With Big Cuts Coming to Defense Contracts, Evidence that the Army Doctors are Being Discouraged from PTSD Diagnoses

For the first update in a while, I just want to share a few stories worth noting form the last few weeks.

The biggest story I've seen in a while on PTSD is this Salon investigation into evidence that the Army's doctors are being encouraged to find other, less expensive diagnoses for patients with PTSD symptoms. One of the big questions about the long-term effects of the war has been how the Army will cope with the huge rush of soldiers coming back with PTSD. Based on this story, the answer seems to be, in part, that they'll find some other diagnosis. Plenty of parallels to the difficulty contractors have had with their PTSD claims.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' surprise announcement that he'd push for drastic cuts in defense contracting has a lot to do with big-budget weapons programs and contracts for new fighter jets. But the headlines, like the Washington Post's "Contracting Boom Could Fizzle Out" show that way down deep, this could be more about pushing back against the private interests that have become so well entrenched in U.S. military operations. It's an interesting signal of the new administration's intentions toward private contractors in the war.

Then there's this piece from the good people at the Medill news service in Washington -- a familiar story about the trouble contractors have had with their medical claims, including a name that will be familiar to fans of the show: Art Faust from Houston.