VA Lying About Number Of Veteran Suicides, Senator Charges

The Veterans Administration has lied about the number of veterans who have attempted suicide, Sen. Patty Murray said Wednesday, citing internal e-mails that put the number at 12,000 a year while the department was publicly saying it was fewer than 800.

"The suicide rate is a red alarm bell to all of us," the Washington Democrat said, adding that the VA's mental health programs are being overwhelmed by Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans even as the department seeks to downplay the situation. "We are not your enemy, we are your support team, and unless we get accurate information we can't be there to do our jobs."

Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Gordon Mansfield apologized during a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing, telling Murray and other senators he did not think there was any deliberate attempt to mislead Congress or the public.

But Murray remained skeptical, saying the VA has shown a pattern of misleading Congress when it comes to the increasing number of soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan seeking help and putting a strain on DOD and VA facilities and programs.

Keep reading here.

Read HuffPost's Rachel Sklar on the "hidden epidemic" of military suicides.

Comments

[MNmommy]

08:34 PM on 04/24/2008

Why isn't this the top story?

[peskyliberal]

11:42 AM on 04/24/2008

Yet no real investigation. No one held accountable. Congress left spineless again.

And the Beat Goes On.

[itolduso]

11:21 AM on 04/24/2008

This is a national disgrace. Last year I was shocked to read that one in four homeless in the U.S. is a military veteran-but after stepping up my volunteer work with the soup kitchen, I fear those numbers are false too-the percentage of military veterans living on our streets and standing in line at soup kitchens is much higher- over 50 percent of the adult homeless population served in the armed forces. What a way to repay them for their sacrifice.

[BPCentrisAmerican]

11:16 AM on 04/24/2008

You Think, they have been undercounting casualties all along. Why aren’t Flag draped coffins appearing on your TV screens? Senator Joe Biden was infuriated when he was denied access to an air force base, to be with the families of solders from Delaware killed in combat. My Marine friend who has been to Iraq twice, told me that the guys in his unit were ticked off, when the Pentagon tried to make Jessica Lynch into a cute blond haired Rambo. He was also annoyed that soldiers were put at risk to create the phony PR video of her rescue.

In all fairness to Ms Lynch she was badly injured when the Hummer she was riding in, smashed into the truck in front of it. Ms Lynch should be honored for her honesty when she appeared in front of Congress and told the truth about her ordeal. My friend changed his mind about her. Good for him.

This Administration learned well from Vietnam, even though not one of these chicken shits participated in it. No draft and control the message, to buy time while burning out the volunteer military and the National Guard in the process, hoping that support for a war of choice will continue. Well support is falling apart, except for the wrong reasons. Not because of the messy details of this occupation, like killing and maiming for corporate interest or misguided neo-conservative geo-political free market ideology, but the price of a gallon of gas, pathetic.

[PatCroft]

10:38 AM on 04/24/2008

Standard USofA protocol is to lie just about everything while putting a positive spin on the statistics. As a recipient of VA services their medical staff are doing some outstanding service while the bureaucratic side sucks. I was drafted nearly 35 years ago (should have gone to Canada) and am still looking for my gainful employment niche. This is quite a problem coming out of service and back into society. The travesty is that there are still a lot of Vietnam Vets still waiting in line for some sort of justification. Mean governments produce mean and broken and lost and dead people. It is criminal.

[landmine]

09:57 AM on 04/24/2008

Mansfield is another political crony who is protecting the ass of "Our Dear Leader"....instead of the people.

[elbzee]

09:41 AM on 04/24/2008

I think at this point, we can safely assume that nothing coming from this admistration contains truth. Over the past 7 years I've developed a tendency to switch a few words, "do not = certainly do" "slowed economy = recession, "mission accomplished" = you are totally f***ed. Works for me!

[rollingdivision]

09:28 AM on 04/24/2008

There is one successful suicide for every 25 attempted suicides. “The number of veterans who have ATTEMPTED suicide, Sen. Patty Murray said Wednesday, citing internal e-mails that put the number at 12,000 a year.” So 12,000 attempts indicates 12000 divided by 25 or 480 successful suicides. But, since males are much more successful at suicide than females and the veteran population is much more male the 800 per year number is believable for 12,000 attempts. Is the claim that 12,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans a year are attempting suicide? Data from US CDC

[PierreLeClerke]

09:07 AM on 04/24/2008

Another day, another crime reviled. What will it take America, for you to get off your lazy, self indulgent asses and do your Constitutional duty, ABOLISH this criminal government?

[1differentdrummer]

06:02 AM on 04/24/2008

What? Repeated tours in this cauldron and Stop Loss cause PTSD and depression? How can that be? 100 years would be okay, according to McBush. Might that not cause more and more and more of the same?

[syllepsis]

05:53 AM on 04/24/2008

It is good to hear a Senator call a Bush Administration official a liar, in plain language even Republicans can understand. Now, when will all the LIES add up to impeachment? This VA official for instance, I believe, can be impeached, and should be.

[hopein]

03:36 AM on 04/24/2008

Sen Murray is used to dealing with liars. She is a superdelegate for Hillary.

[1differentdrummer]

05:52 AM on 04/24/2008

And this is on-topic, how?

[ramal]

01:26 AM on 04/24/2008

Of course they lied. It's a government agency and the VA is one of the worst.

[RanTheMan]

12:02 AM on 04/24/2008

Gordon Mansfield apologizes claiming that there was no intent to mislead???
12,000 actual versus 800 reported???

Another vile stunt by the Bush administration to paint a rosier picture thnt the truth would reveal.

These people are disgusting.

[marbiol]

11:24 PM on 04/23/2008

the va lying?

duh.... if someone in combat commits suicide, do you REALLY think his/her parents want to know?

one of my dad's tentmates put a 45 to his head--this was a USAAF groundcrew stationed in Italy in WW2--not on the front line. Why'd he do it? who really knows--but his family received death benefits...which they presumably used to care for his seriously ill sister!

[JDJase]

12:13 AM on 04/24/2008

in case you didnt notice, this article is about VETERANS, not people IN COMBAT

It's a reference to postpartum depression that many veterans suffer