Earlier this month, Veterans for Common Sense wrote to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.  We shared our view that the new Administration has an excellent opportunity to make significant progress on the issue of Gulf War illness - a medical condition impacting as many as 210,000 Desert Shield / Desert Storm Veterans.  Our VCS letter to VA appears below.

August 2, 2009

The Honorable Eric K. Shinseki
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20420

Dear Secretary Shinseki:

On this day nineteen years ago, Iraq invaded Kuwait and the Gulf War began.  Nearly two decades later, there are no treatment programs for the estimated 210,000 Gulf War veterans who remain ill with complex multi-symptom illness.  Unfortunately, disability compensation benefits remain nearly impossible to obtain for many Gulf War veterans.

However, there is hope on the horizon.  With a new administration comes a rare opportunity to move forward and provide assistance to our Gulf War veterans.

Veterans for Common Sense (VCS) urges you to use the full authority of your office to craft a bold plan to address the many issues impacting the nearly 700,000 veterans who served in Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

Our letter outlines a six-point plan we hope VA will consider in addressing scientific research to better understand Gulf War illness, medical research to find treatments, streamlined regulations to provide disability compensation benefits, and other concerns.

1. Scientific Research.  We encourage VA to expand scientific research to better understand the causes of Gulf War illness.  This includes working with the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses (RAC) to continually review new scientific findings because our veterans want to know why we are ill so we can receive treatment.  VCS supports the scientific research underway at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, and we hope they continue to make progress.

2. Medical Treatments.  VCS asks VA to work closely with the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program as they try to find needed treatments for our veterans.  We hope the CDMRP is expanded soon, as most Gulf War veterans have waited nearly two decades for treatments to alleviate difficult-to-diagnose symptoms.  In a related matter, VA training staff can and should meet with Gulf War veterans and advocates in a cooperative atmosphere to update VA’s clinical education guide and other resources for veterans.  We are pleased with VA’s recent improvements to the Gulf War Veterans’ Illness web site, and hope VA meets with veterans and other stakeholders to continue enhancing the site.
3. Disability Benefits.  The issue of improving the disability compensation system is absolutely essential, since service connection for a medical condition by the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) is usually a prerequisite for treatment by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).  We ask VA to coordinate meetings between the RAC, Dr. Han Kang, VBA, and advocates with VA’s regulations staff in a collaborative effort to evaluate and streamline disability compensation claims processing regulations, rules, and training.  One of the most critical areas in need of clarification is undiagnosed illnesses.  In our view, VA should be acting now on rewriting VA regulations in this area; please do not wait until the IOM releases their next scheduled update in 2010.

4. Gulf War Reports.  VCS supports the continued publication of Gulf War Veterans Information System (GWVIS) reports that describe the Gulf War service member population and various aspects of their healthcare use and disability claim activity.  This statistical information, mandated by Congress (“Veterans Health Care Act of 1992, Public 102-585), remains vital for monitoring this population and for comparing it with other cohorts of deployed veterans.

5. VA Coordination.  We suggest that VA coordinate VA efforts related to Gulf War veterans, preferably by naming a single office or person responsible for Gulf War healthcare, research, and benefits.  This would include VA’s Office of Research and Development, VA’s Office of Public Health and Environmental Hazards, VBA’s Compensation and Pension Service, VA regulatory staff, and the four relevant VA advisory panels – the RAC, the Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans, the Advisory Committee on Disability Compensation, and the Veterans’ Advisory Committee on Environmental Hazards.

6. Stakeholder Meetings.  VCS is pleased to have had the opportunity to meet with VA’s VSO liaison in June.  We understand members of the RAC met with VA’s Chief of Staff in July.  Regular meetings with stakeholders represent the start of a process and relationship VCS hopes will continue, as this is in the best interests of our veterans.

Much work remains to be started and completed so our Gulf War veterans receive the prompt and high-quality healthcare and benefits they need after deploying to the war, and we look forward to working with all of the many components within VA for the benefit of our veterans and their families.

We hope to hear from you soon about scheduling meetings to discuss this plan in greater detail.

Sincerely,
Paul Sullivan
Executive Director