Iraq war linked to rise in ailment in Vietnam vets

WASHINGTON - More than 30 years after their war ended, thousands of Vietnam veterans are seeking help for post-traumatic stress disorder, and experts say one reason appears to be harrowing images of combat in Iraq.

Figures from the Department of Veterans Affairs show that PTSD disability-compensation cases have nearly doubled since 2000, to an all-time high of more than 260,000. The biggest bulge has come since 2003, when war started in Iraq.

Experts say that, although several factors may be at work in the burgeoning caseload, many veterans of past wars re-experience their own trauma as they watch televised images of U.S. troops in combat and read each new accounting of the dead.

``It so directly parallels what happened to Vietnam veterans,'' said Raymond Scurfield of the University of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Coast campus, who worked with the disorder at VA for more than 20 years and has written two books on the subject. ``The war has to be triggering their issues. They're almost the same issues.''

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/14859170.htm

Disability compensation cases "bulged" in 2003, when war started in Iraq. I wonder what flashbacks Chimpy and Crashcart experienced when they launched this invasion? Oh that's right; they neglected to report for duty when their country called.

noted in the article, coming from Dr. Sally Satel of---get this---the American Enterprise Institute! E.g. "``I'm skeptical that it accounts for a broad swath of this phenomenon,'' said psychiatrist Sally Satel, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. ``These men have had deaths in their families, they had all kinds of tragedies over 30 years that surely affected them emotionally but they coped with.''

(Satel's fellowship colleagues there at present include none other than Lynne Cheney). I think this signals that the neocons are positioning themselves to attack veterans who make PTSD claims in a big way, and this Dr. Satel has a history of being a right-wing shill for hire. More:
http://www.rtmark.com/f/get/funds/health/4/20/1/1.html?nogifs
From the link:
"Satel is also a "go-to" physician for the tobacco industry. See: http://main.uab.edu/smokersonly/show.asp?durki=67468&site=3187&return=63615 where Satel stated that second hand smoke is not as harmful as most medical experts think.
........
<snip>Her credibility as an expert was once demolished in a reported court case. In the case of Farmer v. Ramsay, 159 F.Supp.2d 873, D.Md. (2001), the court found (the case is a reverse racial discrimination case seeking to allow white applicant into medical school over minority student applicants with lesser MCAT scores. Satel was expert for the white applicant):

"The Defendants have filed a motion to strike Dr. Satel's report on the grounds that it lacks the necessary indicia of reliability required under FRE 702. The Court agrees and will, by separate order, grant the motion. Satel offers little more than her personal opinion of Farmer's application and the weight that UMSM should have placed on his MCAT scores. Satel has no familiarity with UMSM; she lacks an extensive background in medical school admissions; she reviewed a total of only five applications; her work has not been subjected to any peer review; and her opinions are not based on a methodology that can be tested. Accordingly, her views lack the indicia of reliability required under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharms., Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993). See Samuel v. Ford Motor Co., 96 F.Supp.2d 491, 493 (D.Md.2000).
Even if Dr. Satel's report were admissible, the Court could not accord it much, if any, weight. As stated, the report consists entirely of Satel's personal evaluation of the applications. A plaintiff's (or his expert's) personal evaluation of his own qualifications is, however, irrelevant. Courts have repeatedly held that such subjective personal judgments do not raise a genuine issue of material fact. See Smith v. Flax, 618 F.2d 1062, 1067 (4th Cir.1980); Bradley v. Harcourt, Brace and Co., 104 F.3d 267, 270 (9th Cir.1996); Williams v. Cerberonics, Inc., 871 F.2d 452, 456 (4th Cir.1989). Applications of Minorities Not Interviewed".

The Court found that Dr. Satel’s credibility and so called expertise was so unreliable that her findings had to be stricken by law without waiting for cross-examination. Dr. Satel appears to be a “mouthpiece” for sale to any neoconservative cause.

In her New York Times op-ed dated March 1, 2006, Satel stated, “ have made use of a system that has coalesced around the idea that combat is the root of all anguish. deserve treatment to the extent that it can help, but rarely long-term disability payments.” See: www.sallysatelmd.com/html/a-nytimes8.html ."



(On a personal note, veterans' issues are especially close to my heart because my late father was a 20-year veteran with a service-connected disability.)

of the Iraq war from appearing on American tv stations. No problemo. "Can't do it, as it sets off the VietNam guys. It's in the nation's best interest."

Beautiful. News censorship for our own good.