Gulf War Illnesses: Reexamination of Research Emphasis and Improved Monitoring of Clinical Progress Needed

GAO discussed the results of its study on the government's clinical care and medical research programs relating to illnesses that members of the armed forces might have contracted as a result of their service in the Persian Gulf War, focusing on the: (1) efforts of the Departments of Defense (DOD) and Veterans Affairs' (VA) to assess the quality of treatment and diagnostic services provided to Gulf War veterans and their provisions for follow-up of initial examinations; (2) government's research strategy to study the veterans' illnesses and the methodological problems posed in its studies; and (3) consistency of key official conclusions with available data on the causes of the veterans' illnesses.