US troops with brain injuries passed off as psychological cases

[G_j]

Losing Their Minds (January 5, 2006)

As a result of heavy US bombing in Iraq, an increasing number of US troops sustain traumatic brain injuries. From January 2003 to April 2005, thirty one percent of battle-injured soldiers admitted to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC were diagnosed with brain trauma. Despite the severity of these injuries, many soldiers are passed off as psychological cases and some are accused of exaggeration and malingering. (Salon)

http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/attack...
January 5, 2006
More U.S. soldiers than ever are sustaining serious brain injuries in Iraq. But a significant number of them are being misdiagnosed, forced to wait for treatment or even being called liars by the Army.

After fighting in heavy combat during the initial invasion of Iraq, Spc. James Wilson reenlisted for a second tour of duty. Now 24 years old, he loved the life of a soldier.

In the fall of 2004, his 1st Cavalry Division was mostly fighting in Sadr City, a volatile sector of Baghdad. On Sept. 6, Wilson was manning a .50-caliber machine gun atop a Humvee when a bomb or bombs went off directly under the vehicle, rocking his head forward and slamming it into the machine gun. A fellow soldier told Wilson that his Kevlar helmet had been split open by the impact. The heat from one blast felt like "a hair dryer" on his skin, multiplied "times 20," Wilson later wrote in his diary. To the best of his recollection, the force of the blast also knocked the gun from its mount, smashing it into his leg.

Although battered in the attack, Wilson didn't appear badly hurt -- on the outside, at least. But in the days that followed, the young soldier from Albany, Ga., says he often felt "really dizzy, lightheaded and dazed." Two weeks after the battle, Army medics felt Wilson was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and evacuated him out of Iraq for medical evaluation. Wilson was first flown to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where wounded troops are stabilized, and then sent to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., in October 2004.


..read entire article here: http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/attack...

[babylonsister]

1. This is pitiful. Thanks for your service, now get lost because

we can't be bothered trying to heal you. And while we're at it, we'll diagnose you with a lesser affliction. I can't stand these people! Where is their humanity and loyalty to the troops?

[ChairmanAgnostic]

9. oh that? It's only for the TV cameras. Just go back to work.

What I fail to understand is why the troops still support Bushista politics and policies, even when they are the ones being hurt.

Support the troops. BULLSHIT.

[boobooday]

2. I'm reading this whole thing, but I have to pause

For this:

"Wilson got so dizzy he vomited "all over" the carpet while meeting Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz in his office."

I hope he got some on Wolfie.

My brother retired from the military right before the Bush Coup. At first he defended him, but once he started trying to get health care, etc., through his retirement benefits, I never heard anything further about how great Bush was going to be for the military.

[fed-up]

7. Same story w/my "baby" brother after Gulf War I-came back sick-was refused

treatment and then fought like hell to get coverage for himself and other vets.

I couldn't believe the propoganda that spilled out of his mouth when he first came back about how the army had told them how evil Saddam was and how they were helping the Iraqis. They sure did a hell of a job brainwashing the troops in basic training. I was soooo glad he finally figured out the truth.

I think that within a year after his return he had a completely opposite view of our government after having first hand experience with the lies and lack of care for its military veterans. Their turning away of vets that were sick. The loss of medical records of many returning vets. Their claims that there were no chemical weapons in the first Gulf War, their claims that Depleted Uranium was not used. Their bullshit propoganda about babies being tossed from incubators.

As more and more military return from the second hellhole we created in Iraq I expect that many will start to see the light and realize just how fucked up this administration really is.

[boobooday]

8. Yes, brain injuries, and mental abuse on top of it

I just finished the whole story. It makes me sick. To abandon these young men and women, and worse, to blame them for what has happened to them.

It is shameful, and tragic. How DARE THEY minimize what these kids have been through!

The propaganda thing is truly frightening. My first husband was in the Air Force in the 1980's and when he came back from basic training, I couldn't believe how programmed he was. I mean, I was only 19 years old (as was he), and I could tell that it was beyond reason. They convinced him that there were commies everywhere -- American schools, churches, etc., just waiting for a chance . . . I honestly didn't know him anymore.

I feel so bad for these soldiers and their families!

[G_j]

11. and it is impossible to fathom

the long term effects on families etc.
The trauma of Bush's little adventure will span generations and negatively effect people in Iraq and America for decades to come.

[knitter4democracy]

3. Why wouldn't they immediately think of brain trauma?

He hit his head, for crying out loud! They have evidence in the split helmet!

What is wrong with these people???!!! He almost lost his life in service to our country, and they're treating him worse than most people treat their dogs. Disgusting!!!

[AngryAmish]

6. It is often missed

Missed by ER trauma doctors. With people who have been hit by cars can have twenty stitches in their heads. Missed by psychiatrists. Missed by neurologists. It is a troublesome diagnosis and the testing very expensive.

[knitter4democracy]

17. True.

It's one of the first things my hubby will look for, though, if there's evidence of possible trauma in the patient's history, and he's just an internist.

[Lisa]

13. I guess they managed to rationalize the "vomiting in Wolfowitz's office"

.... since it must be such a common reaction?


"He suffered from symptoms strongly associated with a traumatic brain injury, which occurs when the brain is rocked violently inside the skull, tearing nerve fibers: seizures, short-term memory loss, severe headaches with eye pain, and dizzy spells that have made him vomit. During a visit to the Pentagon around Christmas 2004, Wilson got so dizzy he vomited "all over" the carpet while meeting Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz in his office."

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. to Bushco, the military

are so many widgets to use and then dispose of like used Kleenex. It is disgusting.

[AngryAmish]

5. TBI is often missed by medical folks

It is even denied by those suffering from TBI. Many times it does not show up on medical scans. It takes a day of neuropsychological tests many times to make a diagnosis. It can be insidious and can truly change folks lives.

A friend of mine suffered one in 2000. His personality has clearly changed. He will never be the same. He will be on drugs the rest of his life.

on edit: A neurosurgeon cannot diagnose TBI (short of an open head wound of bleeding on the brain). Only a neuropsychologist is competent to make the diagnosis.

[Emit]

14. As a Voc Rehab Counselor

I worked with a lot of TBI clients, and you are accurate in what you say. It is a horrible disability that can really incapacitate people. It is one of the hardest to work with in Voc Rehab (return to work efforts), for some of the reasons you note (personality changes, often manifested in frustration, anger and outbursts) and due to things like memory loss, etc.

This, btw, is terrible that they are doing this to these vets who've sacrificed their health and well being for this country. Having worked with the VA, though, sadly, it does not surprise me. Often, with vets on disability, trying to get appropriate medical and vocational services from the VA is an uphill battle.

[DesertRat]

10. So sad

[Lisa]

12. in WWI, troops were beaten or even shot for "cowardice" or "malingering"

We now recognize that they had real physical and mental illnesses (respiratory problems from poison gas attacks, post-traumatic stress disorder, etc.). I remember hearing that in some cases, they became "nonpersons" (names not included on war memorials or benefits lists). I'd thought that at least some things had improved, but evidently not.

[NMMNG]

15. Way to "Support our Troops"

But when the conversation returns to Wilson's treatment, their smiles quickly fade. It's hard for them to believe, after two hard tours of duty, that this is the kind of treatment he has received. "I just want to be taken care of," he says. "I just want healthcare."


But it's so much easier for them to pass it off as malingering, as a genetic problem, or a psychological issue in order to avoid being held responsible for the problem. Then they can greatly reduce or even eliminate their responsibility for paying the healthcare costs. Once again, when you're over there killing people for Amurka you're a hero, but if you return damaged goods you are disowned and discredited.

[G_j]

16. yep

gotta save money (for oil companies, tax breaks, Halliburton etc.)

[lonestarnot]

18. The "support the troops" slogan is tired isn't it? I'm so fucking sick of

this dereliction of duty to these men and women, if I could spit on bushitler I would!

[CAG]

19. What are these people complaining about?? We have yellow magnet

stickers on the back of our 12 mpg SUV's to support them as they are ordered by the Bushites to get us our oil back!!!

Isn't that enough "support"??

[Horse with no Name]

20. It takes SOOOO little to cause a traumatic brain injury

Many years ago I had a patient. This guy looked normal but lived in an assisted living type situation because of his injuries.
He was a machinest. Apparently a VERY SMALL piece of metal flew off of a machine he was working on. The velocity was so great that he suffered immediate irreparable damage when this small piece of metal hit him in the temporal region of his brain.
There were no visible injuries but he was immediately and permanently disabled.
I can just imagine with the flying shrapnel from the bombings that many of our soldiers have sustained similar injuries.
I can also imagine that since there were no visible injuries that our military would deny these injuries.