By Staff, PHX News, June 12, 2008

12 Jun 2008 // The Department of Veterans Affairs has denied a request [0] for a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) fee waiver by the nonpartisan watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) on the under-diagnosing [1] of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The decision forces CREW to pay for the costs of finding and copying documents.

In a four-page denial letter, the Veteran Affairs chief counsel wrote that CREW is not entitled to a fee wavier because the documents requested would not "significantly contribute to the public's understanding" or "reveal anything new." CREW's request was prompted by an internal VA e-mail [1] obtained by CREW and VoteVets.org that instructed VA staff to "refrain from giving a diagnosis of PTSD straight out" and to consider a diagnosis of the less-serious "adjustment disorder" instead. VA Secretary James Peake said last month that concerns about PTSD in veterans are "overblown," [2] and many veterans suffering from PTSD just "might need a little counseling."