February 05, 2012
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A Madigan Army Medical Center psychiatrist who screens soldiers for PTSD has been removed from clinical duties while investigators look into controversial remarks he made about patients and the financial costs of disability benefits, according to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray.
Keppler allegedly made inappropriate comments about the forensic team's role as financial gatekeeper in the Army retirement process during a September presentation, according to Murray.
In a meeting last fall attended by an Army ombudsman, Keppler and other team members reportedly made disrespectful comments about patients whose files were under review.
"I am deeply concerned about the things that I am hearing," Murray said. "Their (the doctor's) job is only one thing — to determine whether or not the patient has PTSD. And it's Congress' job to make sure we have the resources to compensate them."
