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News :: Civil & Human Rights |
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Gulf War VA Casualty Data Analysis |
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by Denise Nichols
Email: dsnurse (nospam) aol.com (unverified!)
Phone: 303-424-6235 |
23 Sep 2002
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PRESS RELEASE: National Vietnam and Gulf War Veterans Coalition Analysis of Department of Veterans Affairs Gulf War Veterans Information System
(Gulf War Casualty Report)
30 September 2002 |
PRESS RELEASE: National Vietnam and Gulf War Veterans Coalition Analysis of Department of Veterans Affairs Gulf War Veterans Information System
(Gulf War Casualty Report)
30 September 2002
Contact: Denise Nichols
Vice Chairman
303-424-6235
DSNurse (at) aol.com
The National Vietnam and Gulf War Veterans Coalition announces their analysis of the latest Veterans Administration Release of Data entitled May 2002 Gulf Veterans Information System in this point paper presentation.
The data released is startling in the numbers of Gulf War Casualties twelve years after Operation Desert Storm. The analysis leads to a call for Urgent Action as our troops again are deploying to the Persian Gulf Region.
This is a perilous time for our nation and lessons learned, as a consequence of the 1990-91 conflict have not been utilized to optimize combat readiness and medical care.
The National Vietnam and Gulf War Veterans Coalition highlight the analysis of the Veteran' s Affairs Data Report on Gulf War Veterans in point presentation format and call for urgent action be the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of Defense, and the United States Congress.
Critical Points revealed by the data presented in The Veterans Benefits Administration - Office of Performance
Analysis Data and Information System Report on Gulf War veterans that the public needs to be informed are highlighted below.
1. As demonstrated in the summary table in the Executive Summary when you look at the "conflict" column which means service during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm 82 % of the troops that participated in the Gulf War are eligible for VA benefits. 36% of eligible veterans have already filed claims, which is an astronomical number in comparison to claims filed after earlier wars. 11% of the veterans that have applied for care have been denied. And of 6% who submitted claims for undiagnosed illnesses--73% have been denied help in direct contradiction of the law President Bush signed into affect on 27 December 2001 (which the VA has failed to write regulations to enact that law 8 months later).
2. In the same summary chart there is another interesting development. When you look at the ERA veteran that did not serve in theater of war a full 57 % are now eligible for veteran status. 28% of those eligible have applied for VA help. 82% of those that have applied have received VA claims approval (ERA) vs. 76% (War Veterans). One must ask why this is occurring.
Are the ERA veterans showing a higher rate due to any number of factors to include the utilization of anthrax vaccine causing illness-related casualties from active service.
Is there a discrimination between actual war veterans and those that did not serve in a war zone? Is there a lack of accountability for caring for our gulf war veterans and if so why?
2. During the war there were 467 wounded in action, 148 battle deaths, and 145 non-battle deaths. That means we had a .1% casualty rate in the war as compared to post war casualty rate of 23%. Consequently during any future wars, Government leaders must consider not only the war times casualties but all casualties that manifest for years afterwards. This means we must reconsider if we truly won round one of the Gulf Conflict.
Although the numbers of service connected deaths included in the May 2002 data is considered "raw data" we must be concerned. The public should know that these figures are most likely incomplete and would probably be low in comparison to reality. The deaths reported in the VA study do not include deaths of those Gulf War Veterans who died after leaving the service and who did not apply for VA medical care. We call on the leaders of this country to utilize death data from all sources to determine to the true death rate.
Nevertheless in one of the charts in Section 5 of this report the death rate for conflict veterans is now at 1%. This has occurred in less than 12 years. The death rate for ERA veterans is 0.7%. The death rate for Deployed was 9.15%. The Death rate for all who served in Theater is 0.5 %. This data is deeply concerning because it is an incomplete count and occurred in a healthy population physically fit cohort population. Our soldiers are healthier than the general population or they would not have been or still be deployed for combat duty.
We call for comparisons to be made with the death rate of the normal population of the same age group nationally.
Our nation as we approach another round in the Gulf War must know what all the costs of war will be, not only for the direct time of conflict but for the years following the war.
4. Looking at data provided for Al Jubayl reveals the following data: a 1.6% death rate for Al Jubayl veterans that have sought VA help. Casualty rate for Al Jubayl veterans is 33%. 18% of those that have requested VA assistance have been denied assistance. 18% that are Service connected are not receiving compensation or pensions! 18% have been told they are not service connected. 54% of the claims were for undiagnosed illnesses. 70% of the claims for undiagnosed have been denied.
These figures look at one specific area of the war zone that had known SCUD attacks with verified exposures. These figures show that the law signed by President Bush 27 December 2001 has not been implemented a full 8 months after the law was enacted.
36% of the Al Jubayl veterans that applied for VA medical care are not receiving any help. And 18% of the veterans are being denied a rightful service connection!
Over half of there claims are for undiagnosed illnesses and 70% of those filing for undiagnosed illness have been denied in direct disregard of the law signed by President Bush 27 December 2001.
America needs to care for Round ONE casualties of the gulf war before we begin ROUND TWO.
5. The Data on Compensation and pension clearly shows we have a 36% after the fact casualty rate. VA has confirmed a 27% casualty rate. 11% of gulf war veterans have been denied assistance after requesting assistance.
11% of the veterans have been denied service connection. 21% of those casualties were service connected but are not receiving any financial assistance from the VA or DOD. 11% are nonservice connected receiving no pension.
Again this data clearly shows an alarming casualty rate 11 years after Round One in the Gulf. And again we have not cared for the casualties fully after Round One in the Gulf although at the time of the Gulf War in 1990-91 VA stated emphatically that they were ready to provide care for the Gulf War veterans.
6. The Data provided in Section 5 of the VA Report concerning Gulf War Veterans shows data on undiagnosed illnesses statistics. In analysis, it shows
A. Undiagnosed illness Claimed in war at 2%, served in theater 0.3%, 1.4% for all deployed. This shows that many gulf war vets have not utilized the undiagnosed illness category that could mean that their illnesses are being diagnosed or that the service officers and the veterans are unfamiliar with the utilization of this method of applying for a claim. It is interesting that no data have been provided on ERA veterans that are experiencing undiagnosed illnesses.
B. Denial Rate: 73% of those that served in actual war have been denied, 84% of those who served in theater have been denied, and 74% denied for all deployed. These data again show the lack of implementing the newest law for Gulf War Veterans a full eight months after it was signed into law.
C. For those that served in the war 1.9% were granted Service connection for undiagnosed illnesses but receive no compensation or pension.
D. 73% have been rated Non service Connected, 29% service connected that applied, and 48% that are service connected or non service connected receive no compensation or pension.
E. For those who served in Theater, 15% were service connected and 84% were Non Service Connected. 51% who were Service connected or Non service connected receive no compensation or pension.
F. For all those Deployed, 25% were Service Connected and 74 % Non Service Connected. 48% of those deployed who were Service connected or nonservice connected receive no compensation or pension.
Discussion Comments:
This data shows the need to call on the Secretary of the Veterans Administration to immediately implement regulations to meet his lawful duty concerning Public Law. It also calls on the need for training of Veteran Service Officers to be aware of the Undiagnosed Illnesses and the means of addressing that component in their claims submissions.
This data also calls for the review of why veterans are not receiving compensation when they have been rated and this should be included in future reports.
There also appears to be a need to address and review the issue of Service Connection. Service Connection is very important to Veterans. How do they really know if it is service connected or not. The criteria for this decision factor needs to be reviewed and critiqued!
IT is critically important to realize this data provided is from APRIL 2002 a full 5 months ago!
Additional comments on the data include the lack of data on Cancer rates, the lack of recommendations on deficiencies noted by the Veterans Administration to show a proactive spirit in helping veterans, the timeliness of the report shows a three month delay in release of this data a direct breaking of the laws that have been in place for several years. When will we have the most up to date figures, where is the data for the August report?
An important factor to be considered in reviewing all the data provided is that this is incomplete data; many veterans are still ill and unreported. This is directly due to the lack of assistance and outreach to meet their needs when they are ill and need assistance.
An astonishing factor hidden in the data in the VA's report is that those that were deployed after the war into theater are ill also! They have received anthrax vaccine and oral polio vaccine, they have been exposed to the theater of operations that was contaminated by chemicals and depleted uranium.
The press and the nation wonder why are the Arabs, Moslems made and attacking the United States? Well has anyone figured it out, they are ill from exposures from the war! Think about the parallel with Agent Orange exposure and the Vietnamese---we all know the birth defects and cancer rates that the Vietnamese had to live with after Vietnam. There is a battle going on now to get the US government to help the Vietnamese in relationship to Agent Orange.
The Data also shows that Era veterans are ill but at a lower level. 57% of the Era veterans are now eligible to apply for VA care and out of that a whooping 28% have filed claims. How does this compare with ERA Veterans of the Vietnam War and if it is disproportional then why? ERA veterans have also been vaccinated and experienced secondary exposure from returning equipment and personnel. ERA veterans may have served in the gulf area during the Iran-Iraq war or the lead up to the Gulf War and they may also be the veterans that served in Israel which was hit by scuds during the war (since that group does not fit into the definition re being in the theater.)
Civilians re service personnel wives and children have reported in ill but no data has been provided on that! These service personnel send home items from the gulf and themselves and their equipment home!
Civilians at the port sites that work with equipment returning from the gulf have reported in ill. Their families have also experienced health problems.
Remember diseases and exposures travel by vectors and a vector can be equipment or personnel.
Remember also that the report just covers the US casualties that have reported into the VA and DOD and not those that have utilized civilian sources. Remember also the data does not include coalition nations soldiers health data.
The Gulf War Veteran Groups have tried for over 12 years to get the DOD, VA, Congress, and the Administration to admit their lack of accountability and to apply lessons learned to improve the medical care of inured and ill combat veterans.
The Civilian Public is no better prepared because of this lack of utilizing lessons learned by the military. Doctors and researchers that have seen the reality of gulf war illness have desperately tried to help but have been ignored and attacked professionally. A Handful of these doctors and researchers try desperately to get the message out in any way possible but they are prevented from actually helping the nation. The control exerted by the government in money (research fund control) and control of universities, hospitals, and medical associations is truly a spider's web to prevent the knowledge from being distributed.
The Veterans Administration and the Department of Defense does not educate their physicians of Gulf War Illness, true research, and true treatment options. They exert control to keep the gulf war veterans trapped and dying. So how can the civilian medical world even grasp this area of medicine when the government exerts overwhelming control?
This data needs to also be correlated with KNOWN Gas Mask and MOPP SUIT Deficiencies documented by the GAO in order to assess whether our troops are Adequately prepared and protected for Round Two in the Gulf.
Homeland Security needs to pay attention to the lessons learned by the Gulf War Veterans.
If we continue to fail to provide medical care for previous combat casualties how can we expect any of Nation's sons or daughters to willfully participate in combat in the future? As we watch yet another group of warriors prepare once more for war in the Persian Gulf, we know that existing force protection, medical care, and reporting accountability deficiencies have not been resolved.
URGENT RECCOMMENDATIONS:
We call for immediate joint hearings involving both the Senate and the House to resolve the urgent needs of Gulf War I veterans and hearings to determine the combat readiness our current force and the allocation and use of medical resources to meet anticipated future needs. WE owe this as a nation to those combat veterans who have and will defend our cherished freedoms!!!
WE call for the Secretary of the Veterans Administration to immediately implement the Public Law signed by President Bush on 27 December 2001.
WE call on the secretary to address the comments on the missing data regarding cancers and diagnosed illnesses in Gulf War Veterans and to demonstrate a proactive stance in finally meeting the needs of Gulf War Veterans from Round one.
WE call on Secretary Principi to make public what improvements have been made in the past 12 years, to prove that the Veterans Administration is truly ready for Round Two in the Persian Gulf.
We call for the Secretary of Defense to preserve any data collected in the past 12 years since the gulf war. We call for the Secretary of Defense to report on what really happened in round one of the Gulf War. WE call on the Secretary of Defense to Report on how they will treat the next round of casualties from the Persian Gulf. |
