Legal Filings

Apr 17, 2009

CREW Files FOIA Request with Dept. of Army for Records Pertaining to PTSD Diagnosis

FOIA Requests (Legal Filings), Federal Agencies, US Army, FOIA

Today, CREW filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Department of the Army, seeking records related to guidance given to army staff and contractors regarding the diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). CREW seeks these records to raise public awareness about the process behind the diagnosis of PTSD and the pressure being placed on doctors to diagnose related anxiety disorders as a cost-cutting measure. The request was filed after Salon.com obtained a June 2008 taped conversation between an Army staff sergeant and an Army psychologist, in which the psychologist revealed he had been pressured to not diagnose PTSD.

In May 2008, CREW and VoteVets.org obtained and released an email from a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employee directing VA staff to refrain from diagnosing soldiers and veterans with PTSD. CREW and VoteVets called upon the Inspector General for the VA to initiate an immediate investigation and filed a FOIA request with the VA requesting all relevant materials. On June 4, 2008, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee held a hearing into the matter, listening to the testimonies of VA health officials. Committee Chairman Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI) blasted the VA, saying this incident had uncovered a “widespread indifference to the invisible wounds of war.”

Read CREW’s FOIA to the Department of the Army.

Click here to read the documents CREW received in response to this request.