There are special problems for those in the Persian Gulf.
The Assistant Secretary of Defense William Winkenwerder has issued a Memo regarding deadly conditions facing our troops in Iraq which I read October 9, 2003. This is a stern warning for all persons in Iraq to be aware of the deadly situation.
Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease spread by the bite of the sandfly. This is a preventable disease native to Iraq. The Assistant Secretary has asked this be given to all distribution possible. It now looks like we are going to have problems with our returnees that could be catastrophic. One condition is cutaneous leishmaniasis Baghdad boil) which creates terrible skin lesions which may look like STD’s. This leaves permanent disfiguring. the other is visceral leishmaniasis (Kala-azar) which can be fatal.
Upon separation from active duty the Iraq veterans need to contact the nearest VA Environmental Physician as soon as possible!
It seems as if the issues affecting veterans health are short lived, that is until they start dying. Then it is to late. Hopefully this time all returnees would be examined. Since it will be volunteer and since many fail to get the word, it is unlikely all will be examined in time!
As far as insecticide goes, it has been reported to me that the military has advised Iraqi Freedom troops to soak their clothes in an insecticide. At least one soldiers wife advised me her husband broke out in a severe rash. Possibly that would be a good reason, to kill the sand flies and other deadly insects.
By the way this problem was known at the time of all of the critical health issues with PGW-I veterans. The government just failed to advise those folks who were coming up with severe and deadly medical problems.
To everyone who cares, many insecticides have carcinogens causing cancer in them. I am not aware of the type of insecticide used so am only asking a question: is the prevention as bad as the disease?
I wrote In Search Of The Truth For Vietnam Combat Veterans. A book about herbicides. I certainly hope I will not have a sequel about insecticides!
Meanwhile back at the VA Central Office....
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Persian Gulf Veterans
There is no doubt that we have all read the recent link of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Persian Gulf Veterans by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the Institute of Medicine, which was released in early December 2001. However, the AMVETS has a much different twist than any other veteran organization.
On December 6, 2001 my client and I appeared in the VA Regional Office in Huntington West Virginia for a video-conference Board of Veteran Appeals personal hearing. The issue was the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and their unyielding belief that this condition was directly related to the exposure of chemicals and gases in the Persian Gulf. Only a few people believe there was much of a chance in this scheduled hearing, that the Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA) would grant benefits. After an hour of questions and responses the Hearing Officer stated she would review the transcript and any evidence currently in the file and give a response. I asked if the NAS report would be finalized and the VA accepted the report, would it be considered? The Hearing Officer said if the report was released, the AMVETS must be sure to fax it quickly to the BVA. It was and I did.
The report was released December 13th and it was hand delivered by U.S. Congressman Ted Strickland (D-Ohio) to the BVA the same day. On December 13th 2001, one week after the teleconference, the very first award for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Persian Gulf Veterans was approved. The veteran was rated 100% service connected for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis linked to his Persian Gulf service, with the date of issue being February 1999.
In other issues, Jaime Cavazos, the spokesman for the Army Medical Command said "unfortunately, the timetable of the soldier wanting to go home may not correspond with the treatment they need. We're trying to provide them with the care they need."
Unlike the most gravely injured soldiers, receiving around the clock treatment at the finest military hospitals, there are soldiers with less complicated wounds.
The impatient patients can elect to go home, even needing more medical attention. That is a very bad choice; military rules state they lose their active duty pay and allowances even though they medically cannot return to their civilian jobs. To file for VA benefits will also be more difficult. The VA will look in disfavor of the veteran by stating "the veteran left not needing treatment. The condition resolved prior to discharge." I have seen this hundreds of times over the years.
The veteran is also at the mercy of the separation examination. Those who leave active duty and seek treatment from private doctors qualify for military medical insurance, known as Tricare, for only six months. Advocates for the National Guard say one in five guardsmen lacks medical insurance from his regular job, leaving no room for health problems that may linger.
Political and military leaders have pledged to make Veterans Affairs benefits, including access to the 157 VA hospitals and 845 clinics across the country, available to Iraq war veterans for two years, but most soldiers are not eligible until they are retired from military service or discharged from active duty.
There have been exceptions to the rule, VA officials said, but only in cases when the Department of Defense has chosen to refer a soldier to the VA for care.
Here is a link to some of my work on the Gulf War issues:
http://www.geocities.com/dave_barker_amvet/index.html

THANK YOU, Dave!
I can not express enough how much I appreciate your efforts on behalf of the Desert Storm Vets who have been diagnosed with ALS. Speaking from personal experience, I can say that you truly have made a difference. Job well done.

Depleted Uranium

When Anthony Principi resigned as Secretary of the VA many of the veterans leaders were baffled. Last year some articles were published which may be a reason he left. Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter charged February 2005 that the reason Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi stepped down earlier that month was the growing scandal surrounding the use of uranium munitions in the Iraq War ... “The real reason for Mr. Principi’s departure was really never given, however a special report published by eminent scientist Leuren Moret naming depleted uranium as the definitive cause of the ‘Gulf War Syndrome’ has fed a growing scandal about the continued use of uranium munitions by the US Military'.”

Cutting Edge has long said that the misnomer, "Gulf War Syndrome" was merely a cover for Depleted Uranium Munitions. The Pentagon has stonewalled for years as to what really caused "Gulf War Syndrome"; however, now a scientist with credentials too impressive to ignore has published a report stating authoritatively that this so-called "Syndrome" is nothing other than Depleted Uranium poisoning!” - Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter 2/28/05

On February 14, 1997 I made a presentation in a meeting with Jesse Brown, then Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The meeting was in Cleveland and it was a round table conference with 7 people chosen to offer testimony regarding Persian Gulf War issues. We were allowed 7 minutes each. I took 12 minutes with permission granted in advance. We were required to supply a copy of our presentation in advance.
My presentation on Undiagnosed Illness was adopted by the Secretary as policy, word for word.

The Federal government has a policy of not addressing unusual health issues, until forced to by the public. Generally the public does not concern itself with these unusual issues. It is the veterans organizations who force these type issues. However that becomes another major problem. Veterans historically do not stick together very well. Already I hear a few Vietnam vets complaining of the Iraqi veterans being given priority. Back in the 1980's I heard Korean war and WWII veterans complaining about the attention the Vietnam veterans were getting regarding Agent Orange and PTSD. The Korean war veterans before that we all but forgotten.

It is my belief that we ALL owe it to each other to make absolute effort to bring all of the health issues to the forefront.

Now we are in 2006 and it is 15 years since Desert Storm with our troops still in Iraq and the Persian Gulf, the Agent Orange issues are still not resolved. We have hundreds of thousands of peripheral neuropathy victims denied because further studies have not been requested from the National Academy of Sciences by the VA. I testified to that fact July 8, 2004 before the NAS research committee. As a result of my testimony a slight change was made regarding diabetes descriptions.

The point being we need more veterans active in the veteran organizations and the leaders of those organization pushing the Federal government to fulfill their obligations to those returning home with unexplained illnesses and addressing them in a timely manner. Not after death takes so many it brings attention to the media.

From the World Health Organization 2005 report: Depleted uranium.

The uranium remaining after removal of the enriched fraction contains about 99.8% 238U, 0.2% 235U and 0.001% 234U by mass; this is referred to as depleted uranium or DU. The main difference between DU and natural uranium is that the former contains at least three times less 235U than the latter. DU, consequently, is weakly radioactive and a radiation dose from it would be about 60% of that from purified natural uranium with the same mass. The behavior of DU in the body is identical to that of natural uranium. Spent uranium fuel from nuclear reactors is sometimes reprocessed in plants for natural uranium enrichment. Some reactor-created radioisotopes can consequently contaminate the reprocessing equipment and the DU. Under these conditions another uranium isotope, 236U, may be present in the DU together with very small amounts of the transuranic elements plutonium, americium and neptunium and the fission product technetium-99. However, the additional radiation dose following intake of DU into the human body from these isotopes would be less than 1%.

Gulf War veterans returning from Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm display unusual levels of medical complaints that will be the subject of a research program at the Durham VA Medical Center. Three-year funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs is to start in January, 2006 with $180,000 to initiate animal studies into the possibility that prolonged exposure to chemicals such as pesticides and agents used to protect troops from chemical attacks might affect memory and learning. The research is also to explore possible drug therapies to reverse such problems. Meanwhile, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas would be designated a Gulf War illness research. The provision also requires VA to spend $75 million over the next five years on Gulf War illness research.

Just a thought, could it be...? Ol’ Dave was right in ’97?

HEY VA! HAVE YOU HEARD? March 14, 2006
"Courage After Fire" is a new book for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan written by San Francisco VA Medical Center psychiatric social worker Keith Armstrong, LCSW, and two of his mental health colleagues, Suzanne Best, Ph.D., and Paula Domenci, Ph.D. The 230-page book is filled with valuable information, helpful tips, exercises and examples for veterans who are dealing with their reactions to war, returning to work and community, and/or reconnecting with their loved ones. The book has been well received by active duty personnel and the veteran community because it takes a complex topic and distills it into plain English. Armstrong said he and his colleagues decided to write the book because there wasn't a comprehensive text available to help returning veterans and their families with stateside readjustment difficulties. Learn more at: http://www.courageafterfire.com/.