A scandal over PTSD diagnoses at Madigan Army Hospitalhas triggered an Army-wide Inspector General investigation. That’s according to the Secretary of the Army, John McHugh.
He was questioned at length Wednesday by Washington Senator Patty Murray. She noted that 40 percent of soldiers who were evaluated by a special psychiatric team at Madigan had their Post Traumatic Stress Disorder diagnoses downgraded or reversed.
“Over four in ten of our service members, many who were already being treated for PTSD, and were due the benefits and care that came with that diagnosis, had it taken away by that unit," Murray said. "And then they were sent back into the force or into their community.”
Some of those soldiers are now getting re-evaluated at Walter Reed Army Hospital near Washington, DC.
There are indications that doctors at Madigan may have considered the cost of a PTSD diagnosis when determining a soldier’s condition. The psychiatric team has been suspended from conducting screenings pending the outcome of an investigation.
Copyright 2012 Northwest News Network