If those numbers are accurate: there are about 25M veterans which is about 8% of the population but they account for nearly 20% of all the suicides.
Plus, the disgraceful way many are treated by the VA is (in many aspects of their care) well, disgraceful.
That's why its news.
But let's look at the numbers further and see if its not just kicking them when they're down. (They being the VA).
The veterans are predominately men. Men are 3x more likely than women to kill themselves. Those over 65 are more likely too. And nearly 40% of veterans are over 65. For US men the average is about 30 suicides per 100K. That equates to about 6800. What does the "hidden" report say? 6570.
So without doing very much research or math its seem probable that the suicide rate among veterans is about what could be predicted based on the population as a whole; it may actually be lower.
What does all this mean? 1) the reporter needs to open his eyes to other than what he's being fed or wants to see. 2) Its a PR move by the VA and Filner to get more attention (read: $$$) focused on Vets. 3) hiding it was about all they could do because its not a real issue and "hiding" it made it somewhat sinister and focused attention on the deed not the facts.
Don't you just hate it when facts spoil a good point?
