VA Psychologist Denies Costs Were Behind E-Mail on PTSD

VA Psychologist Denies Costs Were Behind E-Mail on PTSD

A Department of Veterans Affairs psychologist denies that she was trying to save money when she suggested in a March 20 e-mail that counselors make fewer diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder in injured soldiers.

Norma Perez, who helps coordinate a post-traumatic stress disorder clinical team in central Texas, will testify today before a Senate panel, which wants to learn whether broader VA policy motives were behind the e-mail.

In her prepared testimony, Perez indicated she might have been out of line to cite growing disability claims. She said her intent was to remind staffers that stress symptoms could also be caused by adjustment disorder. The less-severe diagnosis could save VA millions of dollars in disability payouts.

In her e-mail to staffers at the VA medical center in Temple, Tex., Perez wrote, "Given that we are having more and more compensation-seeking veterans, I'd like to suggest that you refrain from giving a diagnosis of PTSD straight out. . . . We really don't . . . have time to do the extensive testing that should be done to determine PTSD."

VA has strenuously denied that cost-cutting is a factor in its treatment decisions.

N.Y. Is Sued Over Gay Marriages

NEW YORK -- A Christian legal organization, the Alliance Defense Fund, said it has sued to stop New York from recognizing same-sex marriages legally performed in other states. Same-sex marriages are unconstitutional in New York, but Gov. David A. Paterson (D) told state agencies on May 14 that the state must recognize those performed in Massachusetts, Canada and other places where they are legal. The group says it filed its lawsuit in the Bronx. Several Republican state senators are named as party to the suit.

Astronauts Attach Lab to Station

CAPE CANAVERAL -- A team of astronauts working inside and out anchored a giant billion-dollar Japanese lab to the international space station, making it the biggest room there. The bus-size lab -- named Kibo, Japanese for hope -- stretches 37 feet and weighs more than 32,000 pounds. The honor of operating the space station's robot arm, to do the heavy lifting, fell to Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide. He accompanied Kibo to orbit aboard the space shuttle Discovery.

Salmonella Linked to Tomatoes

ATLANTA -- An outbreak of salmonella food poisoning first linked to uncooked tomatoes has been reported in nine states, U.S. health officials said. Lab tests have confirmed 40 illnesses in Texas and New Mexico as the same type of salmonella. No farm, distributor or grocery chain has been identified as the main source, said a CDC epidemiologist working on the investigation.

-- From News Services