NOT FUNNY - AT 5:25 P.M. ET:   

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - At least 1,200 veterans across the country have been mistakenly told by the Veterans Administration that they suffer from a fatal neurological disease.

One of the leaders of a Gulf War veterans group says panicked veterans from Alabama, Florida, Kansas, North Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming have contacted the group about the error.

Denise Nichols, the vice president of the National Gulf War Resource Center, says the VA is blaming a coding error for the mistake.

COMMENT:  Yes, mistakes happen, but this should serve as a warning to those who want to turn the health-care system over to the federal government.  When you have a single system you have no alternative, and the system itself, lacking competition, becomes lax and indifferent. 

August 24, 2009