Vets' disabilities are being downgraded

[cato2]

Insult to Injury

New data reveal an alarming trend: Vets' disabilities are being downgraded

By Linda Robinson
Posted 4/8/07

In the middle of a battle in Fallujah in April 2004, an M80 grenade landed a foot away from Fred Ball. The blast threw the 26-year-old Marine sergeant 10 feet into the air and sent a piece of hot shrapnel into his right temple. Once his wound was patched up, Ball insisted on rejoining his men. For the next three months, he continued to go on raids, then returned to Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Lengthy article, continued here.
USNews.com: Insult to Injury

[Woodmonkey]

I've been reading about this! It's wrong, wrong, wrong!

This is no way to treat our wounded.

[cato2]

Can we say current Administration is to blame then?

[Woodmonkey]

This is all happening under the current administration and they've been in power for 6 years now, so .... yes, I think it's fair to say that.

[cato2]

Agreed, but I wish it were not true.

One of the hidden costs that is not being publicized to any degree is the rehabilitation of the veterans who have medical problems such as prosthetic limbs as an example. They will require in many cases a lifetime of care.

Originally Posted by Woodmonkey

This is all happening under the current administration and they've been in power for 6 years now, so .... yes, I think it's fair to say that.

[herbstin]

I disagree with blaming the current administration for this. This problem goes much farther back, through the current crisis, through Desert Storm, Just Cause, through the Cold War and Vietnam. It has been the activity, if not policy, of the Army to find everyway possible to give the absolute lowest disability rating, even to denying there is a disability. (In my own case, when I retired, I asked about the constant ringing in my ears. The doctor asked if I could hear him. I said yes, and he then said there was nothing wrong with my hearing. This was in 1994.) In 1979, our unit had an NCO lose the use of an eye from a carbeurator backfire. The eye stopped working, but was not destroyed, so the doctors were saying only 30%. I believe he appealled and got it raised, but I don't know the final outcome.
The Army has always tried to find the cheap way out of things they don't like.

[Woodmonkey]

I have to agree when you put it that way. However, what is happening in the VA today is under the control of the current administration and I don't see them insuring that our current Vets get what they need, when they need it. What have I missed there?