It has been quite a journey for PTSD patients, and it is not over yet. However, we have reached an important milestone. Most doctors now acknowledge that PTSD is a physical injury, much like a concussion or another kind of brain injury. Stress creates a chemical imbalance in the brain. This chemical imbalance causes symptoms like hypervigilance, anger, flashbacks, depression, …
The long-awaited PACT Act included a list of some two dozen presumed burn pit illnesses. Victims with one of these illnesses who worked and/or lived near an open-air burn pit do not have to connect the dots between their exposure and their illnesses. The law connects the dots for them. Briefly, the armed services began using these open-air waste disposal …
One thing you need to know about Defense Base Act claims is the amount of money at stake. The average medical bills in a serious or catastrophic (life-threatening) injury case usually exceed $40,000. Furthermore, the total missed days from work due to on-the-job injuries tripled in 2022. Experts believe that number will climb even higher in the coming years. Falls, …
A proposed oil refinery, one of the largest in the world, may signal the renewal of Cold War tensions between Washington and Moscow over Cuba. During a visit by Russian lawmakers to Cuba in recent days, the idea of a refinery construction was discussed, and Russia’s TASS news agency quoted deputy speaker Alexander Babakov as saying. Cuba’s key crude oil …
The Afghanistan War Commission, created by Congress shortly in the wake of the chaotic 2021 withdrawal, held its first public hearing in July 2024. Members will assess America’s longest war and make recommendations to help ensure leaders don’t make the same mistakes in the future. “Today, we make history,” Shamila Chaudhary, co-chair of the commission, said as the hearing opened. …
For veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, animals are service animals and not emotional support animals, according to a recent study. Over the past decade, the research group has been studying whether trained service dogs can help veterans with PTSD, a mental health condition that some people develop after experiencing a traumatic event. The first and largest clinical trial of …
Amenetum, one of America’s largest private military contractors, is working with Libya’s Government of National Unity to strengthen its control of the war-torn country. The State Department and DoD contractor arrived at the Mitiga air base in the capital of Libya in early February 2024. The organization, with the consent of the Government of National Unity of Libya, oversees the …
A fire of undetermined origin in the Mafraq area of Kuwait City killed at least 49 people, mostly migrant workers. Most of the fatalities were due to suffocation, Gen. Eid Rashed, from the police criminal forensic department, told state television. He warned the death toll could rise, adding that eleven people were being treated in hospitals. Authorities had identified three …
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that Virginia-based CACI must face a new trial over its alleged involvement with the notorious Abu Ghraib detention center in Iraq. Judge Leonie Brinkema granted the plaintiffs’ motion for a new trial and denied CACI’s motion for judgment as a matter of law. The decision follows a civil trial earlier this year where an …
Sources say the Biden administration is moving toward lifting a de facto ban on American military contractors deploying to Ukraine to help the country’s military maintain and repair weapons systems shipped from America. “We have not made any decisions, and any discussion of this is premature,” said one administration official. “The president is absolutely firm that he will not be …
For military veterans, burn pit coverage is this generation’s Agent Orange coverage. For years, the VA denied that this defoliant caused health problems. Finally, the VA conceded what seemed logical all the time, which was that the toxic substance that killed plant cells in Southeast Asia also killed human cells in the people who handled this chemical. Yet even today, …
The Food and Drug Administration seemed poised to approve MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, a/k/a molly or ecstasy) PTSD treatments by mid-2024, but a recent report may derail the approval process. Proponents hope the efforts could yield the first major new therapies for mental illness since the introduction of modern antidepressants in the 1980s. But not all researchers are convinced that their benefits …
