Failure to supply earplugs costs thousands of GIs their hearing

And on and on it goes...

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/20294

EXCERPT:
Thousands of GIs have suffered preventable hearing loss because they were not supplied with earplugs to reduce the din of battle. Many have a permanent ringing in their ears they will suffer throughout their lives.

The condition is widespread. In 2006, the Veterans Administration paid out more than a half billion dollars to veterans with tinnitus, a condition which affects nearly half of those troops exposed to blasts.

The U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine conducted a study 141,000 GIs between April, 2003, and March, 2004, that showed tinnitus --- ringing in the ears---accounted for more than 30 per cent of post-deployment-related diagnoses.

"There were not adequate supplies of earplugs to fit all deploying soldiers," the Center found. "There was also failure of an Army medical readiness automation system...to provide unit commanders with information regarding troops having adequate hearing protection...Finally, there is evidence...that soldiers having blast injuries may not have been referred to audiology for adequate evaluation and treatment," the Center said.

In part as a result of this malfeasance, of the 1.3 million soldiers that have been deployed in the two current wars, 70,000 are collecting disability pay for tinnitus and 58,000 more are collecting for hearing loss. That adds up to 128,000 GIs, or one in 10 deployed.