What are some veteran issues you feel are being ignored that someone could write about?

The way VA Clinics are changing appointment times on Vets and not informing them about it. Some Veteran Clinics work it where their Fridays aren't busy so they sit at the computers and just start cancelling appointments but they don't tell the Veteran about it. This happens in the Columbus, GA VA Clinic. This is one location where it goes on so I'm sure it goes on with other places, too. There are too many VA personnel working for VA that forget that they have work because of the Veteran but after a while they forget this. They start acting like they are the ones that are owed the "thank you" instead of the Veteran. The personnel working in the Columbus Clinic should be fired for their actions. I'm sure the VA has a system to know about cancelled appointments and ask the Veterans if they knew about the cancellation to verify the information.

How about the POSITIVE side of the VA? There's SO MUCH negativity out there, and to be honest there is MANY really happy Veterans with the VA.
Why does it always have to be the negative crap that's shown to the world?? I am a Combat Veteran and I am an employee of the VA, and I work my ass off as do MANY people in the VA. Do a story on that....it would be refreshing to see positives!!!

The VA has been getting attention for the medical treatment side (though my wait times have actually increased) BUT....the true problem is their inability to manage claims and process payments they owe to veterans. They presently owe me $6600 because a computer "glitch" removed my kids as my dependents. This happened in 2012. It took me two years to reestablish them as dependents and though they have confirmed they owe me the $6600, they have yet to pay. I've written a letter to them every four months, my Senator fruitlessly tried to help, and what would take the VA five minutes to rectify has taken almost 4 years. The VA would be better off in the hands of the states vice the fed. I have applied for employment myself with the VA numerous times and found "unqualified" even with my masters degree. You want a story?? Contact me and I'll give you something to write about.

I am a female Reservist (with 10 1/2 years active duty). I seem to hit a double brick wall in getting my VA claim approved (it has been denied twice). I have a destroyed back, neck and knees that I'm sure were aggravated by overseas deployments and I was diagnosed with scoliosis in 1990 while on active duty. I have had 11 operations since 2008 including 5 lumbar discs fused, cervical fusion and bi-lateral total knee replacements. (All of the operations were a result of the progression and aggravation of scoliosis and all were paid for by myself and my personal insurance). I was found not fit for duty after a physical in the fall of 2008. The medical and administrative personnel in my superior command thought I should just retire because I had completed almost 28 years. Luckily, my Commanding Officer didn't agree we should treat our personnel like that so she referred me for a medical board. After gathering my civilian medical records, the medical folks lost them so I had to start all over. I reached 30 years of service on 31DEC2010 and was transferred to the Individual Ready Reserves so they could complete my medical board. I found out 10 months later after numerous inquiries that they had quietly administratively closed the medical board claiming I had completed 30 years which was proof I was fit for full duty and I was trying to game the system. They failed to check with the division that could prove I had been in a light duty non-deployable status due to my medical issues for the previous 5 years.

I have found many reservists have trouble with the VA unless they complained loudly enough to stay on active duty after drills or active duty due to injuries, but those of us who sucked it up or have wear and tear injuries aggravated by military service get ignored. Basically you have to game the system for a future favorable VA claim.

I have also found that females with non combat injuries, even if those injuries were in a combat zone are not taken seriously because there is still a mindset that we are only chair borne Rangers. Less than two years after my medical board was closed a vertebrae in my neck caused a permanent spinal cord injury. Consequently, I have been left with nerve damage, balance problems that cause frequent falls, incontinence issues and I can't walk without arm crutches. I have to use a wheelchair for long distances, have nerve spasms, get frequent caudal blocks (spinal injections) and take morphine regularly for pain.

My ex husband was an active duty yeoman who rode a desk for 26 years with no sea time or OCONUS deployments. He was referred to a medical board after he had only 3 lumbar discs fused with no other injuries. He was easily medically retired with a VA disability rating that is now at 60 percent and promptly applied for social security which he received just as easily. He golfs, vacations, plays basketball etc., obviously the system is broken.

P.S. I got a disability retirement (against my will) in 2006 from the Ohio department of corrections and a social security disability in 2012 after an initial denial. The lack of a VA disability when my military service and scoliosis was the cause of my injuries is disgraceful and I am approximately $75,000 dollars in debt because I can't work and get no compensation from the military.

I am sorry for this lengthy post but it's a long complicated story and I'm sure I'm not alone.

LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow

Here you go:
Many of us have received in the past 96 - 24 hours, and email from the Veterans Benefits Administration stating MST (Military Sexual Trauma) can now be accorded service connection, with zero documentation. This is while things like Sleep Apnea, Dental issues that are from participation in SERVICE SANCTIONED team sports for INTRAMURAL service games get a demand for proving 'service connection'( equipment was paid for by each branch, authority for travel to and from games was given by each branch, so tell us again how it is not 'service connected' kicking Army, Navy, and Air Force on Okinawa, and in Japan or Korea when it was at the behst of each branch or the highest local commandant/commander). We (veterans) have had multiple denials for service connection at all levels, and if I am just on voice on this, I can certainly say there are thousands more.
I can say there are many other issues that have also been denied due to the demand for proof, yet MST requires absolutely no proof at all and is now granted service connection. If it is good for on, it is in the name of equality that it is good for all.

How about doing a piece on how the VA is charging your insurance co. for service connected disability visits & meds. I filed a claim back in 2011 at the Las Vegas VA and to this day haven't heard from.

Somebody could write about how Family Courts illegally abuse our Vet Benefits as cash cows. I'm not talking about Disability Comp. That was decided in Rose v. Rose. How about taking protected Chapter 31 subsistence allowances and making them Child Support ? How about the related IV Amendment, 14th and 5th Amendment violations? This topic goes very deep...but Family Courts operate in protected bubbles that nobody is willing to pop.

I have talked to several VA providers and have discovered that many vets are taking Whole hemp CBD extract/oil and marijuana illegally. They have seen their conditions dramatically improve and wish the Federal government would legalize these substances or every state would so the current regulations would allow them to help better assist these vets who need these treatments which have proven to be a far better treatment in many instances to the current FDA approved drugs. I don't understand why the FDA is so opposed to lowering marijuana to a class II drug which would allow it to be better studied and used appropriately in treatment? The international community has just meet and being in the health care profession myself, I have read through the 91 page international report and summarized it below. I know that for some people there are no approved FDA drugs that can treat their condition and Whole hemp CBD extract/oil and marijuana have been proven around the world to work for them. Hopefully this gives you something to discuss and think about.

I have heard all the argument against Whole hemp CBD extract/oil and marijuana. After the International meeting minutes here is my response to them.

1) There currently is not enough research done?
To date, more than 30,000 modern peer-reviewed scientific articles on the chemistry and pharmacology of Cannabis and the cannabinoids have been published, and more than 1,500 articles investigating the body's natural endocannabinoids are published every year. In recent years, modern gold-standard placebo-controlled human trials have also been conducted.
Cancer patients undergoing radiation and/or chemotherapy often suffer from significant
nausea, pain, and other unpleasant side effects of their treatment. The effects of oral THC
and mixed cannabinoid administration has been studied in more than 35 clinical trials for
the treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, and more than 40 clinical
studies have looked at appetite modulation by cannabinoids. Years before any U.S. State authorized the medical use of Cannabis, a 1991 Harvard Medical School study revealed that nearly half (44%) of U.S. oncologists were recommending Cannabis to their patients as a way of mitigating side effects associated with cancer treatment118.
http://american-safe-access.s3.amazonaws.com/criticalreview…
2) It is not an FDA approved Drug?
ASA cited more than 200 peer-reviewed studies in its appeal, but the D.C. Circuit held
that plaintiffs must produce evidence from Phase II and Phase III clinical trials -- usually
reserved for companies trying to bring a new drug to market -- in order to show
Cannabis’ medical efficacy. Long term, Phase II and III studies on medical Cannabis
will simply not be approved by the DEA or the NIDA under the current standards
regulating their national monopoly on Cannabis produced for clinical research, unless
Cannabis were to be rescheduled under the Conventions.
In 2002, the Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis, made up of several individuals and
organizations including ASA, filed a petition to reclassify Cannabis for medical use. That
petition was denied by the DEA in July 2011, after ASA sued the Obama Administration
for unreasonably delaying the answer. The appeal to the D.C. Circuit was the first time in
nearly 20 years that a federal court has reviewed the issue of whether adequate scientific
evidence exists to reclassify Cannabis. Before the January ruling, the D.C. Circuit had
never granted plaintiffs the right to sue when seeking reclassification of Cannabis.
Patient advocates claim that Cannabis is treated unlike any other controlled substance
and that politics have inappropriately dominated over medical science on this issue.
Advocates point to a research approval process for Cannabis, controlled by NIDA, which
is unique, overly rigorous, and effectively hinders meaningful pre-clinical and therapeutic
research. In its appeal brief, ASA argued that the DEA has no "license to apply different
criteria to marijuana than to other drugs, ignore critical scientific data, misrepresent social
science research, or rely upon unsubstantiated assumptions, as the DEA has done in this
case."
Patient advocacy groups such as ASA, continue to put pressure on the U.S. Presidential
administration, but are also lobbying Members of Congress to reclassify Cannabis for
A Conference on Harmonization of Global Cannabis Policy and Action, March 18-22
55 medical use. The Compassionate Access, Research Expansion, and Respect for States
(CARERs) Act has also been introduced, which in addition to rescheduling Cannabis
would allow states to establish Cannabis access laws and product safety regulations
without interference by the federal government, and would remove current obstacles to
research.
So the FDA won't change the class because the studies haven't been done. Studies can't be done until the class of the drug is changed. Catch 22!

3) They are worried about toxicity and it killing people
DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge, Francis Young, in response to a petition to reschedule Cannabis under federal law concluded in 1988 that, “In strict medical terms marijuana is far safer than many foods we commonly consume.... Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within the supervised routine. A Conference on Harmonization of Global Cannabis Policy and Action, March 18-22 21 of medical care65”.
At present, it is estimated that the human toxicity of Cannabis is around 1:20,000 or
1:40,000. In layman terms, this means that in order to induce death, a Cannabis smoker would have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 times as much Cannabis as is contained in on Cannabis cigarette64-66. (In 15 minutes to cause death in 50% of the people who took it without any medical intervention!) I don’t know if this is possible without putting it into IV form and infusing it via a central line (Cortis) directly into the heart with a level one infuser?
No scientifically significant negative neuropsychological sequelae have yet been attributable to Cannabis usage. Arguably, some of these studies remain limited by a number of factors that need to be controlled in future investigations. Primarily, Cannabis use and dosing needs to be confirmed in users with biological and chemical tests, as issues of dosing and patterns of use are confounding factors when not adjusted for. “The results of our meta-analytic study fail[s]…to reveal a substantial, systematic effect of long-term, regular Cannabis consumption on the neurocognitive functioning of users who were not acutely intoxicated89”
To date (27Mar2016), there has never been a single documented case of human fatality attributable to an overdose of Cannabis or its cannabinoids. Results of meta-analytic studies have thus far failed to reveal any substantial, systematic effect of long-term, regular Cannabis consumption that is not reversed by abstinence.
Pulmonary issues associated with Cannabis smoking include chronic bronchitis, particularly chronic cough, and sputum production, with more variable effects on wheezing and generally negative effects on breathlessness. However, these issues are avoidable by using vaporizer/volatilizer technology or alternative routes of administration111,112 . Importantly, lifetime use of Cannabis smoking is not associated with an increase incidence of lung cancer113.
Another confounding factor affecting a clearer understanding of long-term, chronic Cannabis use is the prevalence of serious adverse events concerning untoward Cannabis contaminants. Lung infection from bacterial and fungal contamination of plant materials, lead and other heavy metals poisoning, bronchial irritation from foreign particulate matter such as tiny pieces of broken glass, concomitant use of tobacco, calamus and other cholinergic compounds114,115– some side effects, both serious and non-serious, are due to contaminated products found on the black market. Illicit Cannabis products can represent a significant public health issue, like all compounds available via the black market, and adulterants might be seen as a clear infringement of the human rights of patients to procure safe medicine. Access to Cannabis products manufactured under appropriate quality assurance/quality control conditions – such as those properly standardized Cannabis products now available in 27 countries – are associated with significantly lower prevalence of negative health issues, both serious and non-serious. The illegality of Cannabis is a threat to the safety of using Cannabis as a medicine. Programs for supporting qualified individuals to access Cannabis, global product safety guidelines, or licensed/regulated Cannabis testing facilities help to ensure that the rights of medical consumers are respected
4) There is just not enough evidence that it is safe for patience to take at this time?
On April 19-21, 2016, the UNGASS will meet in New York City to discuss global drug policies. A roadmap for updating international Cannabis policy MUST be on the agenda. Today over two thirds of the population of the United States (U.S.) and its territories live in regions with medical Cannabis laws, and over 2.5 million individuals world-wide are legally using medical Cannabis. Canada, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Israel, Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Poland, Czech Republic, Croatia, Mexico, Chile, Uruguay, Jamaica and Columbia all have national medical Cannabis programs and dozens of other countries are reviewing legislation.
Access to Cannabis products manufactured under appropriate quality assurance/quality control conditions – such as those properly standardized Cannabis products now available in 27 countries – are associated with significantly lower prevalence of negative health issues, both serious and non-serious. The illegality of Cannabis is a threat to the safety of using Cannabis as a medicine. Programs for supporting qualified individuals to access Cannabis, global product safety guidelines, or licensed/regulated Cannabis testing facilities help to ensure that the rights of medical consumers are respected.
One such dosage-controlled THCCBD whole-plant extract – GW Pharmaceuticals' sublingual spray, Sativex® – has been shown in numerous clinical trials to ease pain, decrease spasm frequency, and improve bladder control and quality of sleep. Clinical trials of Sativex® found “a statistically significant and clinically relevant improvement in spasticity…and was well tolerated in MS patients237.” As of June 2012, Sativex® is available by prescription in the UK, Spain, Germany, and Denmark for the symptomatic relief of spasticity, neuropathic pain, or both, in adults with MS. It has now been approved for distribution in Italy, Sweden, Austria, and the Czech Republic, with recommendations for approval in Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, and Slovakia.
I figure if all of these countries are allowing or considering allowing whole plant extract/oil for treatment of diagnosis of pain, improvement of bladder control and quality of sleep. We should be able to allow it for intractable (Un-treatable by current FDA approved medications) seizure patients who can die or at the very least suffer great pain and disability from their condition! In Indiana alone we have over 20,000 children who suffer from this condition according to the Indiana Epilepsy Foundation.
5) There is not public support for it?
Over the past decade, U.S national polls have consistently ranked support for medical Cannabis among Americans at around 80%. Various efforts to reschedule Cannabis in the U.S. based on medical and scientific information have been stymied. A medical marijuana patient advocacy group, Americans for Safe Access (ASA), filed a petition with the federal court of appeals to reclassify Cannabis for medical use. Plaintiffs in the case ASA v. DEA are requesting a rehearing before the original panel, as well as seeking full (en banc) review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (D.C.) Circuit. The D.C. Circuit granted plaintiffs standing -- the right to sue the federal government to reclassify Cannabis -- but, in a 2-1 ruling, denied the appeal on the merits by setting a new standard for assessing medical efficacy. While Cannabis remains a Schedule I drug, this new standard is virtually impossible to meet.
Summary: Cannabinoids represent a provocative, mostly untapped resource for therapeutic intervention of many human diseases. The research listed here, coupled with the extensive work done on all other neuroprotective properties of various Cannabis components, indicates that cannabinoid-based therapies may become a primary source of effective treatments for battling the myriad central nervous system diseases that afflict hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Our growing knowledge and pharmamentarium of cannabinoidergic medicine may provide a great source of pharmacological and biochemical solace in the years to come338,339.
Summary: While aggressive rhetoric has plagued medicinal Cannabis use, evidence of relative harmlessness, as compared to other drugs, is pervasive. The imperceptible LD50 of the cannabinoids, coupled to a clear historical record of anecdotal safety, contributes to a compelling likelihood that the cannabinoids are the safest class of medicinal compounds yet studied. The relative safety profile of Cannabis alone might be seen as strong motivation for further research.
http://american-safe-access.s3.amazonaws.com/criticalreview…
american-safe-access.s3.amazonaws.com
AMERICAN-SAFE-ACCESS.S3.AMAZONAWS.COM

Female veteran's suffering with PTSD and anxiety should not belated in psych wards that are 90 percent male veterans. The VA needs to have wards for these soldiers. Separating them by a hallway does not address their needs as they have to eat, be on the day room and stand in line for medications with men. This can hinder these females from getting the services they need. I know many female veterans that will avoid care because of these issues.

In the Hampton VA located on VA, they do not allow anyone to wear underwear or any kind of clothing under pajamas. Most women want a tee shirt and underwear, especially if they are suffering from MST ( military sexual trauma.

What are they doing with all the data they are getting on the suicide hotline?. Why does this seem to be the important part of the interaction?