HVAC: Congress to Examine VA Treatment of Veterans Suffering from Gulf War Illness on Gulf War 25th Anniversary

Media Advisory
For Immediate Release Feb. 22, 2016	Media Contact: Curt Cashour (202) 225-3527
HVAC to Examine VA Treatment of Veterans Suffering from Gulf War Illness WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, February 23, 2016, at 4:30 p.m. in room 334 of the Cannon House Office Building, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations will hold an oversight hearing examining the medical care and treatment VA provides to veterans afflicted with Gulf War Illness (GWI). Twenty-five years after the Gulf War, concerns persist that there has been little improvement in understanding GWI or how to treat or manage it. There are a number of reasons for this, including VA’s frequent characterization of GWI as psychological malady, VA’s clinical guidelines that recommend the use of psychotropic drugs for many GWI symptoms, and the potential influence of drug manufacturers who may have employed or sponsored some of the authors of the clinical trials on which VA’s clinical guidelines are based.   The purpose of this hearing is to evaluate VA’s treatment of – and current health outcomes for – Veterans suffering from Gulf War Illness. The following event is open to the press: WHO: Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations WHAT: “Persian Gulf War: An Assessment of Health Outcomes on the 25th Anniversary” WHEN: 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, February 23, 2016 WHERE: 334 Cannon House Office Building and streaming at veterans.house.gov WITNESS LIST Dr. Carolyn Clancy Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Organizational Excellence U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Accompanied by: Stephen Hunt, M.D., M.P.H. Director, Post-Deployment Integrated Care Initiative U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Dr. Victor Kalasinsky, PhD Senior Program Manager, Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses Research U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Deborah Cory-Slechta, PhD Professor of Environmental Medicine, Pediatrics and Public Health Sciences Acting Chair, Department of Environmental Medicine University of Rochester School of Medicine Roberta F. White, Ph.D Chair, Department of Environmental Health Boston University School of Public Health Accompanied by: Mr. James H. Binns Gulf War Researcher Former Chairman Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses Mr. Anthony Hardie Gulf War Veteran Director, Veterans for Common Sense Accompanied by: Mr. David K. Winnett, Jr. Gulf War Veteran ### For more news from the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, please visit: Veterans.House.Gov  Find us on Facebook at: Facebook.com/HouseVetsAffairs or follow us on Twitter at: @HouseVetAffairs