VA Health Head Grilled Over Suicide Data

After E-Mails Obtained By CBS Show VA Hid Numbers; Now Lawyers And Legislators React

(CBS)  This week, CBS News reported on charges of a cover up of suicide data at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Now, more damaging documents have come out in a lawsuit charging the VA fails to properly care for vets. Chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian reports.

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Lawyers suing the VA say the cover-up of suicide data was widespread.

"People within the VA who were withholding this information were not at the bottom of the totem pole," said Veterans Rights Attorney Arturo Gonzalez. "This went all the way up to the top."

Dr. Michael Kussman, the head of VA health care, was grilled in court about a series of e-mails written by top VA officials.

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Read an e-mail, "Re: Not For the CBS News Interview Request"
Read an e-mail to Kussman quoting suicide numbers

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The documents reveal how important information about veteran suicide was concealed from the public - and specifically from CBS News.

In an e-mail from March 10 of this year, a VA media adviser wrote: "I don't want to give CBS any more numbers on veteran suicides or attempts than they already have - it will only lead to more questions."

At the time, CBS News was preparing a report about attempted suicides among veterans under the VA's care.

When pressed about the e-mail, Kussman said he did not "recall" the message. And that he disagreed "with the premise that there was some effort to cover up something."

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Read more on this story by Investigative Producer Pia Malbran.

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Last November, CBS News revealed for the first time an epidemic of suicides among those who have served in the military including more than 6,200 in 2005 alone.

Dr. Ira Katz, the head of Mental Health for the VA, quickly disputed our report.

"Their number is not, in fact, an accurate reflection of the rates," Katz said.

But new e-mails made public in court this week show at the very same time, VA staff believed "there was no flaw in the way they [CBS News] calculated their data" and that the "methodology appears to be correct."

This week Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, co-sponsored a bill designed to break the silence. It would require the VA provide an annual accounting of veteran suicides and turn that data over to Congress.

[Miltonell]

Veterans Affairs Medical Centers continue the conspiracy to cover up veterans suicides and suicides attempts I am a veteran speaking from a recent experience at one of the VA Medical Centers. To this day they will not log my records correctly regarding suicides attempts.

[quincy1233]

The VA system has among the most devoted and skilled experts caring for our veterans. They should not be confused with the pinheads at the top who are political appointments and reflect the views of this White House whose leadership never fails to disappoint. Fortunately we have oversight by the media and Congress to hold them accountable for their actions. Oh, President Bush, better cover up--your leadership is showing...

[mjvw2]

The VA medical system is an abomination. It should be dropped immediately for national health care for everyone.
Posted by VNdisabled

Brilliant comment. The VA is government health care! This is the best you''ll get with a national health care system.

[dopelgangera]

From the very beginnings of the wars in Afghanistan in late 2001, and in Iraq in 2003, no matter what anyone''s politics were about either or both wars, EVERYONE agreed that "We support our troops." Good. ...Now, isn''t it time for our nation''s government to BEHAVE toward both the soldiers and the veterans, as if we REALLY DO "support our troops"?

[prinzowhales]

I understand the totals for last year were around 12,000.

Aside from the vile treatment our soldiers receive from a contemptible government and uncaring citizenry, our expenditures in blood and treasure do not serve the interests of the American people--they now serve only the interests of the financiers who own Washington lock, stock and barrel.

David Rockefeller admitted it in his autobiography... page 404, if memory serves...saying that he did not always do what was in the best interests of the United States. Though this admission was not necessary for anyone who has studied the malevolent roll of this monster and his family, his foundations, his oil and banking interests and his medical interests...it is a telling one, nonetheless.

Henry Kissinger, his bagman, once said that, "%u201CMilitary men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy.%u201D He is, today, an advisor of the Bush Regime and has worked the poison of Rockefeller policy into the bone and sinew of our Republic for over fifty years.

The enemy of all Americans is on Wall Street and in Washington.

[sear1ngtruth]

"...I even complained to a US Senator''''s office, and even they were unable to do anything about them ...

...I mean it from the bottom of my disabled heart: personnel employed by the VA medical system have been literally GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER for decades, and no one can stop the injustices and malpractice...

...The VA medical system is an abomination. It should be dropped immediately for national health care for everyone....


Posted by VNdisabled at 12:05 PM : Apr 26, 2008"

1. Care to name the senator who you complained to? I know the website to verify complaints received by state for senators to verify your accusation.

2. And most of them are civilian doctors.

3. The VA is run by the government, you complain about the VA, yet you want it replaced by a nationwide system run by the government.

"When people have so thoroughly blinded themselves to reality, they believe themselves to be the only holder of the Truth."
Future of the 8rave
ST

[sear1ngtruth]

"http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc
/mortrate10_sy.html

For the most recent year the US Government provides data (2005):

Suicides (death)
Firearms 17,002
Suffocation 7,248
Poisoning 5,744
Fall 683
Cut/Pierce 590
Drowning 375
Other Spec 328
Other Spec NEC 228
Unspecified 166
Fire/burn 160
Transportation related 113

Total: 32,637

Suicide Attempts:
Self-harm Poisoning 207,199
Self-harm Cut/Pierce 78,867
Self-harm Other Specified 57,945
Self-harm Struck By/Against 10,294
Self-harm Unknown/Unspecified 5,569

Total Attempts: 359,874

Posted by TheGateway1 at 06:04 AM : Apr 26, 2008"

"Facts, when backed up by data, are the guide to the truth."
Future of the 8rave
ST

[sear1ngtruth]

"Who has been the majority in Congress from 1994 to 2006 ?

Posted by IOWEIGN at 01:57 PM : Apr 26, 2008"


""I disagree with the premise that there was some effort to cover something up," Kussman testified Thursday. "We don''t obfuscate."

Instead, Kussman said, there''s concern about how suicide rates are compiled among the nation''s 26 million veterans.

"It''s been hard to track exactly," said Kussman, who noted that only 5.7 million veterans are under VA care. "



"When Americans refute facts just to support their side of an argument, they weaken only themselves. The rest of us stand strong with facts to guide us."
Future of the 8rave
ST

[ioweign]

Every vet has the option of going to a VA center, if one is available in their area (Congress has been closing military hospitals down at a rate worse than base closures) OR to be seen at a local civilian hospital. The vets who ONLY want to be seen at a VA center either do it because the VA doesn''''t charge them an outrageous co-pay, or they don''''t trust the civilian hospitals.

Posted by TheGateway1 at 06:18 AM : Apr 26, 2008

Who has been the majority in Congress from 1994 to 2006 ?

[ioweign]

Lay the blame on the people (so-called) who write up the budget and vote on spending cuts against the military for all this. Your elected Congressmen!

Posted by TheGateway1 at 06:23 AM : Apr 26, 2008

And who signs off on it...

[starleo146]

Seems to me the only Senator that cares obout our veterans is Senator Webb he has tried time and time again to put bills in for these veterans and they are shot down be our Republican Senators senator Burr among others have a bill to cut back Senator Webbs Bill.I tell you these Republicans ,I hope they sleep good, just to make a majority he can not, but if I know Senator Webb he will never give up on these veterans.It just isn''t right you Republicans sent them to war and now want to cut back on there health care

[vndisabled]

I''m a disabled Vietnam veteran in VA "care" for over 30 years. If anyone thinks that this is just a rare case of lying in the VA medical system, they are very sadly mistaken. The first time I actually read copies of my VA medical records, I was totally shocked and furious at what had been written by VA doctors and other personnel about me. My VA medical records, PERMANENT and UNCHANGEABLE are riddled with lies, many of them dunning, outright assassination of my character . There is a doctor named Victor Perez at Mather VAMC in CA who wrote very serious false statements about me several years ago for which I even complained to a US Senator''s office, and even they were unable to do anything about them because
Perez refuses to change one single word. I am going to say this once and I mean it from the bottom of my disabled heart: personnel employed by the VA medical system have been literally GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER for decades, and no one can stop the injustices and malpractice. Does anyone remember the staff at the Long Beach VAMC who were caught trying to starve immobile patients who couldn''t defend themselves to death? And when they were caught, NO PROSECUTION of these people took place at all. The VA medical system is an abomination. It should be dropped immediately for national health care for everyone.

[macknmee]

An 85 year old WW2 vet shot his self just yesterday in SC. As a retired military and disabled vet, I can understand. The VA could care less. I''m a vet of Vietnam and desert storm, I thought I would be taken care of after I get out. I would have been better off now if I had not gone into the military.

[piercetheval]

...be all that you can be... and then regret it later.

[ic1ssbill]

Mark11a_99,
Thank you lucky stars that you even get seen,I live in the Northeast and You are lucky when you go to A VA hospital around here if you even see a Corpsman.

[termtex01]

As an example of what Congress has done to our military medical system, I had a chance to stop off during a cross-country trip at the hospital for Offutt to see if I could get a prescription filled. Years ago when I visited it, it was a full-blown hospital, but because of CONGRESSIONAL budget cut-backs, it''s now only a clinic, much of the building is unused, and they no longer provide emergency care 24 hours a day.

Lay the blame on the people (so-called) who write up the budget and vote on spending cuts against the military for all this. Your elected Congressmen!

[termtex01]

"The main goal of the VA is to provide goverment jobs not to care for veterans. The poor care give to our veterans has been an on going issue for over fifty years. We should give every veteran a health care card a let them make the selection.

Posted by badkidone at 09:11 PM : Apr 25, 2008"

Every vet has the option of going to a VA center, if one is available in their area (Congress has been closing military hospitals down at a rate worse than base closures) OR to be seen at a local civilian hospital. The vets who ONLY want to be seen at a VA center either do it because the VA doesn''t charge them an outrageous co-pay, or they don''t trust the civilian hospitals.

[termtex01]

And in the Nov 2007 story, CBullS just plain LIED!

They said, and heres the quote:

"One age group stood out. Veterans aged 20 through 24, those who have served during the war on terror. They had the highest suicide rate among all veterans, estimated between two and four times higher than civilians the same age. (The suicide rate for non-veterans is 8.3 per 100,000, while the rate for veterans was found to be between 22.9 and 31.9 per 100,000.) "

http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate10_sy.html

The actual figures for that age group in 2005 is 2,195 suicides out of a nation-wide population of 10,858,108 20-24 year olds with a resulting 20.22 (NOT 8.3 as CBullS claims) per 100,000. But why can CBullS, even in it''s lie, give an exact figure for non-vets, but their figures for vets ranged from "22.9 to 31.9"?

[termtex01]

Geezuz! Is CBullS still trotting this old story out?

Don''t they ever compare the statistics with the US population at large and see that vet suicide rates are still LOWER than the US population at large?

For the most recent year the US Government provides data (2005):

Suicides (death)
Firearms 17,002
Suffocation 7,248
Poisoning 5,744
Fall 683
Cut/Pierce 590
Drowning 375
Other Spec 328
Other Spec NEC 228
Unspecified 166
Fire/burn 160
Transportation related 113

Total: 32,637

Suicide Attempts:
Self-harm Poisoning 207,199
Self-harm Cut/Pierce 78,867
Self-harm Other Specified 57,945
Self-harm Struck By/Against 10,294
Self-harm Unknown/Unspecified 5,569

Total Attempts: 359,874

[fibonacci_]

Astounding that we lose more of these people every year to suicide than we have in the whole Iraq war.