Date: 10/17/2008 1:43 PM
DALTON, Ga. (AP) _ An explosion at a small-town law firm in northern Georgia injured at least four people Friday, and authorities were seeking someone they believe may have been involved in the attack.
Witnesses said the blast around 10 a.m. blew out the windows at McCamy, Phillips, Tuggle & Fordham in Dalton, 26 miles southeast of Chattanooga, Tenn.
Police Lt. Bruce Frazier said the blast was caused by some type of explosive device. Investigators were looking into a person of interest in the case, but no one had been arrested, he said. He declined to provide more details.
Bomb squads were checking for sweeping the premises for other explosives, Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead said.
Four people hurt in the explosion were in stable condition at Hamilton Medical Center, spokeswoman Emily Michael said. One of the four was being taken to the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, spokeswoman Beth Frits said.
The eight-lawyer firm, founded in 1932, works out of a two-story, colonial-style house. Police cordoned off the block and shut down a post office near the law firm, which specializes in personal injury and wrongful death cases, according to its Web site. An elementary school across the street was locked down, though it wasn’t damaged.
State and federal investigators were assisting local authorities.
___
On the Net: http://www.mccamylaw.com
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
3 former execs at Texas charity accused of fraud
Date: 10/14/2008 10:18 PM
By ALICIA A. CALDWELL
Associated Press Writer
EL PASO, Texas (AP) _ Three former executives of a charity with $834 million in government contracts were arrested Tuesday in a contract fraud probe that has grown to ensnare public officials in El Paso, Texas.
Robert E. Jones, who is charged with 37 counts in the new indictment, once headed the National Center for the Employment of the Disabled, which supplied chemical-warfare suits for the military. The company now known as Ready One Industries was raided in 2006 in an investigation of its government contracts, which required that at least 75 percent of NCED workers filling government orders be blind or severely disabled.
The indictment accuses Jones and two other men of lying to the contracts’ overseers about the number of disabled people employed there and embezzling or stealing at least $5,000 from the company, said Shana Jones, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Antonio.
The indictment issued Thursday is sealed. It replaces a five-count indictment against the three men issued in September.
Jones, Ernesto Lopez and Patrick James Woods waived arraignment Tuesday and filed not guilty pleas, said Mary Stillinger, Lopez’s attorney. All were being held on bond.
Stillinger said Lopez looked forward to the case moving ahead so he could defend himself.
“We don’t think Pat Woods is guilty of anything,” said Woods’ lawyer, Jim Darnell. Jones’ lawyer, Joe Spencer, said his client had done nothing wrong. The lawyers declined further comment because they had not seen the indictment.
The federal probe of businesses tied to Jones also sparked a continuing investigation into public corruption that has targeted several current and former officials in El Paso, but federal investigators won’t detail the connections.
Several people, including a former El Paso County commissioner and chief of staff to current County Judge Anthony Cobos, have pleaded guilty to corruption charges. According to federal court records, that probe involves 12 separate investigations and has uncovered widespread abuses.
Details of the cases against those who have pleaded guilty have remained sealed under court order.
Lopez, the former NCED chief operating officer, faces 17 counts in the new indictment. Woods is a former NCED officer and member of the board of directors and faces five counts.
Two civil oversight groups — the President’s Committee for Purchase from People Who are Blind or Severely Disabled and a Virginia nonprofit that helps administer government contracts — concluded that only about 7 percent of workers were handicapped while Jones ran the company.
Jones abruptly resigned from NCED amid the investigation, and Darnell said Woods left in 2007.
The indictment calls for Jones and Lopez to forfeit tens of millions of dollars.
Shana Jones, the U.S. Attorney’s spokeswoman, said prosecutors want Robert Jones to forfeit $58.9 million and Lopez to give up $51.2 million. Prosecutors are asking that Woods forfeit $4.2 million.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By ALICIA A. CALDWELL
Associated Press Writer
EL PASO, Texas (AP) _ Three former executives of a charity with $834 million in government contracts were arrested Tuesday in a contract fraud probe that has grown to ensnare public officials in El Paso, Texas.
Robert E. Jones, who is charged with 37 counts in the new indictment, once headed the National Center for the Employment of the Disabled, which supplied chemical-warfare suits for the military. The company now known as Ready One Industries was raided in 2006 in an investigation of its government contracts, which required that at least 75 percent of NCED workers filling government orders be blind or severely disabled.
The indictment accuses Jones and two other men of lying to the contracts’ overseers about the number of disabled people employed there and embezzling or stealing at least $5,000 from the company, said Shana Jones, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Antonio.
The indictment issued Thursday is sealed. It replaces a five-count indictment against the three men issued in September.
Jones, Ernesto Lopez and Patrick James Woods waived arraignment Tuesday and filed not guilty pleas, said Mary Stillinger, Lopez’s attorney. All were being held on bond.
Stillinger said Lopez looked forward to the case moving ahead so he could defend himself.
“We don’t think Pat Woods is guilty of anything,” said Woods’ lawyer, Jim Darnell. Jones’ lawyer, Joe Spencer, said his client had done nothing wrong. The lawyers declined further comment because they had not seen the indictment.
The federal probe of businesses tied to Jones also sparked a continuing investigation into public corruption that has targeted several current and former officials in El Paso, but federal investigators won’t detail the connections.
Several people, including a former El Paso County commissioner and chief of staff to current County Judge Anthony Cobos, have pleaded guilty to corruption charges. According to federal court records, that probe involves 12 separate investigations and has uncovered widespread abuses.
Details of the cases against those who have pleaded guilty have remained sealed under court order.
Lopez, the former NCED chief operating officer, faces 17 counts in the new indictment. Woods is a former NCED officer and member of the board of directors and faces five counts.
Two civil oversight groups — the President’s Committee for Purchase from People Who are Blind or Severely Disabled and a Virginia nonprofit that helps administer government contracts — concluded that only about 7 percent of workers were handicapped while Jones ran the company.
Jones abruptly resigned from NCED amid the investigation, and Darnell said Woods left in 2007.
The indictment calls for Jones and Lopez to forfeit tens of millions of dollars.
Shana Jones, the U.S. Attorney’s spokeswoman, said prosecutors want Robert Jones to forfeit $58.9 million and Lopez to give up $51.2 million. Prosecutors are asking that Woods forfeit $4.2 million.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Suicides from financial crisis cause concern
Date: 10/14/2008 9:00 AM
By KELLI KENNEDY
Associated Press Writer
An out-of-work money manager in California loses a fortune and wipes out his family in a murder-suicide. A 90-year-old Ohio widow shoots herself in the chest as authorities arrive to evict her from the modest house she called home for 38 years.
In Massachusetts, a housewife who had hidden her family’s mounting financial crisis from her husband sends a note to the mortgage company warning: “By the time you foreclose on my house, I’ll be dead.”
Then Carlene Balderrama shot herself to death, leaving an insurance policy and a suicide note on a table.
Across the country, authorities are becoming concerned that the nation’s financial woes could turn increasingly violent, and they are urging people to get help. In some places, mental-health hot lines are jammed, counseling services are in high demand and domestic-violence shelters are full.
“I’ve had a number of people say that this is the thing most reminiscent of 9/11 that’s happened here since then,” said the Rev. Canon Ann Malonee, vicar at Trinity Church in the heart of New York’s financial district. “It’s that sense of having the rug pulled out from under them.”
With nowhere else to turn, many people are calling suicide-prevention hot lines. The Samaritans of New York have seen calls rise more than 16 percent in the past year, many of them money-related. The Switchboard of Miami has recorded more than 500 foreclosure-related calls this year.
“A lot of people are telling us they are losing everything. They’re losing their homes, they’re going into foreclosure, they’ve lost their jobs,” said Virginia Cervasio, executive director of a suicide resource enter in southwest Florida’s Lee County.
But tragedies keep mounting:
— In Los Angeles last week, a former money manager fatally shot his wife, three sons and his mother-in-law before killing himself.
Karthik Rajaram, 45, left a suicide note saying he was in financial trouble and contemplated killing just himself. But he said he decided to kill his entire family because that was more honorable, police said.
Rajaram once worked for a major accounting firm and for Sony Pictures, and he had been part-owner of a financial holding company. But he had been out of work for several months, police said.
After the murder-suicide, police and mental-health officials in Los Angeles took the unusual step of urging people to seek help for themselves or loved ones if they feel overwhelmed by grim financial news. They said they were specifically afraid of the “copycat phenomenon.”
“This is a perfect American family behind me that has absolutely been destroyed, apparently because of a man who just got stuck in a rabbit hole, if you will, of absolute despair,” Deputy Police Chief Michel Moore said. “It is critical to step up and recognize we are in some pretty troubled times.”
— In Tennessee, a woman fatally shot herself last week as sheriff’s deputies went to evict her from her foreclosed home.
Pamela Ross, 57, and her husband were fighting foreclosure on their home when sheriff’s deputies in Sevierville came to serve an eviction notice. They were across the street when they heard a gunshot and found Ross dead from a wound to the chest. The case was even more tragic because the couple had recently been granted an extra 10 days to appeal.
— In Akron, Ohio, the 90-year-old widow who shot herself on Oct. 1 is recovering. A congressman told Addie Polk’s story on the House floor before lawmakers voted to approve a $700 billion financial rescue package. Mortgage finance company Fannie Mae dropped the foreclosure, forgave her mortgage and said she could remain in the home.
— In Ocala, Fla., Roland Gore shot his wife and dog in March and then set fire to the couple’s home, which had been in foreclosure, before killing himself. His case was one of several in which people killed spouses or pets, destroyed property or attacked police before taking their own lives.
“The financial stress builds up to the point the person feels they can’t go on, and the person believes their family is better off dead than left without a financial support,” said Kristen Rand, legislative director of the Washington D.C.-based Violence Policy Center.
Dr. Edward Charlesworth, a clinical psychologist in Houston, said the current crisis is breeding a sense of chronic anxiety among people who feel helpless and panic-stricken, as well as angry that their government has let them down.
“They feel like in this great society that we live in we should have more protection for the individuals rather than just the corporation,” he said.
It’s not yet clear there is a statistical link between suicides and the financial downturn since there is generally a two-year lag in national suicide figures. But historically, suicides increase in times of economic hardship. And the current financial crisis is already being called the worst since the Great Depression.
Rising mortgage defaults and falling home values are at the heart of it. More than 4 million Americans were at least one month behind on their mortgages at the end of June, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
A record 500,000 had entered the foreclosure process. And that trend is expected to continue through next year, despite the current programs from the government and the lending industry to refinance delinquent homeowners into more affordable loans.
Counselors at Catholic Charities USA report seeing a “significant increase” in the need for housing counseling.
One counselor said half of her clients were on some form of antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication. The agency has seen a decrease in overall funding, but it has expanded foreclosure counseling and received nearly $2 million for such services in late 2007.
Adding to financially tense households is an air of secrecy. Experts said it’s common for one spouse to blame the other for their financial mess or to hide it entirely, as Balderrama did.
After falling 3½ years behind in payments, the Taunton, Mass., housewife had been intercepting letters from the mortgage company and shredding them before her husband saw them. She tried to refinance but was declined.
In July, on the day the house was to be auctioned, she faxed the note to the mortgage company. Then the 52-year-old walked outside, shot her three beloved cats and then herself with her husband’s rifle.
Notes left on the table revealed months of planning. She’d picked out her funeral home, laid out the insurance policy and left a note saying, “pay off the house with the insurance money.”
“She put in her suicide note that it got overwhelming for her,” said her husband, John Balderrama. “Apparently she didn’t have anyone to talk to. She didn’t come to me. I don’t know why. There’s gotta be some help out there for people that are hurting, (something better) than to see somebody lose a life over a stupid house.”
___
Associated Press Writers P. Solomon Banda in Denver, Joann Loviglio in Philadelphia, Juanita Cousins in Atlanta, Samantha Gross in New York and John Rogers in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By KELLI KENNEDY
Associated Press Writer
An out-of-work money manager in California loses a fortune and wipes out his family in a murder-suicide. A 90-year-old Ohio widow shoots herself in the chest as authorities arrive to evict her from the modest house she called home for 38 years.
In Massachusetts, a housewife who had hidden her family’s mounting financial crisis from her husband sends a note to the mortgage company warning: “By the time you foreclose on my house, I’ll be dead.”
Then Carlene Balderrama shot herself to death, leaving an insurance policy and a suicide note on a table.
Across the country, authorities are becoming concerned that the nation’s financial woes could turn increasingly violent, and they are urging people to get help. In some places, mental-health hot lines are jammed, counseling services are in high demand and domestic-violence shelters are full.
“I’ve had a number of people say that this is the thing most reminiscent of 9/11 that’s happened here since then,” said the Rev. Canon Ann Malonee, vicar at Trinity Church in the heart of New York’s financial district. “It’s that sense of having the rug pulled out from under them.”
With nowhere else to turn, many people are calling suicide-prevention hot lines. The Samaritans of New York have seen calls rise more than 16 percent in the past year, many of them money-related. The Switchboard of Miami has recorded more than 500 foreclosure-related calls this year.
“A lot of people are telling us they are losing everything. They’re losing their homes, they’re going into foreclosure, they’ve lost their jobs,” said Virginia Cervasio, executive director of a suicide resource enter in southwest Florida’s Lee County.
But tragedies keep mounting:
— In Los Angeles last week, a former money manager fatally shot his wife, three sons and his mother-in-law before killing himself.
Karthik Rajaram, 45, left a suicide note saying he was in financial trouble and contemplated killing just himself. But he said he decided to kill his entire family because that was more honorable, police said.
Rajaram once worked for a major accounting firm and for Sony Pictures, and he had been part-owner of a financial holding company. But he had been out of work for several months, police said.
After the murder-suicide, police and mental-health officials in Los Angeles took the unusual step of urging people to seek help for themselves or loved ones if they feel overwhelmed by grim financial news. They said they were specifically afraid of the “copycat phenomenon.”
“This is a perfect American family behind me that has absolutely been destroyed, apparently because of a man who just got stuck in a rabbit hole, if you will, of absolute despair,” Deputy Police Chief Michel Moore said. “It is critical to step up and recognize we are in some pretty troubled times.”
— In Tennessee, a woman fatally shot herself last week as sheriff’s deputies went to evict her from her foreclosed home.
Pamela Ross, 57, and her husband were fighting foreclosure on their home when sheriff’s deputies in Sevierville came to serve an eviction notice. They were across the street when they heard a gunshot and found Ross dead from a wound to the chest. The case was even more tragic because the couple had recently been granted an extra 10 days to appeal.
— In Akron, Ohio, the 90-year-old widow who shot herself on Oct. 1 is recovering. A congressman told Addie Polk’s story on the House floor before lawmakers voted to approve a $700 billion financial rescue package. Mortgage finance company Fannie Mae dropped the foreclosure, forgave her mortgage and said she could remain in the home.
— In Ocala, Fla., Roland Gore shot his wife and dog in March and then set fire to the couple’s home, which had been in foreclosure, before killing himself. His case was one of several in which people killed spouses or pets, destroyed property or attacked police before taking their own lives.
“The financial stress builds up to the point the person feels they can’t go on, and the person believes their family is better off dead than left without a financial support,” said Kristen Rand, legislative director of the Washington D.C.-based Violence Policy Center.
Dr. Edward Charlesworth, a clinical psychologist in Houston, said the current crisis is breeding a sense of chronic anxiety among people who feel helpless and panic-stricken, as well as angry that their government has let them down.
“They feel like in this great society that we live in we should have more protection for the individuals rather than just the corporation,” he said.
It’s not yet clear there is a statistical link between suicides and the financial downturn since there is generally a two-year lag in national suicide figures. But historically, suicides increase in times of economic hardship. And the current financial crisis is already being called the worst since the Great Depression.
Rising mortgage defaults and falling home values are at the heart of it. More than 4 million Americans were at least one month behind on their mortgages at the end of June, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
A record 500,000 had entered the foreclosure process. And that trend is expected to continue through next year, despite the current programs from the government and the lending industry to refinance delinquent homeowners into more affordable loans.
Counselors at Catholic Charities USA report seeing a “significant increase” in the need for housing counseling.
One counselor said half of her clients were on some form of antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication. The agency has seen a decrease in overall funding, but it has expanded foreclosure counseling and received nearly $2 million for such services in late 2007.
Adding to financially tense households is an air of secrecy. Experts said it’s common for one spouse to blame the other for their financial mess or to hide it entirely, as Balderrama did.
After falling 3½ years behind in payments, the Taunton, Mass., housewife had been intercepting letters from the mortgage company and shredding them before her husband saw them. She tried to refinance but was declined.
In July, on the day the house was to be auctioned, she faxed the note to the mortgage company. Then the 52-year-old walked outside, shot her three beloved cats and then herself with her husband’s rifle.
Notes left on the table revealed months of planning. She’d picked out her funeral home, laid out the insurance policy and left a note saying, “pay off the house with the insurance money.”
“She put in her suicide note that it got overwhelming for her,” said her husband, John Balderrama. “Apparently she didn’t have anyone to talk to. She didn’t come to me. I don’t know why. There’s gotta be some help out there for people that are hurting, (something better) than to see somebody lose a life over a stupid house.”
___
Associated Press Writers P. Solomon Banda in Denver, Joann Loviglio in Philadelphia, Juanita Cousins in Atlanta, Samantha Gross in New York and John Rogers in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
US Marine charged with assaulting Sydney woman
Date: 10/13/2008 9:50 PM
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) _ A U.S. Marine has been charged with assaulting a prostitute while on shore leave in Sydney last weekend, police and the U.S. Embassy said Tuesday.
The 25-year-old man, who was not identified, was charged late Monday with assault involving “bodily harm” following an incident at a Sydney brothel on Sunday, police said in a statement.
He was released on bail.
The U.S. Embassy in Canberra said the U.S. Navy was cooperating with the investigation and confirmed that the man, who shipped out Tuesday, will return to Australia to face the charges in court on Nov. 10.
The Marine was one of 3,000 Marines and Navy personnel on shore leave in Sydney after the amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu and guided missile destroyer USS Halsey arrived in the port on Friday. The ships departed Tuesday.
Another Marine is being treated at a Sydney hospital for a fractured skull and other head injuries after being assaulted on Saturday night. The 23-year-old is in stable but serious condition, police say. His identity also was not given.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) _ A U.S. Marine has been charged with assaulting a prostitute while on shore leave in Sydney last weekend, police and the U.S. Embassy said Tuesday.
The 25-year-old man, who was not identified, was charged late Monday with assault involving “bodily harm” following an incident at a Sydney brothel on Sunday, police said in a statement.
He was released on bail.
The U.S. Embassy in Canberra said the U.S. Navy was cooperating with the investigation and confirmed that the man, who shipped out Tuesday, will return to Australia to face the charges in court on Nov. 10.
The Marine was one of 3,000 Marines and Navy personnel on shore leave in Sydney after the amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu and guided missile destroyer USS Halsey arrived in the port on Friday. The ships departed Tuesday.
Another Marine is being treated at a Sydney hospital for a fractured skull and other head injuries after being assaulted on Saturday night. The 23-year-old is in stable but serious condition, police say. His identity also was not given.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Italian woman in right-to-die case worsens
Date: 10/11/2008 1:51 PM
ROME (AP) _ The condition of an Italian woman at the center of a right-to-die case worsened after she suffered a massive hemorrhage, doctors said Saturday.
Eluana Englaro has been in a vegetative state for 16 years and her father has led a protracted court battle to disconnect her feeding tube, insisting it was her wish.
This summer a Milan court granted his request, setting off a political storm in this overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country. Italy does not allow euthanasia, but patients have a right to refuse treatment.
Catholic and anti-euthanasia groups protested the ruling by leaving bottles of water in front of Milan’s Duomo cathedral. Prosecutors appealed the decision and the father pledged not to disconnect the tube before Italy’s high court weighed in.
Carlo Alberto Defanti, Englaro’s doctor, told reporters gathered Saturday at a clinic in northern Italy that over the last two days Englaro had been bleeding from her uterus.
“It was a very abundant hemorrhage, which puts her life at risk,” he said. “This afternoon it stopped. We can’t make predications; if it doesn’t restart she may recover.”
Italian news reports said doctors had agreed not to give Englaro a blood transfusion.
Englaro was 20 years old when she fell into a vegetative state following a car accident in 1992. Two years later, doctors called her condition irreversible.
Her father, Beppino Englaro, has said she had visited a friend who was in a similar condition shortly before her accident and had expressed the will to refuse treatment if in the same situation.
The case has drawn comparisons here with that of Terry Schiavo, the American woman who was at the center of a right-to-die debate until her death in 2005. Schiavo’s husband, who wanted her feeding tube removed against her parents’ wishes, prevailed in a polarizing battle in the United States that reached Congress, President George W. Bush and the Supreme Court.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
ROME (AP) _ The condition of an Italian woman at the center of a right-to-die case worsened after she suffered a massive hemorrhage, doctors said Saturday.
Eluana Englaro has been in a vegetative state for 16 years and her father has led a protracted court battle to disconnect her feeding tube, insisting it was her wish.
This summer a Milan court granted his request, setting off a political storm in this overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country. Italy does not allow euthanasia, but patients have a right to refuse treatment.
Catholic and anti-euthanasia groups protested the ruling by leaving bottles of water in front of Milan’s Duomo cathedral. Prosecutors appealed the decision and the father pledged not to disconnect the tube before Italy’s high court weighed in.
Carlo Alberto Defanti, Englaro’s doctor, told reporters gathered Saturday at a clinic in northern Italy that over the last two days Englaro had been bleeding from her uterus.
“It was a very abundant hemorrhage, which puts her life at risk,” he said. “This afternoon it stopped. We can’t make predications; if it doesn’t restart she may recover.”
Italian news reports said doctors had agreed not to give Englaro a blood transfusion.
Englaro was 20 years old when she fell into a vegetative state following a car accident in 1992. Two years later, doctors called her condition irreversible.
Her father, Beppino Englaro, has said she had visited a friend who was in a similar condition shortly before her accident and had expressed the will to refuse treatment if in the same situation.
The case has drawn comparisons here with that of Terry Schiavo, the American woman who was at the center of a right-to-die debate until her death in 2005. Schiavo’s husband, who wanted her feeding tube removed against her parents’ wishes, prevailed in a polarizing battle in the United States that reached Congress, President George W. Bush and the Supreme Court.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Pa. widow sues US over Iraq vet-husband’s suicide
Date: 10/7/2008 10:58 PM
By MARYCLAIRE DALE
Associated Press Writer
PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ The widow of an Iraq war veteran who committed suicide while in outpatient care for depression at a Veterans Administration hospital has sued the federal government for negligence.
Tiera Woodward, 26, claims in her lawsuit that her late husband, Donald, sought treatment at a VA hospital in Lebanon after three failed suicide attempts but wasn’t seen by a psychiatrist for more than two months.
She says doctors were slow to diagnose her husband with major depression, and that once the diagnosis was made, a psychiatrist failed to schedule a follow-up meeting with her husband after he informed the doctor he had gone off his medication.
Donald Woodward killed himself in March 2006 at age 23.
“I intend to make them make changes,” said Donald Woodward’s mother, Lori Woodward. “I have too many friends whose kids are in Iraq. I have a nephew now in Iraq, in the same unit, and I can’t have my family go through this again.”
Alison Aikele, a VA spokeswoman in Washington, D.C., said the agency does not typically comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit, filed in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, seeks an unspecified amount for funeral expenses, lost income and pain and suffering.
It echoes other lawsuits nationwide over VA mental-health services, despite legislation President Bush signed in November ordering improvements.
The family of Marine Jeffrey Lucey, also 23, has a federal suit pending in Massachusetts over his June 2004 suicide. And two veterans groups sued the VA in San Francisco seeking an overhaul of its health system, citing special concerns about mental health, but a judge dismissed the suit in June over venue issues.
More than 150,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans have already sought mental health care from the VA, and another 200,000 have sought medical care, according to Veterans for Common Sense, one of the groups involved in the California lawsuit.
“Each tragic veteran suicide is yet another painful reminder of the human cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and VA’s abject failure to provide timely and appropriate mental health care,” said Paul Sullivan, the group’s executive director. “How many wake-up calls does (the) VA need?”
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By MARYCLAIRE DALE
Associated Press Writer
PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ The widow of an Iraq war veteran who committed suicide while in outpatient care for depression at a Veterans Administration hospital has sued the federal government for negligence.
Tiera Woodward, 26, claims in her lawsuit that her late husband, Donald, sought treatment at a VA hospital in Lebanon after three failed suicide attempts but wasn’t seen by a psychiatrist for more than two months.
She says doctors were slow to diagnose her husband with major depression, and that once the diagnosis was made, a psychiatrist failed to schedule a follow-up meeting with her husband after he informed the doctor he had gone off his medication.
Donald Woodward killed himself in March 2006 at age 23.
“I intend to make them make changes,” said Donald Woodward’s mother, Lori Woodward. “I have too many friends whose kids are in Iraq. I have a nephew now in Iraq, in the same unit, and I can’t have my family go through this again.”
Alison Aikele, a VA spokeswoman in Washington, D.C., said the agency does not typically comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit, filed in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, seeks an unspecified amount for funeral expenses, lost income and pain and suffering.
It echoes other lawsuits nationwide over VA mental-health services, despite legislation President Bush signed in November ordering improvements.
The family of Marine Jeffrey Lucey, also 23, has a federal suit pending in Massachusetts over his June 2004 suicide. And two veterans groups sued the VA in San Francisco seeking an overhaul of its health system, citing special concerns about mental health, but a judge dismissed the suit in June over venue issues.
More than 150,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans have already sought mental health care from the VA, and another 200,000 have sought medical care, according to Veterans for Common Sense, one of the groups involved in the California lawsuit.
“Each tragic veteran suicide is yet another painful reminder of the human cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and VA’s abject failure to provide timely and appropriate mental health care,” said Paul Sullivan, the group’s executive director. “How many wake-up calls does (the) VA need?”
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Canines provide PTSD support for Iraq troops: Updated
Washington, DC October 1st – Operation Baghdad Pups is a SPCA International (www. SPCA. com) initiative created to provide medical care, clearance and transport for the animals our U.S. soldiers have come to love during deployment in the Middle East. Today, the United States military committed a crime against their own mentally wounded U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq. Commanding officers ordered the confiscation of a dog, Ratchet, befriended by a group of soldiers during a 15th month of deployment. Ratchet has been a lifeline to Sgt. Gwen Beberg. This morning, Ratchet was on his way to SPCA International rescue experts at the Baghdad Airport to be flown home to Gwen’s parents in Minneapolis, MN when Sgt. Beberg’s commanding officers ordered Ratchet confiscated and held in Iraq to face certain death.
“This year has been extremely difficult on my daughter and her family. It has been a year of disappointments, loneliness, and fear because of all the sacrifices the army has required of Gwen. Ratchet was the savior of her sanity. Now they have cruelly ripped Ratchet away from her and sentenced him to death. I don’t know how my daughter will cope. Ratchet has been her lifeline,” explains Sgt. Beberg’s mother, Patricia Beberg. Gwen Beberg, a decorated soldier, has been held by the military more than 15 months past her original commitment due to the stop-loss policy and now the military that asked extraordinary sacrifice from her has crushed her by ripping her lifeline away. Now, Sgt. Beberg is under military investigation for befriending the dog that saved her life.
It is against military regulations for active duty troops to befriend animals – Soldiers can face immediate court-marshal and some even see their animals brutally murdered by a direct gunshot to the head from commanding officers who will not bend the rules. Hundreds of U.S. soldiers in the Middle East befriend animals in the war zone to help themselves cope with the hardship and terror they face every day. These dogs and cats become their lifeline – saving them from deep depression and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
The military refuses to help or formally recognize the lifeline these animals give to our mentally wounded soldiers. Veterans returned from Iraq are committing suicide at twice the rate of average Americans. The dogs and cats befriended by our troops rescued by Operation Baghdad Pups are providing proven pet therapy to soldiers who may otherwise suffer from PTSD and deep depression.
Gwen and Ratchet
LEARN MORE ABOUT OPERATION BAGHDAD PUPS
-SPCA
UPDATE: Date: 10/14/2008 4:36 PM
US mil: Iraqi puppy adopted by US soldier is alive
By KIM GAMEL
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD (AP) _ The Iraqi puppy adopted by an American soldier but refused a flight to the U.S., is alive, the military said Tuesday, giving hope to an animal rescue group that is trying to take it to the United States.
The case has cast a spotlight on Defense Department rules that prohibit soldiers in the U.S. Central Command, which includes Iraq, from adopting pets or transporting them home.
Army Sgt. Gwen Beberg, 28, of Minneapolis, tried to send Ratchet home with the help of Operation Baghdad Pups earlier this month as she prepared to leave Iraq. But the dog was reportedly confiscated by a U.S. officer before it could reach the Baghdad International Airport, raising concern about the animal’s fate.
U.S. military spokesman Lt. Cmdr. David Russell said in an e-mail that the dog was alive, but he could provide no other details or comment on the effort to take it to the United States.
More than 30,000 people have signed an online petition urging the Army to let the puppy go home with Beberg, nearly tripling in a day as publicity over the case spread.
Beberg, who had been based south of Baghdad, has been transferred to a staging area to prepare for her departure from Iraq.
The coordinator for Operation Baghdad Pups — a rescue program run by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals International — planned to travel to Baghdad on Wednesday to collect six dogs rescued by U.S. troops.
Terri Crisp is hopeful Ratchet will be one of them, but she has a substitute dog ready to go in his place if necessary.
“There’s a lot of pressure being put on the military right now to allow Ratchet to leave,” she said in a telephone interview.
Baghdad Pups has taken more than 50 dogs and cats home for their warrior owners, although the group had to cease its activities over the summer because of the heat.
Crisp said the U.S. military should cooperate with the group instead of obstructing the animals’ transportation because it helps the troops deal with the stress of being in Iraq.
“These dogs and cats are incredibly therapeutic,” she said. “With all the talk of post-traumatic stress disorder, this is a way they can deal with things — not only when they’re in Iraq serving but when they’re at home.”
Last week, Beberg’s congressman, Minnesota Democrat Keith Ellison, wrote to the Army urging it to review the case.
Beberg and another soldier rescued Ratchet from a burning pile of trash in May. But Defense Department rules prohibit U.S. troops who are deployed from caring for pets in theater or taking them home.
Sgt. Brooke Murphy, a U.S. military spokeswoman, said there were several reasons for the rule, including health issues and difficulties in caring for the animals.
“The military has these policies in place for a reason and really is looking out for the best interests of the soldier and the interests of the animal and the interests of the community,” she said.
Baghdad Pups tried to collect Ratchet two weeks ago, but Crisp said a U.S. commander had intercepted a military convoy carrying the dog to Baghdad and sent it back to Beberg’s former base.
Crisp said the group relies on donations to pay for the missions — Wednesday’s will cost just under US$10,000 — but recently has had to ask the soldiers to contribute because of fundraising troubles.
In June, a dog brought back to the U.S. by Operation Baghdad Pups tested positive for rabies after it was euthanized for other health concerns. That prompted a public health investigation, and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended immediate vaccination and six-month quarantine for the other animals on the shipment.
SPCA International spokeswoman Stephanie Scroggs said the group meets agency requirements that specify animals that have not been vaccinated for at least 30 days prior to entering the United States be quarantined for at least 30 days.
___
Associated Press writer Frederic J. Frommer in Washington contributed to this report.
___
On the Web: Ratchet petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/clemency-for-ratchet
Baghdad Pups site: http://www.baghdadpups.com
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Armor Holdings settles federal probe for $30M
Date: 10/7/2008 1:03 PM
By DONNA BORAK
AP Business Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Armor Holdings Inc. will pay $30 million to resolve allegations that it knowingly made and then sold defective bulletproof vests to law enforcement personnel, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
Armor Holdings, now a subsidiary of British defense conglomerate BAE Systems PLC, allegedly had information that showed ballistic materials known as the Zylon Shield, “degraded quickly over time” and were unfit for use by state and local law enforcement agencies, according to the government settlement.
A representative from BAE Systems was not immediately available to comment Tuesday afternoon. Armor Holdings denied any responsibility or wrongdoing related to the government’s complaints in its agreement.
The latest settlement is part of a widespread federal investigation of several vendors who played a role in making the defective bulletproof vests. The government has previously settled with three other companies, including aerospace supplier Hexcel Corp., for a total of $16 million.
“The Justice Department will not tolerate its first responders wearing defective bulletproof vests,” said Gregory Katsas, the assistant attorney general for the civil division. “This settlement will help ensure that first responders receive the highest quality ballistic protection.”
In June, the government sued diversified manufacturer Honeywell International Inc. for selling defective material used in the bulletproof vests and for failing to notify the government or Armor Holdings of the defect.
The fabric used in Honeywell’s Zylon Shield was supplied by Japan’s Toyobo Co. Ltd. and its U.S. subsidiary Toyobo America Inc. Honeywell patented its Zylon Shield and later sold it to Armor Holdings and its subsidiaries.
Between 2000 and 2005, the U.S. paid $1.3 million for more than 1,700 vests sold by Armor Holdings that contained Honeywell’s Zylon Shield. The government has paid roughly another $20 million for more than 11,000 bulletproof vests made with the Zylon Shield.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By DONNA BORAK
AP Business Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Armor Holdings Inc. will pay $30 million to resolve allegations that it knowingly made and then sold defective bulletproof vests to law enforcement personnel, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
Armor Holdings, now a subsidiary of British defense conglomerate BAE Systems PLC, allegedly had information that showed ballistic materials known as the Zylon Shield, “degraded quickly over time” and were unfit for use by state and local law enforcement agencies, according to the government settlement.
A representative from BAE Systems was not immediately available to comment Tuesday afternoon. Armor Holdings denied any responsibility or wrongdoing related to the government’s complaints in its agreement.
The latest settlement is part of a widespread federal investigation of several vendors who played a role in making the defective bulletproof vests. The government has previously settled with three other companies, including aerospace supplier Hexcel Corp., for a total of $16 million.
“The Justice Department will not tolerate its first responders wearing defective bulletproof vests,” said Gregory Katsas, the assistant attorney general for the civil division. “This settlement will help ensure that first responders receive the highest quality ballistic protection.”
In June, the government sued diversified manufacturer Honeywell International Inc. for selling defective material used in the bulletproof vests and for failing to notify the government or Armor Holdings of the defect.
The fabric used in Honeywell’s Zylon Shield was supplied by Japan’s Toyobo Co. Ltd. and its U.S. subsidiary Toyobo America Inc. Honeywell patented its Zylon Shield and later sold it to Armor Holdings and its subsidiaries.
Between 2000 and 2005, the U.S. paid $1.3 million for more than 1,700 vests sold by Armor Holdings that contained Honeywell’s Zylon Shield. The government has paid roughly another $20 million for more than 11,000 bulletproof vests made with the Zylon Shield.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
US woman loses appeal in ‘milkshake murder’ trial
Date: 10/6/2008 12:29 AM
By DIKKY SINN
Associated Press Writer
HONG KONG (AP) _ An American woman lost an appeal Monday of her conviction in a Hong Kong court for the beating death of her husband in a sensational case widely known as the “milkshake murder” trial.
Dressed in black, Nancy Kissel nodded her head and appeared to be holding back tears when a judge announced the decision in the Court of Appeal. Kissel, who suffered a knee injury in prison, limped out of the courtroom aided by two policewomen.
The 44-year-old housewife from Minnesota was convicted in 2005 of giving her husband a milkshake laced with sedatives before fatally bashing the wealthy banker on the head with a metal ornament in 2003.
Kissel said she was defending herself from an abusive husband and appealed the conviction and her life sentence in prison. But prosecutors argued Kissel was a cold-blooded wife who planned the attack in the couple’s luxury apartment.
Defense attorney Simon Clarke said he was “very disappointed” but not surprised by Monday’s ruling.
“This court doesn’t uphold many appeals at all,” Clarke said. “But we are expecting a better hearing at the Court of Final Appeal.”
The three-judge panel did not give approval for the case to proceed to a higher court, and Kissel will need to apply for permission to get the Court of Final Appeal to hear the case.
The defendant’s mother, Jean McGlothlin, said her daughter was fragile physically. But she added, “Her spirit is strong. Her will is strong. Her heart and mind are strong.”
The sensational trial has made headlines worldwide because of its allegations of drug abuse, kinky sex and adultery in the wealthy world of expatriates in this Asian financial center.
Kissel said her then 40-year-old husband, Robert, an investment banker for Merrill Lynch, was an erratic whiskey-swilling workaholic who also snorted cocaine and forced her to have painful anal sex. She testified that she killed him as he was threatening her with a baseball bat in a quarrel.
During the appeal hearings, Kissel’s defense lawyer said the woman suffered an abnormality of mind that substantially impaired her self-control.
But prosecutors argued that Kissel was a cold-blooded, scheming woman who plotted to kill her husband. They said Robert Kissel of New York had been angry about his wife’s affair with a repairman who worked on the couple’s vacation home in the northeastern U.S. state of Vermont. He had planned to seek a divorce just before she killed him.
Robert Kissel’s estate was worth US$18 million in life insurance, stocks and properties before he was murdered, prosecutors said.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By DIKKY SINN
Associated Press Writer
HONG KONG (AP) _ An American woman lost an appeal Monday of her conviction in a Hong Kong court for the beating death of her husband in a sensational case widely known as the “milkshake murder” trial.
Dressed in black, Nancy Kissel nodded her head and appeared to be holding back tears when a judge announced the decision in the Court of Appeal. Kissel, who suffered a knee injury in prison, limped out of the courtroom aided by two policewomen.
The 44-year-old housewife from Minnesota was convicted in 2005 of giving her husband a milkshake laced with sedatives before fatally bashing the wealthy banker on the head with a metal ornament in 2003.
Kissel said she was defending herself from an abusive husband and appealed the conviction and her life sentence in prison. But prosecutors argued Kissel was a cold-blooded wife who planned the attack in the couple’s luxury apartment.
Defense attorney Simon Clarke said he was “very disappointed” but not surprised by Monday’s ruling.
“This court doesn’t uphold many appeals at all,” Clarke said. “But we are expecting a better hearing at the Court of Final Appeal.”
The three-judge panel did not give approval for the case to proceed to a higher court, and Kissel will need to apply for permission to get the Court of Final Appeal to hear the case.
The defendant’s mother, Jean McGlothlin, said her daughter was fragile physically. But she added, “Her spirit is strong. Her will is strong. Her heart and mind are strong.”
The sensational trial has made headlines worldwide because of its allegations of drug abuse, kinky sex and adultery in the wealthy world of expatriates in this Asian financial center.
Kissel said her then 40-year-old husband, Robert, an investment banker for Merrill Lynch, was an erratic whiskey-swilling workaholic who also snorted cocaine and forced her to have painful anal sex. She testified that she killed him as he was threatening her with a baseball bat in a quarrel.
During the appeal hearings, Kissel’s defense lawyer said the woman suffered an abnormality of mind that substantially impaired her self-control.
But prosecutors argued that Kissel was a cold-blooded, scheming woman who plotted to kill her husband. They said Robert Kissel of New York had been angry about his wife’s affair with a repairman who worked on the couple’s vacation home in the northeastern U.S. state of Vermont. He had planned to seek a divorce just before she killed him.
Robert Kissel’s estate was worth US$18 million in life insurance, stocks and properties before he was murdered, prosecutors said.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Brain Injury Association of America Policy Corner E-Newsletter – October 3, 2008
A weekly update on federal policy activity related to traumatic brain injury
__________________________________________________________________
Dear Advocates:
In late breaking news from the United States Capitol, Congress has just approved a $700 billion financial bailout package, which also includes landmark mental health parity legislation (H.R. 1424/S. 558) and dozens of expiring tax breaks for businesses and individuals.
This legislation was sent in an expedited fashion this afternoon to President Bush who signed the measure into law hours after its passage.
As the previous edition of Policy Corner noted, several important legislative developments occurred last week, and this week’s edition of Policy Corner includes additional details about these developments as they pertain to brain injury policy.
It remains unclear whether Congress will return for a lame duck session in November after the elections, although at least a short session appears likely for the Senate the week of November 17. BIAA will provide an update on the remainder of this year’s congressional schedule as soon as this information available.
*Distributed by Laura Schiebelhut, BIAA Director of Government Affairs, on behalf of the Brain Injury Association of America; 703-761-0750 ext. 637; lschiebelhut@biausa.org
BIAA’s Policy Corner and Legislative Action Alerts are made possible by the Centre for Neuro Skills, James F. Humphreys & Associates, and Lakeview Healthcare Systems, Inc. The Brain Injury Association of America gratefully acknowledges their support for legislative action.
To sign up to receive future BIAA Policy Corner E-Newsletters and Legislative Action Alerts, please go to http://capwiz.com/bia/mlm/signup/
__________________________________________________________________
Congress Passes Financial Bailout Legislation, Mental Health Parity
In late breaking news from the United States Capitol, Congress has just approved a $700 billion financial bailout package, which also includes landmark mental health parity legislation (H.R. 1424/S. 558) and dozens of expiring tax breaks for businesses and individuals.
This marks a tremendous victory for mental health advocates and others who have supported efforts to enact a parity bill for years. This legislation will require private health insurers to offer mental health and addiction benefits equal in cost and scope to traditional medical benefits.
Earlier this year, BIAA strongly endorsed the House version of this legislation. In a letter officially endorsing the bill in March, BIAA noted, “An intricate and intertwined relationship exists between substance abuse, mental health, and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Substance use and abuse is often both an antecedent to and a consequence of TBI.”
Upon its passage this afternoon, one of the bill’s sponsors and leading champions, Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI), stated:
“This legislation is one more step in the long civil rights struggle to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to reach their potential. For far too long, health insurance companies have used the stigma of mental illness and substance abuse as an excuse to deny coverage for those biological disorders. That ends today when this critical legislation outlaws the discrimination that is embedded in our laws and our policies.”
Other bill sponsors and leading supporters include Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-MN) in the House of Representatives, as well as Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) in the Senate. Late Senator Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) was also a leading champion of this legislation.
Appropriations Update
Last week, the House passed an omnibus continuing appropriations bill to fund most government programs – including TBI and trauma-related programs – at Fiscal 2008 (last year’s) levels until March 6, 2009.
Over the weekend, the Senate also passed this omnibus legislative package and forwarded it to President Bush, who signed it into law just hours before the beginning of the new fiscal year on October 1.
This massive year-end spending package includes a Continuing Resolution (CR) which funds programs covered by nine unfinished appropriations bills (including the Fiscal 2009 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill, which contains funding for key federal TBI programs) at Fiscal 2008 levels until enactment of the bills or March 6, 2009 – whichever comes first. This essentially leaves final funding decisions on domestic programs to the next Congress and president.
Within this CR, all civilian health programs, including TBI and trauma-related programs, are funded at Fiscal 2008 levels. These Fiscal 2008 levels, and thus continuing funding levels through the beginning of next year, are as follows:
CDC TBI Programs (HHS): $5.709 million
HRSA TBI Programs (HHS) (HRSA TBI State Grant Program and Protection and Advocacy Systems): $8.754 million
TBI Model Systems of Care (NIDRR/Department of Education): $8.155 million
In addition to the CR to provide continuing appropriations for most federal programs, the omnibus bill also includes three Fiscal 2009 appropriations bills in their entirety. These three appropriations bills are those that fund Defense, Homeland Security and Military Construction-VA for all of FY 2009.
The Defense appropriations measure included in this legislative package contains $300 million in funding for Traumatic Brain Injury and Psychological Health initiatives within the Department of Defense.
The Military Construction-VA appropriations measure includes $41 billion in funding for the Veterans Health Administration (veterans medical care), representing $1.8 billion above the President’s budget request earlier this year and $4.1 billion above 2008 levels. This funding bill also provides $510 million in funding for Medical and Prosthetic Research, including cutting edge research into areas such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury, suicide prevention, and polytrauma. This funding level for research represents $30 million above 2008 levels, and rejects a $38 million cut proposed by President Bush.
The Military Construction-VA appropriations bill contained in this omnibus legislative package also included important report language (strongly supported by BIAA) urging the Department of Veterans Affairs to increase returning servicemembers’ access to TBI care and expertise in the civilian sector. Specifically, the Explanatory Statement accompanying this bill states:
“The Appropriations Committees strongly urge the Department to establish and expand cooperative agreements with public and private entities with neurobehavioral rehabilitation and recovery experience in the treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) as recommended in section 1703 of Public Law 110-181” [FY 2008 National Defense Authorization Act].”
In addition, the bill provides $200 million for fee-based services intended to allow the VA to tap expertise in the public and private sector for health care that may not be readily available within VA medical centers.
Congress Authorizes VA Epilepsy Centers of Excellence
Last week, the House passed an omnibus veterans health care package (S. 2612), including key provisions of The Epilepsy Centers of Excellence Act (H.R. 2818/S. 2004), which BIAA has strongly endorsed.
Over the weekend, the Senate also passed this legislation and it is expected to be signed into law by the President imminently.
The legislation, championed by the American Academy of Neurology and endorsed by BIAA, anticipates an expected increase in the number of TBI-related epilepsy cases among veterans returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bill will create up to six Epilepsy Centers of Excellence (ECoE) at the Depart ment of Veterans’ Affairs (VA), and is aimed at restoring the VA as a national leader in epilepsy care and research.
The bill was sponsored by Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) in the House of Representatives and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) in the Senate.
Congress Clears FY 2009 Defense Authorization Bill For President’s Signature
Within the past few days, Congress also passed the FY 2009 defense authorization bill (S. 3001). This legislation contains a “Sense of Congress on TBI Research.” Specifically, the bill states in Sec. 725:
“It is the sense of Congress that the requirement under section 1621(c)(7) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110–181; 122 Stat. 453; 10 U.S.C. 1071note) to conduct basic science and translational research on traumatic brain injury includes pilot programs designed to test the efficacy of clinical approaches, including the use of pharmacological agents. Congress urges continued studies of the efficacy of pharmacological agents for treatment of traumatic brain injury and supports continued joint research with the National Institutes of Health in this area.”
BIAA Signs on To Coalition Letter Opposing Proposed Medicaid Outpatient Regulation
BIAA recently signed on to a coalition letter urging Congress to enact a moratorium on a regulation proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to restrict Medicaid reimbursement for outpatient services. This regulation is termed the “Medicaid Outpatient Clinic and Hospital Services Rule,” and it would reduce federal Medicaid funding to states for freestanding health clinics and hospital outpatient departments.
This regulation, published on September 28, 2007 – and expected to be finalized in November of this year – would cut Medicaid reimbursement to many types of outpatient services, including services utilized by individuals with brain injury. [72 Federal Regulation 55158 to 55166 (to be codified at 42 C.F.R. 440, 447 and sometimes referred to as CMS 2213-P).]
To prevent finalization of this rule, BIAA has joined the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities in urging Congress to enact a moratorium delaying implementation of this harmful regulation through April 2009.
In a heartening development, this week Members of Congress introduced legislation aimed at enacting such a moratorium.
Yesterday, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) introduced the “Preserving Access to Healthcare” (PATH) Act of 2008, which would, among other provisions, delay the proposed Medicaid outpatient regulation by six months.
In addition, earlier this week, Rep. John McHugh (R-NY) introduced H.R. 7219, the Protecting Hospital Outpatient and Community Clinic Services Act of 2008, which would provide a moratorium on the regulation.
BIAA strongly supports these legislative efforts.
BIAA Representatives Attend Trauma Spectrum Disorders Conference
Multiple BIAA representatives attended this week a scientific conference titled, “Trauma Spectrum Disorders: The Role of Gender, Race & Other Socioeconomic Factors.”
This conference – jointly sponsored by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the National Institutes of Health – focused on identifying and sharing knowledge and lessons learned about gender and race as they relate to psychological health and traumatic brain injury.
Presentations made at this conference are expected to soon be made publicly available on the Defense Center of Excellence’s website: http://www.dcoe.health.mil/.
__________________________________________________________________
Dear Advocates:
In late breaking news from the United States Capitol, Congress has just approved a $700 billion financial bailout package, which also includes landmark mental health parity legislation (H.R. 1424/S. 558) and dozens of expiring tax breaks for businesses and individuals.
This legislation was sent in an expedited fashion this afternoon to President Bush who signed the measure into law hours after its passage.
As the previous edition of Policy Corner noted, several important legislative developments occurred last week, and this week’s edition of Policy Corner includes additional details about these developments as they pertain to brain injury policy.
It remains unclear whether Congress will return for a lame duck session in November after the elections, although at least a short session appears likely for the Senate the week of November 17. BIAA will provide an update on the remainder of this year’s congressional schedule as soon as this information available.
*Distributed by Laura Schiebelhut, BIAA Director of Government Affairs, on behalf of the Brain Injury Association of America; 703-761-0750 ext. 637; lschiebelhut@biausa.org
BIAA’s Policy Corner and Legislative Action Alerts are made possible by the Centre for Neuro Skills, James F. Humphreys & Associates, and Lakeview Healthcare Systems, Inc. The Brain Injury Association of America gratefully acknowledges their support for legislative action.
To sign up to receive future BIAA Policy Corner E-Newsletters and Legislative Action Alerts, please go to http://capwiz.com/bia/mlm/signup/
__________________________________________________________________
Congress Passes Financial Bailout Legislation, Mental Health Parity
In late breaking news from the United States Capitol, Congress has just approved a $700 billion financial bailout package, which also includes landmark mental health parity legislation (H.R. 1424/S. 558) and dozens of expiring tax breaks for businesses and individuals.
This marks a tremendous victory for mental health advocates and others who have supported efforts to enact a parity bill for years. This legislation will require private health insurers to offer mental health and addiction benefits equal in cost and scope to traditional medical benefits.
Earlier this year, BIAA strongly endorsed the House version of this legislation. In a letter officially endorsing the bill in March, BIAA noted, “An intricate and intertwined relationship exists between substance abuse, mental health, and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Substance use and abuse is often both an antecedent to and a consequence of TBI.”
Upon its passage this afternoon, one of the bill’s sponsors and leading champions, Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI), stated:
“This legislation is one more step in the long civil rights struggle to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to reach their potential. For far too long, health insurance companies have used the stigma of mental illness and substance abuse as an excuse to deny coverage for those biological disorders. That ends today when this critical legislation outlaws the discrimination that is embedded in our laws and our policies.”
Other bill sponsors and leading supporters include Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-MN) in the House of Representatives, as well as Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) in the Senate. Late Senator Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) was also a leading champion of this legislation.
Appropriations Update
Last week, the House passed an omnibus continuing appropriations bill to fund most government programs – including TBI and trauma-related programs – at Fiscal 2008 (last year’s) levels until March 6, 2009.
Over the weekend, the Senate also passed this omnibus legislative package and forwarded it to President Bush, who signed it into law just hours before the beginning of the new fiscal year on October 1.
This massive year-end spending package includes a Continuing Resolution (CR) which funds programs covered by nine unfinished appropriations bills (including the Fiscal 2009 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill, which contains funding for key federal TBI programs) at Fiscal 2008 levels until enactment of the bills or March 6, 2009 – whichever comes first. This essentially leaves final funding decisions on domestic programs to the next Congress and president.
Within this CR, all civilian health programs, including TBI and trauma-related programs, are funded at Fiscal 2008 levels. These Fiscal 2008 levels, and thus continuing funding levels through the beginning of next year, are as follows:
CDC TBI Programs (HHS): $5.709 million
HRSA TBI Programs (HHS) (HRSA TBI State Grant Program and Protection and Advocacy Systems): $8.754 million
TBI Model Systems of Care (NIDRR/Department of Education): $8.155 million
In addition to the CR to provide continuing appropriations for most federal programs, the omnibus bill also includes three Fiscal 2009 appropriations bills in their entirety. These three appropriations bills are those that fund Defense, Homeland Security and Military Construction-VA for all of FY 2009.
The Defense appropriations measure included in this legislative package contains $300 million in funding for Traumatic Brain Injury and Psychological Health initiatives within the Department of Defense.
The Military Construction-VA appropriations measure includes $41 billion in funding for the Veterans Health Administration (veterans medical care), representing $1.8 billion above the President’s budget request earlier this year and $4.1 billion above 2008 levels. This funding bill also provides $510 million in funding for Medical and Prosthetic Research, including cutting edge research into areas such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury, suicide prevention, and polytrauma. This funding level for research represents $30 million above 2008 levels, and rejects a $38 million cut proposed by President Bush.
The Military Construction-VA appropriations bill contained in this omnibus legislative package also included important report language (strongly supported by BIAA) urging the Department of Veterans Affairs to increase returning servicemembers’ access to TBI care and expertise in the civilian sector. Specifically, the Explanatory Statement accompanying this bill states:
“The Appropriations Committees strongly urge the Department to establish and expand cooperative agreements with public and private entities with neurobehavioral rehabilitation and recovery experience in the treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) as recommended in section 1703 of Public Law 110-181” [FY 2008 National Defense Authorization Act].”
In addition, the bill provides $200 million for fee-based services intended to allow the VA to tap expertise in the public and private sector for health care that may not be readily available within VA medical centers.
Congress Authorizes VA Epilepsy Centers of Excellence
Last week, the House passed an omnibus veterans health care package (S. 2612), including key provisions of The Epilepsy Centers of Excellence Act (H.R. 2818/S. 2004), which BIAA has strongly endorsed.
Over the weekend, the Senate also passed this legislation and it is expected to be signed into law by the President imminently.
The legislation, championed by the American Academy of Neurology and endorsed by BIAA, anticipates an expected increase in the number of TBI-related epilepsy cases among veterans returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bill will create up to six Epilepsy Centers of Excellence (ECoE) at the Depart ment of Veterans’ Affairs (VA), and is aimed at restoring the VA as a national leader in epilepsy care and research.
The bill was sponsored by Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) in the House of Representatives and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) in the Senate.
Congress Clears FY 2009 Defense Authorization Bill For President’s Signature
Within the past few days, Congress also passed the FY 2009 defense authorization bill (S. 3001). This legislation contains a “Sense of Congress on TBI Research.” Specifically, the bill states in Sec. 725:
“It is the sense of Congress that the requirement under section 1621(c)(7) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110–181; 122 Stat. 453; 10 U.S.C. 1071note) to conduct basic science and translational research on traumatic brain injury includes pilot programs designed to test the efficacy of clinical approaches, including the use of pharmacological agents. Congress urges continued studies of the efficacy of pharmacological agents for treatment of traumatic brain injury and supports continued joint research with the National Institutes of Health in this area.”
BIAA Signs on To Coalition Letter Opposing Proposed Medicaid Outpatient Regulation
BIAA recently signed on to a coalition letter urging Congress to enact a moratorium on a regulation proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to restrict Medicaid reimbursement for outpatient services. This regulation is termed the “Medicaid Outpatient Clinic and Hospital Services Rule,” and it would reduce federal Medicaid funding to states for freestanding health clinics and hospital outpatient departments.
This regulation, published on September 28, 2007 – and expected to be finalized in November of this year – would cut Medicaid reimbursement to many types of outpatient services, including services utilized by individuals with brain injury. [72 Federal Regulation 55158 to 55166 (to be codified at 42 C.F.R. 440, 447 and sometimes referred to as CMS 2213-P).]
To prevent finalization of this rule, BIAA has joined the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities in urging Congress to enact a moratorium delaying implementation of this harmful regulation through April 2009.
In a heartening development, this week Members of Congress introduced legislation aimed at enacting such a moratorium.
Yesterday, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) introduced the “Preserving Access to Healthcare” (PATH) Act of 2008, which would, among other provisions, delay the proposed Medicaid outpatient regulation by six months.
In addition, earlier this week, Rep. John McHugh (R-NY) introduced H.R. 7219, the Protecting Hospital Outpatient and Community Clinic Services Act of 2008, which would provide a moratorium on the regulation.
BIAA strongly supports these legislative efforts.
BIAA Representatives Attend Trauma Spectrum Disorders Conference
Multiple BIAA representatives attended this week a scientific conference titled, “Trauma Spectrum Disorders: The Role of Gender, Race & Other Socioeconomic Factors.”
This conference – jointly sponsored by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the National Institutes of Health – focused on identifying and sharing knowledge and lessons learned about gender and race as they relate to psychological health and traumatic brain injury.
Presentations made at this conference are expected to soon be made publicly available on the Defense Center of Excellence’s website: http://www.dcoe.health.mil/.