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News Release
New Report on Gulf War Syndrome Proves Need to Protect Today's Service
Members and Help Veterans of the First Gulf War, Senator Murray says
Senator Says Lessons of First Gulf War Must Be Applied to Current
Conflict in Iraq to Protect American Service Members
For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash) said that
a new report from the Institute of Medicine on Gulf War Syndrome shows
that veterans are suffering and need help from the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA). Murray urged the Department of Defense (DoD) to
avoid the mistakes of the first Gulf War by taking steps to screen and
protect those serving in the current war in Iraq.
"This report leaves no room for doubt that Gulf War Syndrome is real and
that veterans are suffering because of exposures during the first Gulf
War," Murray said. "We need to do two things. First, the VA must keep
faith with these veterans and provide the healthcare and benefits they
deserve. Second, the Department of Defense needs to learn from the past
and screen today's service members before and after deployment to Gulf."
The report, issued this week by the Institute of Medicine, found that
Gulf War veterans report higher levels of illnesses and have higher
rates of disease than other veterans. The report noted that in the first
Gulf War, the DoD failed to adequately screen service members and track
exposures. That failure, the report concluded, complicated efforts to
help injured veterans. Senator Murray wants to make sure the Pentagon
does not repeat those mistakes in the current Gulf conflict.
"According to the VA, 32 percent of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan
being seen by the VA are reporting 'ill-defined symptoms.' That means
that once again we have a large number of troops coming home with
unknown illnesses that could be related to battlefield exposures. The
Pentagon needs to begin screening today's service members and tracking
exposures, so that our service members and veterans can get the care
they need," Murray said.
Among the report's findings:
"Every study reviewed by this committee found that veterans of the Gulf
War reported higher rates of nearly all symptoms examined than their
nondeployed counterparts."
"In many studies, investigators found a higher prevalence not only of
individual symptoms but also of chronic multisymptom illnesses among
Gulf War-deployed veterans than among the nondeployed. Multisymptom-based
medical conditions reported to occur more frequently among deployed Gulf
War veterans include fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), and
multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS)."
"The difficultly in obtaining meaningful answers, as noted by numerous
past Institute of Medicine committees and the present committee agrees,
is due largely to inadequate predeployment and postdeployment screening
and medical examinations, and lack of monitoring of possible exposures
of deployed personnel."
The report, titled "Gulf War and Health: Volume 4. Health Effects of
Serving in the Gulf War," is available at
http://www.iom.edu
Murray is a longtime advocate for America's veterans. She is the first
woman to serve on the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. In August
1997, at Senator Murray's request, the Committee held a hearing in
Washington state to hear from veterans of the first Gulf War. Murray
also brought the VA Secretary to Washington state to meet with veterans
affected by Gulf War Syndrome.
Senator Murray has introduced legislation to give presumptive disability
to veterans with Multiple Sclerosis to help veterans with MS get
healthcare benefits from the VA.
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Larry Scott
