Is the Veteran Care money well spent?

2015-08-13T09:23:49-04:00

U.S. Pays for Scientology ‘Experiment’ on Sick Veterans

Thanks to taxpayer dollars, a research team is testing L. Ron Hubbard’s controversial ‘purification’ theories on veterans suffering from Gulf War Syndrome.

Inside a tiny sauna located underneath a brick business park in Annapolis, Maryland, a large man has been sitting and sweating for almost four hours.

Participant No. 29 is a veteran of the first Gulf War and a subject in a government-funded study aimed at treating the nebulous cluster of symptoms known as Gulf War Syndrome. Wearing gym shorts and a wide grin, he rakes a hand towel up and down his soaked upper body, then waves and yells through the glass door, “C’mon in!”

“I was going to be done today,” he tells Crystal Grant, the project’s affable coordinator. “But… I had some more junk come out of my legs. Some black stuff. So I’m going to do one more day and see if I can clean it all out.”

The room just outside where Participant 29 perspires is filled with cardio equipment, a couple of stationary bikes and treadmills where the veterans begin their sessions by running. According to the project’s hypothesis, this will dislodge “toxins” that have been stored in the veterans’ fat deposits for more than a quarter of a century, and which they can then perspire out in the steam bath. This theory about the toxins, and how to get rid of them, is known as the “Hubbard method.” It’s named after L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Church of Scientology, who was also the man to concoct it.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/08/12/you-re-paying-for-scientology-s-gulf-war-syndrome-experiment.html

U.S. Pays for Scientology ‘Experiment’ on Sick Veterans

Thanks to taxpayer dollars, a research team is testing L. Ron Hubbard’s controversial theories on veterans suffering from Gulf War Syndrome.

Response by LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow made Aug 13 at 2015 9:28 AM

2015-08-13T09:28:16-04:00

Saunas will not cure most medical ailments. If the illness is caused by the stress and anxiety from PTSD, it is possible that relaxation techniques including saunas may help there.

A better way of relaxing for health, however, would be to use Jon Kabat Zinn's program "Full Catastrophe Living" including his meditation/yoga CDs.

I know some Native Americans use the Sweat Lodge for this purpose as well.

As far as research dollars go, it is very common to try alternative therapies. If a holistic approach can relieve symptoms, that is better than using medications, because every medication has problems with it...

Response by PO2 Brandon Boucher made Aug 13 at 2015 9:40 AM

2015-08-13T09:40:42-04:00

What better way to prove whether or not alternative methods work? This country is so hell bent on the magic pill theory that age old methods and alternative treatments are looked down on.

Personally, I know that alternative therapies have worked to increase my quality of life. I've also been asked to collaborate on a study of energy work and meditation to improve life for Veterans suffering from PTSD and TBI, if these methods can help improve the life of one veteran. ..then it is money well spent.

Big pharma would rather treat symptoms for a lifetime then provide a cure, so we need to take matters into our own hands.

Response by PO1 Mike Edgecomb made Aug 13 at 2015 10:53 AM

2015-08-13T10:53:10-04:00

From the VA:

The President’s 2016 Budget includes $168.8 billion for VA in 2016. This includes $70.2 billion in discretionary resources and $95.3 billion in mandatory funding. Our discretionary budget request represents an increase of $5.2 billion, or 7.5 percent, over the 2015 enacted level.

VA is charged with fulfilling President Lincoln’s promise to care for those “who shall have
borne the battle, and for” their families and their survivors. To support this mission, the 2016
Budget provides $70.2 billion in discretionary funding for VA, a 7.9 percent increase above the
2015 enacted level. In addition, the budget includes $3.2 billion in estimated medical care
collections, for a total discretionary budget authority of $73.5 billion (which includes $3.2 billion
in Medical Care Collections), and $95.3 billion for VA’s mandatory benefit programs.

This funding level will provide the resources to fulfill VA’s mission to provide timely, quality
health care and services to veterans. It will allow VA to operate one of the largest integrated
healthcare systems in the country, serving approximately 9.4 million veterans enrolled to receive
care; a compensation benefits program for about 4.3 million veterans and 400,000 survivors, and
a pension benefits program for 306,000 veterans and 216,000 survivors; the tenth largest life
insurance provider, covering both active duty servicemembers and veterans; an education
assistance program serving 1.2 million students; a home mortgage program with a portfolio of
over 2 million active loans, guaranteed by VA; and a national cemetery system that leads the
Nation as a high-performing organization projected to inter 129,200 veterans and their family
members in 2016. A

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Aug 14 at 2015 2:35 AM

2015-08-14T02:35:39-04:00

Nothing New. Veterans have always been guinea pigs. I had to do my Final for Cultural Anthropology on "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" and that all came about with the VA experimenting with LSD on Veterans.