Gulf War Veterans Ditched Again

Veterans worry about Gulf War illness funding
By Kelly Kennedy - USA Today
Posted : Wednesday Oct 12, 2011 20:03:52 EDT
A congressional move to shift control of the flow of money to research a mysterious Gulf War illness has alarmed veterans of that conflict who fear the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments have little interest in uncovering the true causes of their ailments.

“In its short history, the program has funded more trials of promising treatments than all other government programs combined in the 20 years since these troops came home sick,” said Jim Binns, chairman of the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses. “It is by far the best hope to improve their health and to prevent similar illnesses in current and future conflicts.”

In the past, Binns said, VA research focused on the mental health issues of veterans of the 1991 Gulf War, while the Defense Department stopped funding research on Gulf War illness several years ago. Now, the Defense Department’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) exists only because Congress designates money to the Defense Department budget each year to study Gulf War illness.

But on Sept. 15, the Senate voted to exclude the program from next year’s Defense Appropriations Act, while the House, after a last-ditch amendment from Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, voted to fund it with $10 million.
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