VA HQ Veterans News for Wednesday, October 5, 2011.  Thanks to Kevin Secor at VA HQ!

1.   BofA, JPMorgan, Wells Accused of Charging Veterans Illegal Fees.  BusinessWeek
The banks charged fees barred under a US Department of Veterans Affairs program and hid the charges to get government guarantees for the loans, according to the whistleblower complaint brought in 2006 by two mortgage brokers that was unsealed yesterday ...

 

2.   Lawsuit Claims Banks Cheated Veterans With Fees.  ABC News  The lawsuit filed that year was unsealed Tuesday in federal court in Atlanta. It claims the firms engaged in a "brazen scheme" involving home loans guaranteed by the US Department of Veterans Affairs. It says the firms charge attorneys' fees or closing ...

 

3.   VA comes through with $92m for vet's home.  Fresno Business Journal  Jim Costa announced today the US Department of Veterans Affairs has followed through on a $92 million grant for the construction of the 300-bed Fresno Veterans' Home. Final approval of the funding was delayed because of state budget cuts that prevented ...

 

4.   Help, salute for women veterans.  San Bernardino Sun  Attendees will have the opportunity to receive help and benefit information from the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Dozens of veteran service organizations and nonprofits will be on site to provide employment assistance and financial and stress ...

 

5.   Doctor: PTSD injection can work miracles, but DOD won't fund it.  With anesthesiologist Eugene Lipov, first comes the unbridled enthusiasm for a novel treatment he thinks could be the answer to post-traumatic stress disorder, one that so far has had stunning results.

 

6.   Sources Sought Notice - J-- Biomedical Services South Carolina CBOCS.  Insurance News Net   The Department of Veterans Affairs is conducting a MARKET SURVEY to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned, Veteran-Owned, ...

 

7.   New outpatient clinic to serve area veterans.  Asbury Park Press  World War II veteran Bob Yancey, Florence, listens during the opening of the Department of Veterans Affairs Community-based Outpatient Clinic in Tinton Falls Monday. The new location of the clinic features more space and expanded services for over 2500 ...

 

8.   US grants Yaqui $320K for tribe's veterans cemetery.  Arizona Daily Star  Pascua Yaqui tribal members who served in the military are getting some extra homage from the US government. The Department of Veterans Affairs said Monday the tribe will receive a grant of more than $320000 for its veterans cemetery on tribal land. ...

 

9.   Lovell Center Ends First Year 'On Successful Voyage.'   Chicago Sun-Times  The Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center "has made several significant achievements since it opened one year ago, Director Patrick Sullivan noted at the North Chicago facility's one-year birthday celebration Friday." Thus far, the facility handled more than "830,000 outpatient" visits, "4,000" inpatient admissions, and "180,000 dental visits." Moreover, the center "deployed 85 sailors" to bring "medical, dental and civic aid" to nine support naval operations. Sullivan said the facility also was "awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation by Navy Medicine East"; and named as a "Top Performer" by the Joint Commission. The center, which combines services from North Chicago's "Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Naval Health Clinic Great Lakes," is a "first-of-its kind" collaboration between VA and DOD.

 

10.               Mobile Service Center Visits Illinois Colleges. WSIL-TV  "The Department of Veterans Affairs is reaching out to veterans studying at Illinois Community Colleges. A mobile service center will offer counseling and provide information on other benefits for combat veterans and their families."

 

11.               Over 700,000 New Vets Seek Health Care, Half With Mental Problems.  Time  Nearly 75% (711,986) of the "million veterans," who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan have "sought medical care from the government," and more than 50% (367,749) of those veterans "suffer from a mental health condition," according to an analysis by Veterans for Common Sense. Notably, the advocacy group said its data review also revealed that although the Pentagon recorded "6,211 deaths and 45,889 troops wounded in action," it extenuated the actual number by excluding injuries not directly related to enemy "bullets and bombs." Therefore, according to VCS, the casualty total, thus far, is "108,974." The Pentagon, however, contends the additional "56,874" casualties were primarily troops "evacuated for medical problems unrelated to service."

 

12.               Talk Therapy Lifts Severe Schizophrenics.  New York Times   "People with severe schizophrenia who have been isolated, withdrawn and considered beyond help can learn to become more active, social and employable" by participating in talk-therapy model developed to "treat depression," according to a study in the Archives of General Psychiatry. Researchers enrolled 31 patients in a program that added goal-oriented talk therapy sessions to their already prescribed medication regimens. After 18 months, the talk-therapy participants moved up an average 10 points on the Global Assessment Scale whereas a control group of 29 patients on standard treatment plans made no improvement. The study team included lead author Dr. Paul M. Grant and three other physicians from the University of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Dimitri Perivoliotis from the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System.

 

13.               VA Lacks Resources To Deal With Mental Health, Survey Finds.   Washington Post More than 70 percent of physicians and healthcare personnel employed by the VA "think the department" is inadequately equipped in terms of both clinic space and employees to help the "growing numbers of veterans seeking mental healthcare," according to VA poll results. The Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs requested the survey following a "hearing this summer" during which veterans "described long waits for treatment." Notably, more than "37 percent of the 272" survey respondents said they were unable to schedule appointments "within the 14-day standard." Such delays could potentially raise the risk of veteran suicides, of which an average 18 are presently occurring daily.

 

14.               Remains Of 3 Soldiers Missing In Vietnam War Identified, To Be Buried At Arlington Cemetery.  AP  "The government says it has identified the remains of three US Army soldiers missing in action during the Vietnam War and will bury them Wednesday" at Arlington National Cemetery "with military honors." The government "said the men and three Vietnamese soldiers were on a reconnaissance patrol in 1969 when they were ambushed and thunderstorms prevented rescue attempts." Government scientists used "circumstantial evidence and forensic tools, including dental comparisons and DNA, to identify the remains."

 

15.               26 Hawkins Vietnam Vets Get $2.7 Million For Agent Orange Exposure.  Kingsport (TN) Times-News  Vietnam veterans exposed Agent Orange are "now being awarded disability back pay" thanks to last year's settlement of a lawsuit against the VA, which established that as of Nov. 1, 2010, "ischemic heart disease as a presumptive service connected condition based on exposure to herbicides used during the Vietnam War." Those receiving back payments include "26 Hawkins County" veterans who, thus far, have received "more than $2.7 million" collectively.

 

16.               Disabled Veteran Reportedly Claims Discrimination At Virginia Airport.  Fox News Kathleen Wood, "a disabled Army veteran," said she prevented from boarding a shuttle plane "last week" at Reagan National Airport in Virginia, because she "uses a walker." Wood, who "suffers from lupus, also has a permanent back injury from a fall she took 12 years ago while serving in the Army."  MyFoxBoston.com  Wood and her husband were returning to Walpole, Massachusetts, from a "vacation in Florida" and had only 30 minutes to "change flights in Virginia." But a US Airways employee "refused to let her" change gates, "along with the rest of the passengers, because of her walker. 'We tried to explain the best we could that he could fold the walker and that I could walk short distances and go up stairs,' but still, 'she refused,'" Wood explained. She was then "forced to walk several hundred yards" and undergo a second security screening, but the couple "made the connecting flight with seconds to spare." Meanwhile, US Airways told Fox it will apologize to the Woods. The airline said the employee was "concerned for Kathleen's safety" but admitted that the situation "could have been handled better."

 

17.               From Navy Veteran To Award Winning Teacher.  New Bern (NC) Sun Journal   "Jacqueline Lanier spent 24 years serving in the US Navy, but now she is serving the students of Jones County as a teacher at Maysville Elementary School. ... She recently was named the district's Teacher of the Year for 2011-12."

 

18.               Veteran's Daughter Fights For Care. WTVD-TV "When a war veteran's daughter couldn't get help for her dad, she turned" to Dianne Wilson, the "Troubleshooter Reporter." Wilson reported, "This woman says her dad fought many battles in Korea and Vietnam, but the biggest battle has been getting him help from Veterans Affairs." Willett Crissell's daughter Glenda Hulbert has been his "primary caretaker since he suffered a stroke and battled cancer back in the 90s." Hulbert asked the VA "for a handicap-accessible shower and a caretaker," followed through on paper work, but "heard nothing" despite making repeated calls. Wilson noted, "After I got in touch with a local VA rep, Glenda got an assessment within days and learned she qualifies for a caretaker to help her 12 hours a week." Hulbert was shown saying, "This will give me the relief I need."

 

19.               The Person Behind The Wheelchair; Who Cares For The Caregiver.  Care2.com "There is a huge gap between the perception that most have of Medical Retirement, and the reality." The perception is a "thorough review that immediately provides the information needed for an orderly transition from Active Service to Military Retirement and the VA." But in reality, it actually "takes months, sometimes years to get all the medical documents, the corrected, re-corrected and re-re-corrected applications, the determinations of disability by this agency and that...and the frustration of waiting for hours on hold, to be told that they are talking to the wrong person, the wrong department."

 

20.               Gold Star Mothers Quilt On Display At NY Museum.  AP  A quilt "featuring the names of two dozen Albany-area service members who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade is going on display at the New York State Military Museum." The quilt is a "tribute from the Capital Region Chapter of Blue Star Mothers of America to the Gold Star mothers who have lost sons or daughters in the two wars."

 

21.               Veterans Column: PC Hosts Tour Of National Monument To Jewish Chaplains.  Providence Journal

 

22.               Defense Cuts Will Benefit Veterans. Military.com

 

23.               Veterans Christmas Project A Labor Of Love.  Mystic River (CT) Press

 

24.               New Veterans Struggling To Reboot.  San Diego (CA) Union-Tribune  "Reboot -- co-founded by retired Rear Adm. Ronne Froman and Maurice Wilson, a retired Navy master chief -- offers a 'reverse boot camp' for people leaving the military."

 

25.               Vets Head Out On Ride2Recovery.  San Francisco (CA) Patch