Tag: veterans

US govt. claims immunity from dozens of PFAS lawsuits, citing Federal Tort Claims Act

The United States government has asked a federal judge to dismiss more than two dozen lawsuits filed against it for allegedly contaminating water and soil at hundreds of sites near military bases and facilities across the country with toxic “forever chemicals.”

The U.S. told a federal judge in Charleston, South Carolina, late Monday that it is immune to the lawsuits filed by state and local governments, businesses and property owners who say the U.S. military is liable for property and environmental damage caused by its use of firefighting foams containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.

PFAS are used in hundreds of consumer and commercial products including the firefighting foams, non-stick pans, stain-resistant clothing and cosmetics, and have been linked to cancer and hormonal dysfunction. The military has used PFAS-containing firefighting foams since the 1970s for things like firefighting training.

The chemicals are often referred to as forever chemicals because they do not easily break down in nature or in the human body.

The 27 lawsuits were filed in the past six years against the U.S. government by states including New Mexico, New York and Washington, cities, private property owners and local businesses near military facilities where firefighting foams were used.

The plaintiffs say they are seeking potentially hundreds of billions of dollars in damages to pay for groundwater and soil remediation near military sites across the country. Some businesses among the plaintiffs, including a dairy that claims PFAS-contaminated water caused its cattle to die and a property owner whose blueberry cropland was allegedly damaged by the chemicals, are also seeking punitive damages.

The government said it was immune to the lawsuits under a provision of the Federal Tort Claims Act that protects it from tort liability for the discretionary acts of government employees. That law allows plaintiffs to sue the U.S. government for damages only if the government violates specific, mandatory policies.

Military Veterans Who Received Psychedelic Ibogaine Treatment Saw ‘Dramatic’ And ‘Life-Changing’ Improvements In PTSD And Depression, Stanford Study Finds

Military combat veterans with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) saw “dramatic” and “life-changing” improvements in their symptoms and cognitive functioning immediately after receiving treatment with the psychedelic ibogaine, new research shows.

Stanford University researchers behind the study, which was published in the journal Nature Medicine last week, followed 30 veterans who were functionally disabled from symptoms of TBI such as post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety and who had a history of repeated blast or combat exposures.

The team, which collaboration with the foundation VETS, Inc., assessed the veterans before and after they visited a clinic in Mexico to receive ibogaine treatment, and they identified profound changes in the participants’ mental health, with minimal side effects.

Prior to the treatment, the veterans each met the criteria for clinically significant levels of disability. Twenty-three had diagnosable PTSD, 14 had anxiety disorder, 15 had alcohol use disorder and 19 had been suicidal at some point in their lifetimes.

After receiving ibogaine, in addition to magnesium to protect against potential heart-related complications, there was an immediate “remarkable reduction” in symptoms, “with large effect sizes” that sustained over time.

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Most Military Service Members, Veterans And Their Families Support Allowing VA Doctors To Recommend Marijuana And Psychedelics

Active duty military personnel, veterans and their family members support allowing U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors to recommend medical marijuana and psychedelics to patients if they believe it would provide a benefit, according to results of a survey from Ohio State University (OSU).

Researchers polled service members, veterans, their family members and non-military respondents over a few weeks in late August and early September, the report says. All told, 1,168 individuals participated, including 315 active and veteran military members, 426 members of military families and 427 non-military individuals. The goal was to assess the differing likelihoods across the categories of respondents to support various statements about medical marijuana and psychedelics as available treatment options.

“Given the prevalence of health issues within the veteran community and the need for a wide range of treatment options, some researchers have started to explore whether and how veteran populations should have access to alternative treatment options such as marijuana and psychedelics,” authors wrote in the preprint paper, which was published this month by OSU law school’s Drug Enforcement and Policy Center and has not been peer-reviewed. “Studies of veteran views on these issues, however, have not closely explored how veteran perspectives on certain drug issues compare directly to those in their immediate and broader community.”

The survey participants, drawn from the volunteer American Population Panel, were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with four statements about marijuana and psychedelics:

  1. Marijuana/psychedelics can be an effective treatment for various medical conditions.
  2. A doctor should be legally allowed to recommend marijuana/psychedelics if the doctor believes the patient could benefit from medical marijuana/psychedelics, even without FDA approval.
  3. A doctor should be legally allowed to recommend marijuana/psychedelics, but only after it has received an approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
  4. Because of the unique hardships and health conditions experienced by veterans, U.S. Veterans Administration doctors should be legally allowed to recommend marijuana/psychedelics to veterans if the doctor believes the patient could benefit from marijuana/psychedelics.

Strong majorities of all three surveyed groups agreed the substances can be effective treatments, with even more sizable proportions saying that Veterans Administration (VA) doctors should be able to legally recommend the substances to patients if they believe they would provide some benefit.

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New York Bill Would Create Psilocybin Therapy Pilot Program For 10,000 Military Veterans And First Responders

A New York lawmaker has introduced a bill that would create a pilot program to provide psilocybin therapy to 10,000 people, focusing on military veterans and first responders, while the legislature also considers broader psychedelics reform.

Assemblymember Pat Burke (D), who has championed various psychedelics measures over recent sessions, filed the therapeutic psilocybin pilot program legislation on Wednesday.

It would create the program under the state Department of Health, which would be required to provide funding to cover the therapy and develop training guidelines for professional facilitators. It would need to issue a report on findings and policy recommendations to the governor and legislature every two years after enactment.

A total of 10,000 patients could participate, including veterans and their families, first responders and people who suffer from cluster headaches. They would need to reside in the western region of New York.

The pilot program would end if psilocybin is approved for medical use by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“Psilocybin therapy offers serious potential benefits to assist with mental health, but it suffers from a lack of substantial medical testing,” a memo attached to the measure says. “This bill would alleviate that problem by establishing a pilot program to test psilocybin therapy’s effectiveness on mental health.”

“This pilot program would help record the effects of this treatment on their conditions in order to better understand the effects of this new therapy which promises substantial benefits,” it says.

Under the legislation, the health department would be able to enter into agreements with experts, non-profit organizations, universities or other institutions “for the performance of an evaluation of the implementation and effectiveness” of the program.

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CONGRESS IS PUSHING REVOLUTIONARY RESEARCH ON PSYCHEDELIC TREATMENTS FOR THE MILITARY

CONGRESS IS ON track to approve legislation that would mark a significant advance in U.S. policy toward psychedelics. 

Tucked into the National Defense Authorization Act of 2024 is a provision to fund clinical trials using psychedelic substances to treat active duty members of the military.

Section 723 of the NDAA directs the secretary of defense to partner with a federal or state government agency, or an academic institution, to carry out the research. The bill would fund the treatment of members of the military with post-traumatic stress or a traumatic brain injury with a number of psychedelic substances, including MDMA, psilocybin, ibogaine, DMT, and other plant-based alternative therapies (such as ayahuasca).

Research surrounding psychedelics as a possible treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder have slowly grown, and recent studies have shown promising results, with patients benefiting from even just a few treatments including MDMA and psilocybin. Already, the Food and Drug Administration has designated both treatments as “breakthrough therapies”: a special designation given to expedite the research and development into drugs with the potential to treat serious conditions. On Tuesday, MAPS Public Benefit Corporation, which focuses on psychedelic treatments for mental health issues, submitted a new drug application to the FDA for MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD. The company says it’s the first such submission for any psychedelic-assisted therapy.

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House And Senate Reach Deal To Require Psychedelics Clinical Trials For Active Duty Military Service Members Under Defense Bill

Bipartisan and bicameral congressional lawmakers have reached an agreement on a large-scale defense bill that contains a House GOP-led section to fund studies into the therapeutic use of psychedelics such as psilocybin and MDMA for military service members.

Following negotiations, lawmakers released the conference report for the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Wednesday evening, maintaining psychedelics research provisions championed by Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-TX) that were attached to the House version over the summer. The report notes, however, that the House negotiators receded on a separate section to create a medical cannabis pilot program for veterans.

The psychedelics provisions that have been adopted would require the Department of Defense (DOD) to establish a process by which service members with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injury could participate in clinical trials involving psilocybin, MDMA, ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT. The list of covered psychedelics was also expanded to broadly include “qualified plant-based alternative therapies.”

DOD would need to facilitate that process within 180 days of enactment. It could partner with eligible federal or state government agencies, as well as academic institutions to carry out the clinical trials, with $10 million in funding.

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US govt-linked Ukraine activists hold pro-Nazi Veterans Day rally outside White House

A recent rally in front of the White House featuring Nazi iconography has been wholly ignored by the same mainstream media outlets pushing the narrative of rising antisemitism. The two DC-based organizations behind the events collaborated with the Biden administration on a similar event last February.

This Veterans Day, on November 11, passersby outside the White House gates were met with the sight of protest signs bearing Nazi-inspired Wolfsangels and protesters performing fascist salutes.

While the rally may have fallen under the radar of the mainstream press – or was deliberately ignored – the US-government owned Voice of America (VOA) provided extensive coverage through their Ukraine branch. One photograph embedded in the story features Ukraine war veteran Roman Kashpur flanked by the White House and performing a fascist salute. Astonishingly, the second shot of the outlet’s video report features a Wolfsangel. Rally goers chanted “bring our heroes home!” and “Make Russia pay!”

VOA interviewed the rally’s organizer, Nadiya Shaporynska, whose talking points sounded as though they could have come from the Ukrainian embassy itself: “Our main message today is a call for the release of prisoners-defenders of Azovstal. We are now asking the United States for help to free them as soon as possible.”

Shaporynska has collaborated directly with the Biden Administration during past initiatives. As revealed in The Grayzone, she and a coterie of activists with longstanding ties to neo-Nazi militias managed to arrange for high-level Biden Administration officials to speak at a rally this past February.

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Bipartisan Wisconsin Lawmakers File Bill To Create Psilocybin Research Pilot Program For Military Veterans With PTSD

As marijuana reform continues to stagnate in the Wisconsin legislature, bipartisan and bicameral lawmakers have come together to introduce a new bill that would create a psilocybin research pilot program in the state.

Sens. Jesse James (R) and Dianne Hesselbein (D), as well as Reps. Nate Gustafson (R) and Clinton Anderson (D), are sponsoring the legislation, which would focus on exploring the therapeutic potential of the psychedelic in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among veterans.

The pilot program would be facilitated through the University of Wisconsin at Madison, which already operates a multidisciplinary psychedelics research division that launched in 2021.

Veterans who are 21 and older with diagnosed treatment-resistant PTSD would be eligible to participate in the program. Psilocybin would need to be provided through existing pathways under the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has designated the psychedelic as a “breakthrough therapy.”

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Senate Approves Bill Allowing Doctors To Issue Cannabis Recommendations to Veterans

A bipartisan congressional bill – the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (MilCon-VA) Appropriations Act – has been approved by the Senate that allows military veterans to receive medical cannabis recommendations issued by government doctors.

Doctors at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will be able to recommend medical cannabis to their patients in states where it’s legal.

The bill provides support for critical housing, infrastructure, and facilities for U.S. military forces and their families, as well as increased funding for veterans health care and benefits.

The measure was advanced by a bipartisan vote of 28-0.

Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Susan Collins, stated: “The significant investments this legislation makes in America’s military are critical to our national security, helping to ensure our military’s readiness and safety while reducing maintenance costs.

“The bill also supports much-needed funding to improve medical care and housing for our nation’s veterans. As the Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, I will continue to champion this funding as the appropriations process moves forward.”

Previously, VA doctors were not authorised to issue recommendations on medical cannabis, even in states that have legalised the plant for medical or recreational use.

Supporters of the Bill have said that it provides a modest but meaningful reform for the veteran community.

Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley reintroduced the legislation in April.

Speaking on the passage of the bill, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, stated: “…despite the tough funding constraints, these bills move our country forward—not back—with important investments to keep our promise to our nation’s veterans, to get Americans where they need to go safely, to increase our housing supply, address the homelessness crisis, support our farmers and ranchers, keep American families healthy and safe, and much more.”

Speaking at the time of the legislation’s reintroduction, Wyden stated: “Veterans in Oregon and nationwide are unfairly and unacceptably stuck in a legal gray zone when discussing medical cannabis with their doctor.

“Veterans deserve the opportunity to explore various treatments with their doctor without fear of prosecution or employment ramifications.

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95-year-old veteran kicked out of nursing home to make way for migrant housing, lawmakers say

A 95-year-old Korean War veteran said he was given less than two months’ notice to figure out where he was going to live after the nursing home he resided in was sold to become a facility for undocumented migrants.

Veteran Frank Tammaro joined Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., a vocal critic of New York City’s handling of the migrant crisis, at a press conference on Monday to discuss the reported deal.

“The thing I’m annoyed about is how they did it, it was very disgraceful what they did to the people in Island Shores,” Tammaro said, referencing the assisted living facility he was in.

He said that Island Shores “gave us time to get out,” but not enough time to protest the decision to boot residents – which Tammaro said he tried to do.

“Then one day there was a notice on the board. I think that gave us a month and a half to find out where we were going to go,” he said. “I thought my suitcases were going to be on the curb because I’m not that fast.”

“If it wasn’t for my daughter, they would’ve been on the curb. That was it. I said, ‘No, no, no, no, you’re not moving me,’ and they said, ‘Yes, yes, yes we are.’ Everything was done behind closed doors – we didn’t have a chance to actually make any attempt to stop them because there wasn’t enough time.”

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