40% of PTSD cases at Madigan were reversed

40% of PTSD cases at Madigan were reversed
A Madigan Army Medical Center screening team reversed more than 40 percent of the post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses of patients under consideration for medical retirement since 2007, according to information released by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray.

By Hal Bernton
Seattle Times staff reporter

A Madigan Army Medical Center screening team reversed more than 40 percent of the post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses of patients under consideration for medical retirement since 2007, according to information released by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray.

The statistics were compiled as part of an ongoing Army Medical Command investigation into the screening team's practices. The team has been suspended from PTSD evaluations, and the Army Medical Command is offering new evaluations to patients whose diagnoses were reversed.

Citing a need to "protect the integrity of the process" during ongoing investigations, the Western Regional Medical Command, in a statement released to The Seattle Times, declined to comment on the statistics released by Murray.

The investigation was triggered, in part, by soldiers who were concerned by the decision to take away their PTSD diagnoses and, in some cases, tag them as possible malingerers.

Originally diagnosed by other Army or Department of Veterans Affairs doctors, some had been receiving extensive treatment for months or years when the screening team evaluated them.

A PTSD diagnosis can qualify a soldier for the considerable financial benefits of a medical retirement. Those include a pension, health insurance for spouse and dependents and commissary privileges.
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