Iraq war brain trauma victims turn to private care

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=inDepthNews&storyid=2007-04-20T225907Z_01_N02447108_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-USA-PRIVATEMEDICINE.xml&src=rss&rpc=22

Iraq war brain trauma victims turn to private care

By Kim Dixon

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Sgt. Eric Edmundson arrived at the U.S. Army's Walter Reed hospital in October 2005 with a severe head concussion, a victim of one of the many roadside bombs that are a part of daily life for soldiers in Iraq.

Six months later, after intense physical rehab and an infection that made control of his limbs futile, his morale hit bottom. The Department of Veterans Affairs gave him the choice of a nursing home or returning home from a Richmond, Virginia facility, his family said.

"We felt the VA had a 'wait and see' attitude, and our belief was that time was our enemy," said Eric's father Edward, who left his job at Conagra Foods in North Carolina to be his son's full-time health advocate. "So we took him home."

Unsatisfied with the outcome, Eric and his family eventually found treatment at a private hospital, and began a slow path to recovery. But his story is unusual. Wounded vets are seldom treated at private hospitals, which say they offer expertise for severe brain injuries like Eric's. The VA is resisting using their services, setting up a clash over care for some the war's most seriously wounded veterans.

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are estimated to cost the govt $8mil to 17 mil until this young man's probable premature death. This was according to a story I saw on PBS a week ago. The family has had to press really hard to get him his therapy.

in this illegal, immoral occupation. :grr: And consider for a moment how many soldiers are in the same boat. :-(

... God told me there aren't going to be anu casualties."

And why would Rumsferatu want to plan and budget for sick people?