Last month, the New York Times published an article entitled “Scuba, Parrots, Yoga: “Veterans Embrace Alternative Therapies for PTSD.” The article focuses on Veterans with PTSD who seek alternative treatment programs.
In this article, author Dave Phillips, suggests that Veterans with PTSD (Post-traumatic stress) are seeking alternative treatment since conventional treatments approved by the Department of Veterans Affairs (the “VA”) are ...
Continue Reading →Many years ago I was reading a biographic sketch of the late Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau. According to the biography, teenager Trudeau was arrested by the Chinese police for throwing snowballs at a statue of Mao Zedong in Tiananmen Square.
He was released by Chinese police after explaining that “it was a Canadian tradition to throw snowballs at statues of famous people.” ...
Continue Reading →The gatekeepers at the Department of Veteran Affairs (the “VA”) remain intransigent in providing urgently need care to Veterans suffering from PTSD and/or TBI. Standard Operating Procedure (“SOP”) at the VA is to argue that FDA-approved clinical studies are needed to sanction treatment methods – regardless if these treatment alternatives have been used with success in many other countries for decades and, in some cases, hundreds of years.
Much has been written about the terrible long-term consequences of Post Traumatic Stress or “PTSD,” but there appears to be no clear way of treating PTSD. Some argue that PTSD is best treated using “psychological” methods to treat the trauma while others argue that certain war-related events (i.e. IEDs) cause physiological changes in the brain.
This dilemma makes diagnosing and treating PTSD so difficult. Based on SFTT’s experiences, we have ...
Continue Reading →Veterans have known for quite some time that something was amiss at the Department of Veteran Affairs (the “VA’) with their “go-to” promotion of prescription pain-killers to treat PTSD.
There are countless well-documented stories of extreme behavior changes – including suicide – of “over-served” Veterans that were provided a lethal cocktail prescription drugs by VA doctors.
A number of Veterans interviewed by SFTT indicated that they simply “flushed the drugs down the toilet,” while many others reported that there was a thriving black market for pain ...
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In yet another chapter of supreme arrogance and/or delusional behavior, Wounded Warriors Project (“WWP”) is issuing the following note to “dedicated supporters” – excerpts of which are quoted below:
Continue Reading →The Board of WWP has received the results of a review about allegations raised in the news about WWP. In connection with this independent and objective review, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett has been ...
“There are no two words more harmful in the English language than ‘good job,'” according to J. K. Simmons in his riveting role as a jazz instructor in Whiplash.
With all due respect, “good job” now must take back seat to “chipping away,” as President Obama declared in a recent visit ...
Continue Reading → People complain that the F.D.A. takes far too long in approving “new” drugs, but they seem to be equally obtuse in pointing out the dangers of using drugs they have already approved. According to a new article appearing in the New York Times, the F.D.A seeks tighter control on prescriptions for class of painkillers. I suppose we should be grateful that the guys and gals in the white robes in D.C. have finally come to their ...
Continue Reading →In an editorial opinion published in the New York Times on May 26th entitled ”
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The Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs have repeatedly promised to do a better job of handling the medical evaluations of wounded and disabled service members. Instead, they are doing worse.
The processing of disability cases is getting slower, not faster. Efforts to ensure a “seamless transition” out of the military are falling short. Men and women are languishing without treatment, struggling to readjust ...
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In a fascinating book review in the New York Times last Sunday, Jay McInerney writes extensively on a new biography on the reclusive J.D. Salinger entitled J.D. Salinger: A Life by Kenneth Slawenski. This iconic author, best known for Catcher in the Rye, was a transformational author who did much to goad the thinking of young men and women growing up in fifties and sixties. What was ...