Madigan PTSD team had superb reputation

Madigan PTSD team had superb reputation
Review: Internal memos show record

ADAM ASHTON; Staff writer
Mar. 04, 2012

17 CASES REVIEWED

Since the inquiries began, the Army has invited every soldier whose behavioral health diagnosis was changed at Madigan to get another review of their cases at Walter Reed. 

Madigan last year identified 17 soldiers who disagreed with their final diagnoses, according to multiple sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. They were invited in January to have their cases reviewed. 

Six had their PTSD diagnoses reinstated. Three opted not to take the Walter Reed review and eight had the Madigan results upheld.

Tacoma-area Army psychiatrists who made the final determination on soldiers’ post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses at Madigan Army Medical Center had a stellar national reputation until they fell under scrutiny this year.

They once identified false claims made by a soldier who lied about killing an innocent Iraqi girl in a ploy to gain a PTSD diagnosis, according to internal memos obtained by The News Tribune. It turned out the soldier had never deployed.

They also were known to diagnose PTSD in soldiers who had been given clean bills of health from other clinicians – the opposite of what the forensic psychiatry team members are accused of doing now.

“Quite frankly, they have an extensive track record for effectively diagnosing PTSD in hundreds if not thousands of active-duty military and Reserve personnel over the past several years without issue, and their success is unparalleled,” former Madigan commander retired Col. Jerome Penner told The News Tribune last week. He led the hospital until March 2011.

Now the once-golden unit based on the grounds of Joint Base Lewis-McChord is under fire as the Army carries out at least three separate investigations. The Army and elected leaders want to know whether the team adjusted behavioral health diagnoses for the right reasons, or whether it shortchanged service members who should get full PTSD benefits.

Forensic psychiatrists at Walter Reed Military Medical Center in Maryland have overturned six Madigan diagnoses from last year, and the Army has invited more soldiers to come forward and seek new opinions.

Washington Democrats Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Norm Dicks want to know if the Madigan doctors limited PTSD diagnoses in a misguided effort to save money.

Their fears are rooted in fall presentations by Madigan’s Dr. William Keppler in which he urged colleagues to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. Keppler told them a single PTSD diagnosis could cost as much as $1.5 million over time.
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