More fallout from yesterday's hearing in the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.  The Committee called several staffers from the Department of Veterans Affairs.  Witnesses included Norma Perez, the VA hospital's PTSD program coordinator.   Last month, CREW and VoteVets [0] exposed an email sent by Perez to to a number of VA employees, including psychologists, social workers, and a psychiatrist stating that due to an increased number of “compensation seeking veterans,” the staff should “refrain from giving a diagnosis of PTSD straight out” and they should “R/O [rule out] PTSD” and consider a diagnosis of “Adjustment Disorder.”

At the hearing, Perez tried to explain and defend her actions, but Senators weren't convinced.  From the Honolulu Advertiser [1]:

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., a committee member, said he "didn't buy" Perez's explanation.

"She sent out an e-mail telling folks not to worry about real diagnoses but to diagnose people with this adjustment disorder," he said. "I just think that is criminal. If people are going to get the help they need in a timely manner, we need to do the best diagnosis we can."

After the hearing, Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said there is widespread misdiagnosis of veterans with PTSD to cut costs.

"It is unconscionable that administrators like Norma Perez and those higher up the food chain are instituting a process by which our service members are lied to on a regular basis," she said.

Jon Soltz, an Iraq war veteran and chairman of VoteVets.org, said the problem is serious.

"Veterans clearly are having problems getting diagnoses with PTSD, and even when they are diagnosed, cannot get approved for disability claims," he said. "This is shameful treatment of the men and women who fought for our nation in war."