Home > Blogs > On the Homefront > Archives > 2008 > April > 24
Thursday, April 24, 2008
VA officials try to cover up veteran suicides
Two Democratic senators are calling for the chief mental health official of the Veterans Affairs Department to resign, saying he tried to cover up the rising number of veteran suicides.
The Associated Press reports: A number of Democratic senators said they were appalled at e-mails showing Dr. Ira Katz, mental health director, and other VA officials apparently trying to conceal the number of suicides by veterans. An e-mail message from Katz disclosed this week as part of a lawsuit that went to trial in San Francisco starts with “Shh!” and claims 12,000 veterans a year attempt suicide while under department treatment.
“Is this something we should (carefully) address ourselves in some sort of release before someone stumbles on it?” the e-mail asks.
A bill introduced this week would require the VA to report to Congress within 180 days the number of veterans who have died by suicide since Jan. 1, 1997, and continue reports annually, the AP reported. Statistics provided earlier this year by the VA showed that 790 veterans under VA care attempted suicide in 2007. That figure is contradicted by the e-mail revealed this week.
Tell us what you think about all of this.
