VA Hid Suicide Risk, Internal E-Mails Show
The Department of Veterans Affairs came under fire again Monday, this time in California federal court where it's facing a national lawsuit by veterans rights groups accusing the agency of not doing enough to stem a looming mental health crisis among veterans. As part of the lawsuit, internal e-mails raise questions as to whether top officials deliberately deceived the American public about the number of veterans attempting and committing suicide. CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian reports.
In San Francisco federal court Monday, attorneys for veterans' rights groups accused the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs of nothing less than a cover-up - deliberately concealing the real risk of suicide among veterans.
"The system is in crisis and unfortunately the VA is in denial," said veterans rights attorney Gordon Erspamer.
The charges were backed by internal e-mails written by Dr. Ira Katz, the VA's head of Mental Health.
In the past, Katz has repeatedly insisted while the risk of suicide among veterans is serious, it's not outside the norm.
"There is no epidemic in suicide in VA," Katz told Keteyian in November.
Katz's e-mail was written shortly after the VA provided CBS News data showing there were only 790 attempted suicides in all 2007 - a fraction of Katz's estimate.
"This 12,000 attempted suicides per year shows clearly, without a doubt, that there is an epidemic of suicide among veterans," said Paul Sullivan of Veterans for Common Sense.
And it appears that Katz went out of his way to conceal these numbers.
First, he titled his e-mail: "Not for the CBS News Interview Request."
He opened it with "Shh!" - as in keep it quiet - before ending with
"Is this something we should (carefully) address … before someone stumbles on it?"
On Monday, CBS News showed the e-mail to Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., who chairs the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.
"This is disgraceful. This is a crime against our nation, our nation's veterans," Filner told CBS News. "They do not want to come to grips with the reality, with the truth."
And that's not all.
Last November when CBS News exposed an epidemic of more than 6,200 suicides in 2005 among those who had served in the military, Katz attacked our report.
"Their number is not, in fact, an accurate reflection of the rate," he said last November.
But it turns out they were, as Katz admitted in this e-mail, just three days later.
He wrote: there "are about 18 suicides per day among America's 25 million veterans."
That works out to about 6,570 per year, which Katz admits in the same e-mail, "is supported by the CBS numbers."
In CBS News, Katz wrote that the reason the numbers were not released was due to questions about the consistency and reliability of the findings - and that there was no public cover up involved.
Copyright 2010 CBS. All rights reserved. In San Francisco federal court Monday, attorneys for veterans' rights groups accused the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs of nothing less than a cover-up - deliberately concealing the real risk of suicide among veterans.
"The system is in crisis and unfortunately the VA is in denial," said veterans rights attorney Gordon Erspamer.
The charges were backed by internal e-mails written by Dr. Ira Katz, the VA's head of Mental Health.
In the past, Katz has repeatedly insisted while the risk of suicide among veterans is serious, it's not outside the norm.
"There is no epidemic in suicide in VA," Katz told Keteyian in November.
But in this e-mail to his top media adviser, written two months ago, Katz appears to be saying something very different, stating: "Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among veterans we see in our medical facilities."
Follow up: VA Struggles With Vets' Mental Health.How we got the numbers behind the story.
VA Doctor on Veteran Suicides.
FYI: Suicide Risk Resources and Warning Signs.
Katz's e-mail was written shortly after the VA provided CBS News data showing there were only 790 attempted suicides in all 2007 - a fraction of Katz's estimate.
"This 12,000 attempted suicides per year shows clearly, without a doubt, that there is an epidemic of suicide among veterans," said Paul Sullivan of Veterans for Common Sense.
And it appears that Katz went out of his way to conceal these numbers.
First, he titled his e-mail: "Not for the CBS News Interview Request."
He opened it with "Shh!" - as in keep it quiet - before ending with
"Is this something we should (carefully) address … before someone stumbles on it?"
On Monday, CBS News showed the e-mail to Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., who chairs the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.
"This is disgraceful. This is a crime against our nation, our nation's veterans," Filner told CBS News. "They do not want to come to grips with the reality, with the truth."
And that's not all.
Last November when CBS News exposed an epidemic of more than 6,200 suicides in 2005 among those who had served in the military, Katz attacked our report.
"Their number is not, in fact, an accurate reflection of the rate," he said last November.
But it turns out they were, as Katz admitted in this e-mail, just three days later.
He wrote: there "are about 18 suicides per day among America's 25 million veterans."
That works out to about 6,570 per year, which Katz admits in the same e-mail, "is supported by the CBS numbers."
In CBS News, Katz wrote that the reason the numbers were not released was due to questions about the consistency and reliability of the findings - and that there was no public cover up involved.
This is only one Air Force Base. One has to wonder what the statistics are across the entire Active Duty personnel. Some one needs to bring attention to the feeling of hopelessness our young men and women in the military are feeling. Something,the Generals and others in charge should be aware of.
As for the young Physician at Keesler Air Force Base is concerned, he was brought in front of the Medical Board after an intensive six week inpatient program. What did the Air Force decide to do? Although they decided he was okay to practice as a physician,they still decided (after 12 years of Service to his Country) to discharge him.
Is this how they treat our young men and women on Active Duty? Punish them instead of helping them? This is shameful!!
God bless you all.
[Posted by mjvw2 at 04:29 PM : Apr 22, 2008]
so then he should have known how screwed up it was then, no? as he sent off a few hundred thousand servicemen into a meat grinder shouldn''t it have been obvious to anyone w/ any intelligence that the issues would be exaggerated by the increased load on the system?
i guess they were going to implement this plan just after the post invasion plan succeeded.
is he to blame for anything ... anything at all? he apparently doesn''t think so ... he''s protecting america!
From the lackadaisical employees who seem to have time for everything except taking care of the vets.
From the top, the decision makers who decide that a vet who has lost a quarter of his brain and head and is given a 10% disability.
And, for the VA hospitals that have a higher death and MRSA rate than all other hospitals.
Etc., etc., etc.
Our vets deserve nothing less than the very best care that this Country can give, NOTHING less.
And, it is our duty as appreciative Americans to see that our vets get the very best of everything.
Write the President, your senator, your congressman and tell them.
I do.
My husband went/is going through the same thing. He spent 6 months at Ft. Stewart, GA for mental health treatment, but they spent the whole time telling him he was faking it. I finally asked a SC Senator for assistance. It lit the fire, but the Army just released him from his contract to get him out of there! I had to get him "help" through "marriage counseling" so our insurance would pay for it. It has been almost 4 years and it is still no picnic! I don''t understand what my husband is going through per se, but I KNOW when he is about to have another episode. I really wish there was someone that he could talk to that really does understand! Good luck because I know this is a lifetime problem with no quick fix!