palo Alto Democrat named Blum, a 79-year-old retired Los Altos Hills ophthalmologist, one of this year's winners in his "There Oughta Be A Law" contest. And Simitian is carrying a bill, SB 1401, that would require the state Department of Veterans Affairs and the California National Guard to provide outreach to vets to inform them about the impacts of brain injuries and the care that's available to them through the U.S. Veterans Administration.

It's estimated that up to 20 percent of troops returning from the gulf have at least a mild form of traumatic brain injury, or TBI, caused when the brain is jolted by an explosion.

You might wonder why the state of California should be responsible for providing health services to returning veterans. Isn't that the federal government's job?

Well, the military is supposed to check for these injuries. But often there are no immediate symptoms. It's only when veterans return home and try to adapt to civilian life that they experience memory loss, personality changes, dizziness and other problems.

Studies have shown that post-traumatic stress disorder is also more common among veterans suffering from TBI.

'Shell shock'

What used to be called "shell shock" has long been a combat hazard. The problem grew worse during the Vietnam War, as better equipment and more sophisticated medicine helped more soldiers survive. After the war, mental illness, drug abuse and suicide became common among veterans.

Blum felt more should have been done.

"We never took care of those people," he said. "We failed them morally, economically and psychologically."

For 41 years, Blum had a private practice in Santa Clara. When he retired a few years ago, he decided to see what he could do to help Gulf War veterans so that the tragedy of Vietnam wouldn't be repeated. He became increasingly concerned about the lack of treatment for TBI.

He says he proposed the state screening program for TBI to several folks in Sacramento, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, but got nowhere until he appealed to Simitian.

"I didn't even know about the contest," he said. "I just sent in my proposal and they liked it."

Next thing he knew, Blum was invited to Sacramento to testify before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee about the cost to our state - both human and monetary - of failing to screen veterans.

"If we do not diagnose these men and women and treat them, they will become substance abusers," he said he told the committee. "They will beat up their husbands and wives. They will end up in prison, which costs $52,000 a year. Forget about morality, just look at the bucks."

If the bill passes, California will be one of the first states to provide such services to its veterans.

Blum was thrilled that the committee members listened to him and then unanimously supported the bill, which now goes to the Appropriations Committee.

"Other than meeting my wonderful wife 51 years ago," he said, "this was one of the greatest days of my life."

Contact Patty Fisher at pfisher@mercurynews.com  or (408) 920-5852.

-------------------------

posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org

Don't forget to read all of today's VA News Flashes (click here)

Click here to make VA Watchdog dot Org your homepage

email Larry

(go back to VA Watchdog dot Org Home Page)

       
Military Medical Malpractice 
Legal Network               

VA Watchdog Stuff
cups, hats, shirts
click here to
support the site