WASHINGTON — The Veterans Affairs Department has canceled a controversial plan to review the disability status of thousands of veterans who suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder.

The plan, which drew fire from veterans groups and some in Congress, would have targeted about 72,000 veterans who were rated as totally disabled with PTSD from 1999 to 2004.

"This is great news, especially as we observe Veterans Day," said Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i, who was joined by fellow members of the Senate Veterans' Affair Committee and a dozen Vietnam veterans yesterday at a news conference.

Akaka said the review "puts some veterans at risk of losing compensation they have already been awarded by the VA. Many times, VA compensation is the only source of income for families of severely disabled veterans — the only way to put bread on the table."

The review was ordered after the VA's inspector general found documentation errors in about a quarter of the cases it sampled.

Posttraumatic stress disorder, a mental illness characterized by subjective symptoms like flashbacks and nightmares, can be difficult to diagnose and quantify.

The VA relies on military daily action reports or interviews with other troops as evidence of PTSD because the disorder doesn't manifest itself immediately. The initial inspector general's report noted that understaffing and a lack of training led to gaps in that documentation.

VA Secretary Jim Nicholson said yesterday that an internal review of the cases the inspector general had examined found administrative errors but no fraud. The review involved claims approved for full disability benefits — $2,299 a month — for PTSD alone or in combination with other conditions.

"In the absence of evidence of fraud, we're not going to put our veterans through the anxiety of a widespread review of their disability claims," Nicholson said.

"Instead we're going to improve our training for VA personnel who handle disability claims and toughen administrative oversight."

Fred Ballard, spokesman for the VA Pacific Islands Healthcare System, the health administration for veterans in Hawai'i, said: "We weren't involved in that (the review of 2,100 claims) at all. Those cases came from other states."

Ballard said the claims being reviewed were for disability payments; treatment for PTSD wouldn't have been affected. The mental health section in Hawai'i has about 2,300 patients, and 600 to 700 are being treated for PTSD and other ailments, he said.

"It's predominately Vietnam (veterans)," Ballard said. "Although we're seeing some from the current conflicts, I don't think the numbers are that big yet."

The VA's change of heart came as Congress had begun to take steps to block the review. The Senate approved a provision to block it until the VA justified it to Congress. At least 50 House members were urging similar action.

Akaka said he plans to focus efforts on securing additional funding for Vet Centers, which treat veterans who suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder.

There are two veteran centers on the Big Island, and one each on O'ahu, Kaua'i, Maui and Guam. The Spark M. Matsunaga VA Medical Center adjacent to Tripler Army Medical Center also provides one-on-one counseling and group therapy.

"In this current climate of conflict abroad, we should expand veterans' benefits and healthcare, not second-guess benefits already bestowed upon veterans," Akaka said.