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UPDATE: SEN. MURRAY CALLS FOR VA OFFICIAL'S

RESIGNATION AFTER SUICIDE COVER-UP -- Murray on

Dr. Ira Katz: "Dr. Katz's irresponsible actions have been

a disservice to our veterans and it is time for him to go."

Dr. Ira Katz, VA's mental health chief.

Yesterday we learned that Dr. Ira Katz, the VA's mental health chief, covered up statistics about veteran suicides.  That story here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfAPR08/nf042208-6.htm

Video of that story is here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfAPR08/nf042208-7.htm 

Now, Sen. Patty Murray wants his head on a platter...and, it couldn't happen to a more deserving fellow.  Katz should be fired and ostracized from the medical community for his actions.

Murray press release is here...
http://murray.senate.gov/news.cfm?id=296526

For more about CBS News reports on veterans and suicide, use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=cbs+suicide&op=and

Today's story here... http://www.cbsnews.com/
stories/2008/04/22/cbsnews_investigates/main4035255.shtml

Story below:

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

Sen. Calls For VA Official’s Resignation

NEW YORK, (CBS) CBS News producer Pia Malbran wrote this story for CBSNews.com.

In the wake of a CBS News report that revealed the Department of Veterans Affairs deliberately withheld critical information about the true suicide risk among veterans, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., today called for the resignation of Dr. Ira Katz, the VA’s top official for mental health.

Murray, a senior member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, says "Dr. Katz's irresponsible actions have been a disservice to our veterans and it is time for him to go.” She continues, “The number one priority of the VA should be caring for our veterans, not covering up the truth.”

For months, CBS News has been trying to obtain veteran suicide and attempted suicide data from the VA. Earlier this year, the agency provided CBS News with data that showed there were a total of 790 suicide attempts in all of 2007 by veterans who were under the VA's care.

On February 13, however, Katz sent an e-mail indicating the total number of attempts was much higher. The e-mail was addressed to his top media advisor Everett Chasen and entitled, “Not for the CBS News Interview Request.”

Katz wrote: “Shh! Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1000 suicide attempts per month among veterans we see in our medical facilitates.” He then asked “is this something we should (carefully) address ourselves in some sort of release before someone stumbles on it?”

In another e-mail message, Katz told the VA’s Under Secretary for Health, Michael Kussman, that there are “about 18 suicides per day among America’s 25 million veterans.” This is a figure that the VA has never made public.

Yesterday, Katz told CBS News that the reason the numbers mentioned in his e-mails had not been made public was because the “results were available for only one or two months, and there were and still are questions about how consistent or reliable the findings would be.”

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

posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org

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