Legislators in Missouri want a court created specifically for veterans.

Rep. Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, has drafted legislation requesting that Missouri circuit courts create a place specifically for current and former U.S. military who are struggling with substance abuse or mental illness issues. Barnes stated that the country owes it to the veterans to get them the treatment they need to get their lives back on track.

The idea is supported by Rep. Charlie Davis, R-Webb City, who said the vet treatment court would run like a drug courts, where a judge would have the ability sentence a defendant to a rehabilitation facility or to perform some community service, without mandatory prison or jail time. Judges overseeing a veterans court can use the power of the court to force a vet to get treatment; proponents believe that recidivism rates for vets processed through a specialized vet court are lower than for those vets who do not go through a veterans court.

The court would be well-versed in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) issues as well as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) issues, two conditions which can lead to law-breaking behaviors among military vets back in civilian life. According to a study in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, vets with PTSD or TBI are far more likely than vets without either condition to be arrested. The bill currently proposed would not only help vets get treatment while taking into count their specific circumstances, the court would also be able to more efficiently deal with the backlog of veterans with court issues.

Objections that were previously raised in the Senate when discussing a veterans court included concerns from some that it would be used for veterans accused of committing violent crimes.

The veteran’s court model includes veteran mentors who assist with the program. While some systems vary, generally, a collaborative team made up of the judge, probation officers, a public defender, and a Veterans Administration representative get together to review cases to decide which veterans will be admitted to veterans court for a multi-phase, long-term system.

The first veterans court of this type was put into place in Buffalo, New York, in 2008. As of 2011, there were no reports of recidivism among the vets who completed the Buffalo program. There are now more than 70 veterans courts in the U.S.

To learn more or to contact a Veterans disability lawyer, Veterans disability attorney, Veterans lawyer, or Veterans attorney call 1.800.693.4800 or visit Legalhelpforveterans.com

The House of Representatives has passed HR 4057, a new bill designed to help student veterans. HR 4057 will allow post-9/11 student vets to have a comprehensive place online where they can find information about their applications for various colleges, and track any issues that may arise. The bill has instructed the Veterans Administration to launch a website for this purpose and also to offer educational counseling to the student vets.

The bill includes education counseling, extensive information about schools, programs, financing, school enrollment and graduation rates, transfer credit opportunities, and what academic, technical and support services are available. The overall plan to make the Post-9/11 GI Bill easily accessible to all who qualify for it.

The Post-9/11 GI Bill also includes education and housing monetary support for military personnel with 90 or more days of service starting after Sept. 10, 2001, and for individuals who were discharged after 30 days of service with a service-connected disability. Students must have been honorably discharge in order to receive the benefit. The benefit covers as much as three years of expenses if they are education-related and approved, and can be used as late as 15 years after active duty has ended.

Another veterans-based bill sent to the President is the Dignified Burial and other Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2012, which allows provisions for burials for veterans who leave behind few or no resources and no family members to oversee their burial. The bill includes instruction for a registry to track the service-related illnesses and symptoms experienced by vets who were exposed to toxic contaminants while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Both bills have been designed to provide support for veterans, from educational opportunities to comprehensive civilian transition programs to services that allow them burial with dignity.

The Dignity bill authorizes the VA to: provide a casket or urn, if needed; follow the wishes of next of kin regarding the funeral or memorial service; claim unclaimed or abandoned veteran remains for proper burial; use $5 million for a military cemetery in the Philippines; and establish an “open burn pit registry” to track vets who were exposed to probable toxic materials from Middle East open burn pits, and track their ongoing health concerns and explore treatment options. Additionally, the bill authorizes the VA to provide transportation of vets to and/or from counseling, vocational and rehabilitation treatment and care.

James G. Fausone is a Veterans disability lawyer and Veterans attorney with Legal Help for Veterans, PLLC. Learn more at http://www.legalhelpforveterans.com.

New legislation would cover in vitro fertilization and other fertility services for wounded veterans.

Currently, the Department of Veterans Affairs does not cover the cost of in vitro fertilization and other fertility services for servicemen and servicewomen. Advocates hope that will soon change, as a growing number of veterans with war wounds that impede their ability to have children without artificial reproductive services are coming home.

Technological advances in medicine are allowing troops who were catastrophically wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan to survive homemade bombs; the bombs target foot patrols and are noted for the damage they cause to lower limbs and the reproductive system. Since 2003, almost 2,000 service members, both men and women, have come home with reproductive system injuries.

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray ( D-Wash.) is pushing for coverage for in vitro and other reproductive services support to be covered by the VA. Murray stated that providing artificial reproductive technologies (ART) is just one of the costs of war. As the Chairwoman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Murray introduced legislation which was then passed by the Senate in mid-December, instructing the VA to make available to disabled veterans more advanced fertility techniques, such as like IVF. It is unknown if similar legislation will pass through the House, currently focused on spending cuts.

While the VA does cover some aspects of fertility support, including testing, counseling, and some procedures, it does not usually cover the cost of care for veterans’ spouses or surrogates. For service people who have more severe wounds, where extensive treatment may be needed, the VA falls short. IVF, in which the egg and sperm are combined and then the resulting embryo is transferred in hopes of implantation and pregnancy, is not covered. The cost for IVF, which can take several cycles before success, typically costs more than $10,000 and as much as $20,000, and even then, it may not work.

While the DOD covers the cost of IVF for injured active-duty service members, as of 2010, that does not help many veterans. The policy funds three cycles of treatment for both service members and their spouses, but only is they are active duty. Many service members must wait until they have healed from trauma, and have left the service. For many, it is long after they have left the military before they even know that they face fertility issues.

The Congressional Budget Office currently estimates that the overall cost of fertility services as requested would cost more than $550 million over the next five years. Senator Murray has proposed funding the ART services from money saved via the drawdown of Iraq and Afghanistan troops. The VA has not yet taken a public position on the bill, but has stated that the goal is the VA is to offer services and support to help restore veterans’ capabilities as much as possible.

James G. Fausone is a Veterans disability lawyer and Veterans attorney with Legal Help for Veterans, PLLC. Learn more at http://www.legalhelpforveterans.com.

A revolutionary foam has been developed to help stop internal bleeding.
The developers of the foam, who believe it may save lives on the front lines, have received funds from the U.S. military to continue developing the product.

Researchers have been working on the medical foam which would dramatically limit the amount of internal bleeding due to injury when injected into the body. The foam is comprised of two separate liquids which, when injected, mix together, expand and harden to become a kind of internal wound dressing. The technology, still in its infancy, would help save the lives of wounded soldiers far from medical facilities by slowing or staunching blood loss. Currently, there is no way to stop or slow internal bleeding in the abdomen other than in-hospital care. Abdominal injuries are considered especially dangerous, as the best methods for treatment at this time to stop blood loss is with compression pads and tourniquets.

The polyurethane polymer foam mix is expected to control internal hemorrhaging for at least one hour and possibly longer, researchers say. The foam is designed to be easily removed by surgeons as a solid mass once the patient is stabilized.

The foam mix was presented to the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma annual meeting in Hawaii earlier this year. The study on the foam use estimated that if it is used, there is an expected increase in survival rates for liver injuries from 8 percent to 72 percent and a dramatic reduction in blood loss for more than three hours. The foam may be used in as many as 50 percent of battlefield wounds currently seen, either to control hemorrhaging far from medical care or to manage care when facing multiple injuries, such as both a head injury and major internal bleeding.

The product has yet to be approved by the Federal Drug Administration. It still needs extensive testing to ensure it is safe and effective, and a plan for staff training on use must be developed, researchers caution. Polyurethane foam is widely used for thermal insulation and inside refrigerators.

A loss of blood has long been a major cause of death in war, but battlefields have also been the place where many medical inventions were developed, due to necessity. Though ligatures had been used by Arabs and the Romans in ancient times, the practice had been dropped. It wasn’t until the 1600s when during the Siege of Turin, someone “reinvented” the us of ligatures to stop bleeding arteries. Previously, most battlefield wounds were treated with cauterization and boiling oil.

James G. Fausone is a Veterans disability lawyer and Veterans attorney with Legal Help for Veterans, PLLC. Learn more at http://www.legalhelpforveterans.com.

According to an investigation by American-Statesman, of all the Texas veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and were receiving disability benefits when they died, a majority accidentally died from drug overdoses or toxic prescription combinations.

Information released by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs indicated that almost 350 veterans from Texas with VA benefits died between 2003 and 2011; investigators from the American-Statesman went on to identify those veterans and confirm that 266 of them, 77 percent, died of accidental drug overdoses or from an accidental and toxic combination of prescription drugs.

There is a dramatic lack of research on veterans’ deaths and drug overdoses. According to Amy Bohnert, a researcher at the University of Michigan and Department of Veterans Affairs, the lack of research is a concern. Bohnert recently published the first-ever systemic examination of overdoses and recent veterans.

Bohnert looked at all the veterans nationally who were receiving VA services in 2005. She deduced that more than 1,000 of them died from accidental drug overdoses, which, accounting for age and gender, is double the rate of accidental drug overdoses in the civilian population. Bohnert conclude that accidental drug overdoses are a far greater threat to military veterans than suicidal acts, though suicide is far more often publicized.

Analysis by the Statesman suggests that for veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq, drug overdoses may be even more of an issue than for all military veterans.

A review by the Statesman of autopsy reports for Texas veterans determined that while a few of the overdoses were attributed to illegal drugs, most of the drug-related deaths were due to prescription medications, including pain medication, sleep aids and medication for anxiety and depression. While three out of the 47 listed overdoses were determined to be suicides, the others were accidental miscalculations of toxic drug combinations or dosages. The average age of death for the Texas veterans examined as part of the study was 29, and three of the veterans were women.

Prescription drug addictions, especially addictive opiate painkillers, are at the forefront of the drug issue with recent veterans: nearly half of service people returning from Afghanistan and Iraq reported pain-related issues. Military doctors in 2009 prescribed an estimated 3.8 million narcotic pain pills, an increase of 400 percent since 2001. In addition, the Army reports that amphetamine prescriptions to treat adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder doubled between 2006 and 2009. An Army study from 2010 found that one-third of soldiers were taking prescription meds, and almost 50 percent of those soldiers were taking opiate painkillers.

James G. Fausone is a Veterans disability lawyer and Veterans attorney with Legal Help for Veterans, PLLC. Learn more at http://www.legalhelpforveterans.com.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently signed legislation to honor veterans. The new law will allow New York state’s Department of Motor Vehicles to add a mark indicating “veteran” status on both driver’s licenses and or non-driver IDs. This legislation allows veterans of the United States Armed Forces to request the veteran status mark on their identification, if so desired.

The veteran designation on driver’s licenses and other forms of ID is desirable for many reasons, one of which is that many local businesses on New York state offer certain discounts on ticket prices and other items to military veterans. The legislation will allow veterans to show their status in a convenient manner, without having to carry additional forms of ID. The law takes effect in a year, and in order to obtain the veteran mark, applicants must submit proof of honorable discharge to the DMV.

Governor Cuomo stated that veterans have made “invaluable sacrifices” for the state of New York and for the nation and that, in turn, the government wants to do something for them “We are proud to help distinguish them as veterans.”

New York Senator Greg Ball, who co-sponsored the bill, stated that identifying veterans in order to offer services and support is an ongoing issue and he hopes this designation mark will help expedite that process and allow government officials to help connect veterans to a variety of services available to them. The bill was first proposed by Bill Linder of Copiague, Lt. Commander, U.S. Navy (retired).

Though the emblem is just one small mark, it is hoped that veterans will feel the move as a way to acknowledge their sacrifice.

Kentucky currently offers the veteran mark, as does Missouri, where DMV officials report that they have received positive feedback from the veterans who opted to have the emblem placed on their license. They hope more veterans will take advantage of the emblem.

In Kentucky, Governor Steve Beshear directed the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to work to issue new licenses with the emblem without charging for them, allowing vets to get their new license without having to wait until the next renewal period.

The emblem consists of the word “VETERAN” printed vertically on the right border of the driver’s photo. Until the law takes effect, the DMV plans to revise application forms to manage the requests for the veteran status mark. The review of honorable discharge documentation must now be processed manually at the DMV, adding to the backlog at offices statewide.

James G. Fausone is a Veterans disability lawyer and Veterans attorney with Legal Help for Veterans, PLLC. Learn more at http://www.legalhelpforveterans.com.

record 2.2 million tickets were sold for the 2012 Paralympics, hosted by London August 29 through September 9. NBC, which covered the London Olympics in August 2012, will be covering the Paralympics Games for the first time, as well as airing four specials which highlight aspects of the Games. The United States’ 2012 Paralympics team includes 20 military veterans and active-duty servicemen and women, some of whom were injured in combat.

The International Paralympics Committee has reported an increase in news coverage by the U.S., as well as record participation, with more than 4,000 Paralympians, from 165 countries, slated to compete in everything from archery to wheelchair tennis.

The increased audience for the Paralympics may be in part due to a growing awareness by Americans that some military personnel are coming back from Afghanistan and Iraq, among other places, with lasting reminders of their service. It is estimated that more than 47,000 military personnel have been injured in recent conflicts, and as many as 400,000 servicemen and women have some form of combat-related depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.

The public has also been exposed to wounded servicemen by seeing people like Army infantryman J.R. Martinez on the small screen. Martinez, badly burned in Iraq, won 2011′s season of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” and was a fixture on daytime TV, playing a wounded veteran on the soap opera “All My Children.” He was just named the 2012 Outstanding Disabled Veteran of the Year.

Meanwhile, the Wounded Warrior Project, a Jacksonville-based nonprofit organization, works with military veterans to become active in adaptive sports. Activities include abled, disabled and differently-abled participants doing things in communities across the U.S. and internationally; recent outings include scuba diving in an aqua park in Pennsylvania, bike riding in Germany, and surfing off California’s coast.

And in Minnesota, the Minnesota Warriors are a stand up amputee hockey team made up of some 40 disabled men and women who served from Vietnam to Afghanistan. The team was started to help support veterans and get them out on the ice, but now also bringing in community involvement and support.

A more homespun approach has been taken by a number of Pizza Hut franchises in North Carolina. Some 45 of the pizza parlors are placing signage in the parking lot that designates a “Wounded Warrior” parking spot to reserve the place for wounded veterans.

“They are not being thanked or seeing that we appreciate what they have done,” said Virginia Maloyed, the wife of Marine Iraq War veteran. It was Maloyed’s idea to approach Pizza Hut to install the signs. “This is a way to say, we remember – we remember, and we appreciate your sacrifice.”

James G. Fausone is a Veterans disability lawyer and Veterans attorney with Legal Help for Veterans, PLLC. Learn more at http://www.legalhelpforveterans.com.

Even though the casualty rates in Afghanistan and Iraq appear to be lower than in other conflict areas, veterans are returning home with serious complications.

Since the realization that repetitive traumatic brain injury (TBI) often results in life-long cognitive issues, government researchers and those working for academia have been working to determine how to manage the effects of traumatic brain injury and discover new ways to treat it.

Many veterans are coming home with life-altering injuries, caused by multiple concussions sustained in the battle field from improvised explosive devices. The number of service personnel with head injuries is approaching epidemic proportions.

The latest new program on the horizon designed to help veterans and others with TBI involves using Telehealth to manage symptoms of a mild concussion. Telehealth delivers health-related services and information via telecommunications technologies. In its present incarnation, the program is aimed at figuring out how successful brain injury patients are with their self care. The new program is being piloted in five veteran’s health care facilities. If it turns out to be successful, the technology may be offered to civilian health care professionals.

To participate in the program, patients answer a short set of questions on an iPad, and their answers are filtered through another computer program that compares patient responses against a more extensive list of questions. The results provide physicians with detailed data about a patient’s symptoms, which in turn allows them to offer better suggestions to help patients manage their brain injuries.

Programs such as this are crucial for veterans to get access to the help they need when they return home. However, many veterans suffering from TBI are not aware of these programs or do not know how to pay for it. This is one of the reasons they should discuss their concerns with an experienced veteran’s lawyer. The attorney knows how to connect the veteran with medical health professionals who are able to offer them cutting edge treatments to manage their TBI.

Veterans are not alone. There are many programs available to assist them in integrating back into the lives they led before going to war, and one of those is the new Telehealth TBI initiative. For every veteran this program helps, there are hundreds of others who could benefit from it as well. It may take time for the word to spread, but once it does, hundreds of veterans will have access to what they need to get their lives back together.

To learn more or to contact a Veterans disability lawyer, Veterans disability attorney, Veterans lawyer, or Veterans attorney call 1.800.693.4800 or visit Legalhelpforveterans.com
 

Modern science is finding out traumatic brain injuries may age the brain faster, news that impacts veterans.

Many veterans returning home from war zones have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury as a result of being exposed to concussive shock waves from IEDs. Like football players and other athletes who sustain multiple concussions, war veterans are at risk of facing long-term cognitive difficulties as a result of being in combat.

University of Michigan researchers are finding differences in electrical activity in the brains of college students who had suffered concussions prior to the testing. Their control group had not sustained head injuries. Along with the differences in electrical activity, researchers also found a change in balance and gait. The interesting thing is that the research team was still able to identify differences up to six years after a concussion, or multiple concussions, had occurred.

The observed changes were subtle, meaning the study participants did not look or act differently, yet the changes were still detectable. However, this does not mean the individuals had Alzheimer’s or would suffer from early onset dementia. It just means that the changes were a possible portent of things to come later in life. The results of this study are still being correlated but are exciting as earlier detection of brain anomalies would help veterans returning from overseas.

The researchers also suggest their findings are predicated on a “dose dependent response.” The more head injuries a person sustains over his or her lifetime, the higher the risk of aging the brain faster, along with the slow disintegration of the brain’s signaling pathways. For those who had a few minor head impacts and one diagnosed concussion, the risks may be low. If you play football or hockey or have done several tours of duty in the war in Iraq or Afghanistan, your risks are infinitely higher, with the cumulative effect of multiple concussions taking a toll on the brain.

Mild concussions may manifest symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness and difficulty concentrating for up to a year in children. No one is absolutely certain how long the effects of a mild concussion will last in adults. The real question is how to effectively identify traumatic brain injury in athletes and military personnel, and from there, determine how they may be treated. If electrical abnormalities are a precursor to more significant damage, and if those changes are caught at an early stage to commence treatment, this can only bode well for veterans.

To learn more or to contact a Veterans disability lawyer, Veterans disability attorney, Veterans lawyer, or Veterans attorney call 1.800.693.4800 or visit Legalhelpforveterans.com

Of the troops who returned home from the Gulf War in the early 1990s, an estimated 21 percent filed claims seeking compensation for injuries suffered while on duty. That figure pales in comparison to the returnees from Iraq and Afghanistan.

It is a record-setting number. In an array of figures disclosed to the Associated Press, of the 1.6 million veterans coming back from those countries, an unprecedented 45 percent have made disability filings. And the backlog of claims throughout the nation is approaching one million, currently at about 864,000.

Further probing makes the statistics even more grim. Vietnam veterans are getting compensation for roughly four injuries, with vets of World War II and Korea only two. Meanwhile, those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are averaging about eight to nine claims each, with a spike up to 11 to 14 most recently.

Tinnitus (noise or ringing in the ears), back pain and post-traumatic stress disorder are the most common maladies. PTSD is a big reason for the hike in compensation, because it is a condition that has only weighed heavily on the national consciousness in the last few years. The same could be said for concussions — or traumatic brain injuries — often suffered during explosions. As is the case with head injuries suffered by former National Football League players and other athletes, nailing down a long-term prognosis is quite difficult, even for the most skilled physician.

It is also likely that these head injuries (and PTSD) went largely unreported by previous veterans returning from service. Close to half the vets back from Iraq and Afghanistan have been treated for mental-health issues.

Regarding other numbers obtained by AP, more than 1,600 of these vets who have sought VA care have lost a limb, many others losing fingers and toes; at least 150 are blind, with thousands of others suffering impaired vision; more than 177,000 have loss of hearing, and more than 350,000 have tinnitus.

Plus, the number of disfigured returnees is in the thousands, with many possibly needing face transplants. Wounds to the face and jaw are commonplace during battle.

Not surprisingly, the cost of taking care of the veterans is mind-boggling. Harvard economist Linda Bilmes told the AP she estimates the health and disability price tag of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to be anywhere from $600-900 billion.

Given that Afghanistan is winding down, that number could eventually be higher. Individual claim payments start at $127 per month up to about $2,800 a month, the latter for a full disability.

James G. Fausone is a Veterans disability lawyer and Veterans attorney with Legal Help for Veterans, PLLC. Learn more at http://www.legalhelpforveterans.com.