nastyleg
02-08-2012, 05:45 PM
Army investigating Madigan memo on PTSD costs
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Feb 7, 2012 14:06:48 EST
SEATTLE — The Army has been investigating whether the cost of care and benefits is influencing the diagnosis of soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder at Madigan Army Medical Center, a newspaper reported Tuesday.
The review by the Western Regional Medial Command and the Army Medical Command was prompted by a memo from an ombudsman who attended a lecture in September by a Madigan psychiatrist, The Seattle Times reported.
The psychiatrist told colleagues a soldier who retires with PTSD could receive $1.5 million in government payments and such costs could cause the Department of Veterans Affairs to go broke.
Related reading
Army removes 2 Madigan doctors from PTSD duties (Feb. 5)
Army reviews Madigan’s PTSD diagnosis reversal (Jan. 27)
“He (the psychiatrist) stated that we have to be good stewards of the taxpayers’ dollars, and we have to ensure that we are just not ‘rubber stamping’ a soldier with the diagnoses of PTSD,” the ombudsman’s memo said. Names of the psychiatrist and ombudsman were removed from the copy of the memo obtained by the Times.
Sen. Patty Murray, who chairs the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, has been monitoring the investigation. Doctors should not be taking financial consideration into account in a mental health diagnosis, she said.
“This is the opposite of everything that we are working for,” Murray said. “It is very disheartening to see this in writing.”
The Army Surgeon General’s office also has asked psychiatrists from Walter Reed Army Medical Center to evaluate the mental health of more than a dozen soldiers who complained that the Madigan team had unfairly dropped their PTSD diagnoses as they prepared for medical retirement. Some said the team branded them as malingerers who were lying or exaggerating their symptoms.
PTSD is a condition that results from experiencing or seeing a traumatic event, such as a battlefield casualty. Symptoms can include recurrent nightmares, flashbacks, irritability and feeling distant from other people.
Soldiers are often diagnosed with PTSD as they move through the Army medical system. The forensic team at Madigan has been charged with making a final diagnostic review of soldiers under consideration for retirement.
At Madigan, the team’s validation of a PTSD diagnosis can help qualify a soldier for a medical retirement with considerable benefits that include lifelong health insurance for a retiree, spouse and dependents and monthly pay, and also can help qualify a retiree for disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Madigan is located at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, about 30 miles south of Seattle, which has sent tens of thousands of soldiers to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The September lecture was intended to help social workers, nurse case managers and others understand the role of the forensic team in the Medical Evaluation Board system.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2012/02/ap-army-investigating-madigan-memo-on-ptsd-costs-020712/
* my notes
As a veteran dealing with my PTSD, this comes as no shock to me. Penny pinching has been the hallmark of the VA since its founding. What makes me upset is that this guy who wrote the memo is currently treating vets with PTSD. What a slap in the face for his clients. So instead of going in with the mindset to help he is going in with the mindset of oh great here comes another million dollar price tag.
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Feb 7, 2012 14:06:48 EST
SEATTLE — The Army has been investigating whether the cost of care and benefits is influencing the diagnosis of soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder at Madigan Army Medical Center, a newspaper reported Tuesday.
The review by the Western Regional Medial Command and the Army Medical Command was prompted by a memo from an ombudsman who attended a lecture in September by a Madigan psychiatrist, The Seattle Times reported.
The psychiatrist told colleagues a soldier who retires with PTSD could receive $1.5 million in government payments and such costs could cause the Department of Veterans Affairs to go broke.
Related reading
Army removes 2 Madigan doctors from PTSD duties (Feb. 5)
Army reviews Madigan’s PTSD diagnosis reversal (Jan. 27)
“He (the psychiatrist) stated that we have to be good stewards of the taxpayers’ dollars, and we have to ensure that we are just not ‘rubber stamping’ a soldier with the diagnoses of PTSD,” the ombudsman’s memo said. Names of the psychiatrist and ombudsman were removed from the copy of the memo obtained by the Times.
Sen. Patty Murray, who chairs the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, has been monitoring the investigation. Doctors should not be taking financial consideration into account in a mental health diagnosis, she said.
“This is the opposite of everything that we are working for,” Murray said. “It is very disheartening to see this in writing.”
The Army Surgeon General’s office also has asked psychiatrists from Walter Reed Army Medical Center to evaluate the mental health of more than a dozen soldiers who complained that the Madigan team had unfairly dropped their PTSD diagnoses as they prepared for medical retirement. Some said the team branded them as malingerers who were lying or exaggerating their symptoms.
PTSD is a condition that results from experiencing or seeing a traumatic event, such as a battlefield casualty. Symptoms can include recurrent nightmares, flashbacks, irritability and feeling distant from other people.
Soldiers are often diagnosed with PTSD as they move through the Army medical system. The forensic team at Madigan has been charged with making a final diagnostic review of soldiers under consideration for retirement.
At Madigan, the team’s validation of a PTSD diagnosis can help qualify a soldier for a medical retirement with considerable benefits that include lifelong health insurance for a retiree, spouse and dependents and monthly pay, and also can help qualify a retiree for disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Madigan is located at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, about 30 miles south of Seattle, which has sent tens of thousands of soldiers to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The September lecture was intended to help social workers, nurse case managers and others understand the role of the forensic team in the Medical Evaluation Board system.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2012/02/ap-army-investigating-madigan-memo-on-ptsd-costs-020712/
* my notes
As a veteran dealing with my PTSD, this comes as no shock to me. Penny pinching has been the hallmark of the VA since its founding. What makes me upset is that this guy who wrote the memo is currently treating vets with PTSD. What a slap in the face for his clients. So instead of going in with the mindset to help he is going in with the mindset of oh great here comes another million dollar price tag.