But by then, Roberts had already been indicted several months earlier.
On Nov. 10, 2005, the VA announced that there would “no across-the-board review of PTSD cases.”
Just days later, Cheryl Reed of the Chicago Sun Times, broke a story detailing how the VA planned to implement a PTSD restructuring anyway, despite its announcement six days earlier.
“The Department of Veterans Affairs announced today that it has contracted with the Institute of Medicine (IOM) on a two-pronged approach to the examination of PTSD.”
And a fact sheet notes: “(The IOM) … will review the utility and objectiveness of the criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM- IV), and will comment on the validity of current screening instruments and their predictive capacity for accurate diagnoses.”
The IOM will also, ““…will review the literature on compensation practices for PTSD…and how changes in the frequency and intensity of symptoms affect compensation practices for PTSD; assessing how compensation practices and reevaluation requirements for PTSD compare with other chronic conditions which have periods of remission and return of symptoms; and reviewing strategies used to support recovery and return to function in patients with PTSD.”
No VA press conference, just a quiet, low-key way to implement the AEI’s views on PTSD, while denying that this is what is happening.
Conclusion
A politicized US Atty Stephen Biskupic, a secretive VA run by Jim Nicholson, and mean-spirited bureaucrats like Special Agent Vasil add up to big trouble for Airman Keith Roberts.
In a letter to US Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Madison, Wis), who sits on the House Committee on the Judiciary which plans to ask Biskupic to testify and answer questions on his public corruption and voting rights prosecutions, Deloris Roberts writes:
“Why they decided to abuse and then imprison my mentally and physically ill husband is beyond my comprehension. Keith is a good man who served honorably, and now he has been sentenced to spend 48 months in federal prison for a crime that was impossible for him to have committed.
“The Secretary’s (Board of Veterans' Appeals) BVA states on page 25 of it(s) denial decision that ‘the only other evidence in support of the claim was the veteran’s own unverified statements which are inadequate to establish service connection for PTSD as a matter of law.’ So how can Mr. Biskupic charge him with Wire Fraud for giving fraudulent statements when (the) VA can’t use the non-combat Veteran’s statements to grant a service connected benefit?”
Next Steps
Keith Roberts’ case continues to be adjudicated while he waits behind bars.
Two cases await to played out:
- U.S. v. Roberts, E.D. of Wisconsin federal court, docket 05-CR-118. U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, 07-1546, 03/12/07.
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