AP IMPACT: Almost half of new vets seek disability

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE

America's newest veterans are filing for disability benefits at a historic rate, claiming to be the most medically and mentally troubled generation of former troops the nation has ever seen.

A staggering 45 percent of the 1.6 million veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now seeking compensation for injuries they say are service-related. That is more than double the estimate of 21 percent who filed such claims after the Gulf War in the early 1990s, top government officials told The Associated Press.

What's more, these new veterans are claiming eight to nine ailments on average, and the most recent ones over the last year are claiming 11 to 14. By comparison, Vietnam veterans are currently receiving compensation for fewer than four, on average, and those from World War II and Korea, just two.

It's unclear how much worse off these new veterans are than their predecessors. Many factors are driving the dramatic increase in claims - the weak economy, more troops surviving wounds, and more awareness of problems such as concussions and PTSD. Almost one-third have been granted disability so far.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20120527/D9V16E900.html

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In this Wednesday, March 7, 2012 file photo, Army Pfc. Kevin Trimble, 19, adjusts his myoelectric upper limb prosthetic for occupational therapy at the Center for the Intrepid at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. At 19, Kevin has lost both legs above the knee and an arm from a bomb in Afghanistan. A staggering 45 percent of the 1.6 million veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now seeking compensation for disabilities they say are service-related - more than double the 21 percent who filed such claims after some previous wars, according to top government officials. The new veterans have different types of injuries than previous veterans did, in part because improvised bombs have been the main weapon and because body armor and improved battlefield care allowed many of them to survive wounds that in past wars proved fatal. (AP Photo/San Antonio Express-News, Lisa Krantz, File) RUMBO DE SAN ANTONIO OUT; NO SALES; MANDATORY CREDIT

[The Magistrate]

1. Cue Republicans Denouncing Free-Loading Malingerers, Sir, By 2014 At The Absolute Latest....

[Ishoutandscream2]

2. Oh yeah, and let the Republicans call it "entitlements"

[alp227]

3. or..."They're just lying"

[freshwest]

8. Yep, my first thought, too. Only good vet is a dead one. Then they're heroes.

It's all about the balance sheet. Soldiers who can't fight anymore are a liability to the war business.

Great way to treat people, huh?

This is what we've come to under a generation of conservative rule. Cannon fodder is discarded.

[David__77]

4. Part of this may be because there is a number of injuries relative to the number of deaths.

Meaning, more are living due to better life-protecting technology, but they are still injured. But I suspect that isn't the major factor.

[XemaSab]

6. A few years ago in the NY Times there was a blurb

about how it's been theorized that the murder rate has been going down not because crime has been going down but because the field of trauma medicine has improved so much. The stage upon which the improvement of trauma medicine has been set? Our various wars in the last half-century.

[XemaSab]

5. That is way too depressing

[TeamPooka]

7. Do the math

This is what happens when you have 1% of the population do 100% of your war fighting during the longest conflicts in the history of your nation.

[James48]

9. Only the beginning

I served 21 years- and I know a LOT of veterans that haven't even filed anything yet. Many are like me, just trying to move on, and deal with issues on our own.

I'm lucky because I have a good support system around me. I have some issues with PTSD symptoms, but I have not filed a claim, and so far have managed to keep my job, and my family, although both have been a struggle.

But I know lots of veterans who are afraid to file, and some who have filed and have been denied, because they didn't do their applications properly, and now since everything is filed by computer on-line, are files that are lost in the system. Lots of them.

[thelordofhell]

10. Many thanks for your long service to a grateful nation

You should still file for benefits.......our country's veteran's deserve all the help they can get.

[lovuian]

11. These Wars are too costly

our children are obviously suffering tremendously

and for what?

[may3rd]

12. Nobody cares about the cannon fodder

These guys have been put through the meat grinder more times than any GI in any previous war. They are rotated in,rotated out at the leisure of the politicians orders to the military

[Roselma]

13. My son is being discharged from the Marines

(hopefully with a military medical retirement) due to having had a couple of strokes, one of which caused him to lose some peripheral vision. As he prepares to exit, he has been evaluated at the VA and has been assigned a 70% disability due to the strokes, vision problems, hearing loss, traumatic brain injury and kidneys filled with kidney stones. Now he will be having a "sleep study" to determine if/whether he has obstructive sleep apnea which would add concurrent disability status. I think many of these disability claims now versus earlier wars are due to the more robust use of imaging equipment (MRI's, CT scans, Ultrasounds) and the increased recognition of problems (like sleep disorders) which have always affected health but were previously untreatable. I wouldn't question these veterans for seeking help from the VA. We were talking about how many file with the VA just to assure that they'll be able to obtain medical care if they lose their jobs and health insurance. It seems like many just want some backup health care coverage - just in case.

[DannyHaszard]

14. PTSD treatment drugs ineffective

PTSD treatment for Veterans found ineffective.
There have been a hundred or more Vets who have DIED from these 'atypical' antipsychotics being prescribed 'off-label'.
Seroquel,Risperdal,Zyprexa can cause diabetes.
I took Zyprexa Olanzapine a powerful Lilly schizophrenic drug for 4 years it was prescribed to me off-label for post traumatic stress disorder was ineffective costly and gave me diabetes.
*FIVE at FIVE* was the Zyprexa sales rep slogan, meaning *5mg dispensed at 5pm would keep patients quiet*.
*Tell the truth don't be afraid*
-- Daniel Haszard -
FMI http://www.zyprexa-victims.com