What's New
| Presdent Obama Donated $250,000 of Nobel Prize Money to Fisher House |
March 11, 2010, Washington, DC (New York Times) - President Obama made good on his promise to give his $1.4 million Nobel Prize money to charity, releasing the names on Thursday of the organizations that will benefit. |
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| Dr. Haley at UTSW Presents Compelling Brain Images Showing Gulf War Illness |
VCS Asks VA: Since UTSW Research Remains Vital to Understanding Gulf War Illness, Then Why Did a Handful of VA Staff in Washington Impede UTSW Contract and Then End Funding for UTSW? March 9, 2010, Salt Lake City, Utah (Science News) - Nearly two decades after vets began returning from the Middle East complaining of Gulf War Syndrome, the federal government has yet to formally accept that their vague jumble of symptoms constitutes a legitimate illness. Here, at the Society of Toxicology annual meeting, yesterday, researchers rolled out a host of brain images – various types of magnetic-resonance scans and brain-wave measurements – that they say graphically and unambiguously depict Gulf War Syndrome. |
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| March 9 VCS Weekly Update |
This week’s VCS update keeps you in the loop with news on issues you care about. One good change – our weekly news updates won’t ask you for money. Instead, our news updates point you to news articles at our web site. We hope you will read them and share the important facts with your friends. This week's update includes news about VA and suicides, VCS on CNN, our VCS FOIA campaign, VA automating Agent Orange claims, a waterboarding torture video, and Gulf War veterans' benefits. |
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| Federal Court Keeps Torture Lawsuit Against Rumsfeld Alive |
What's Waterboarding? Watch Video of Torture March 5, 2010, Chicago, Illinois (Associated Press) - A federal judge refused Friday to dismiss a civil lawsuit accusing former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld of responsibility for the alleged torture by U.S. forces of two Americans who worked for an Iraqi contracting firm. [Rumsfeld served at the Pentagon under former President George W. Bush.] |
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| Reducing Suicides: VA Adopts Policy on Emergency Care for Mental Health Patients |
This Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Directive provides policy to ensure the provision of safe and secure mental health services during all hours of operation for Emergency Departments (EDs) and Urgent Care Clinics (UCCs) in VHA |
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Suicide Numbers Still on Pace to Top Last Year
Friday, 11 September 2009 09:58
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September 10, 2009 - As many as 17 soldiers killed themselves in August, one fewer than in July, the Army announced Thursday. Of the 17 deaths, 11 were active duty soldiers and six were Army National Guard or Army Reserve soldiers who were not on active duty at the time of their deaths.
All 17 cases remained under investigation and none have been confirmed as suicides. However, Army officials have said that about 90 percent of these cases typically are confirmed to be suicides. In July, the Army reported eight possible suicides among active duty soldiers and six among those who were not on active duty. Since then, four additional active duty deaths have been reported as suspected suicides, bringing the total for July to 18. Two of the 12 active duty deaths in July have been confirmed to be suicides. The other 10 are still being investigated. The number of suicides among soldiers has declined since the early months of the year, but the Army continues to battle the problem and it remains on track to surpass last year's record of 140 suicides. So far this calendar year, the Army has reported 110 active duty suicides. Of those, 71 have been confirmed and 39 are pending a determination. There were 89 confirmed suicides among active duty soldiers during the same period in 2008. Among reserve component soldiers who were not on active duty at the time of their deaths, 20 deaths have been confirmed to be suicides so far this year, and 34 others are pending a determination. In the same period in 2008, there were 36 suicides among reserve soldiers who were not on active duty. "Effective suicide prevention programs and resources that are accessible to our soldiers and families are a crucial part of our effort, and we're making progress in these areas," Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli said in a statement. Chiarelli, who leads the Army's suicide prevention efforts, added that small-unit leadership is crucial to preventing suicides. "There will never be a substitute for noncommissioned officers who know their soldiers, know when a soldier is suffering, and have the moral courage to act and get that soldier the help that they need," he said. Read more in the next issue of Army Times, out Monday.
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