US war injuries bill escalating

Injured US war veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns are presenting the US with an enormous disabilities bill, often claiming for up to 14 different injuries. Marilynn Marchione reports on a growing crisis

AMERICA’S newest veterans are filing for disability benefits at a historic rate, claiming to be the most medically and mentally troubled generation of former troops the nation has ever seen. The final bill could top $900bn (€726bn).

A staggering 45% of the 1.6m veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now seeking compensation for injuries they say are service-related. That is more than double the estimate of 21% who filed such claims after the Gulf War in the early 1990s, according to leading government officials.