This Week’s Not Commented on Story Part 1 of 4 – Shh! Like Heck We Will

This Week’s Not Commented on Story Part 1 of 4 – Shh! Like Heck We Will

VA DELIBERATELY CONCEALED SUICIDE NUMBERS AND RISK, INTERNAL E-MAILS SHOW -- E-mails from Dr. Ira Katz, VA’s mental health chief, show 18 vets a day commit suicide and four to five of them are in VA care. The Department of Veterans Affairs came under fire again Monday, this time in California federal court where its facing a national lawsuit by veterans rights groups accusing the agency of not doing enough to stem a looming mental health crisis among veterans. As part of the lawsuit, internal e-mails raise questions as to whether top officials deliberately deceived the American public about the number of veterans attempting and committing suicide. The charges were backed by internal emails written by Dr. Ira Katz, the VA’s head of Mental Health. In the past, Katz has repeatedly insisted while the risk of suicide among veterans is serious, it’s not outside the norm. “There is no epidemic in suicide in VA,” Katz told Keteyian in November. But in his e-mail to his top media advisor, written two months ago, Katz appears to be saying something very different, stating: “Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among veterans we see in our metical facilities.” Katz’s email was written shortly after the VA provided CBS News data showing there were only 790 attempted suicides in all 2007 - a fraction of Katz’s estimate. “This 12,000 attempted suicides per year shows clearly, without a doubt, that there is an epidemic of suicide among veterans,” said Paul Sullivan of Veterans for Common Sense. And it appears that Katz went out of his way to conceal these numbers. First, he titled his e-mail: “Not for the CBS News Interview Request.” He opened it with “Shh!” - as in keep it quiet - before ending with “Is this something we should (carefully) address … before someone stumbles on it?”