The news was welcomed by veterans at VA hospitals around the country who had been nervous that previously accepted claims worth millions of dollars a year were in jeopardy.

In May, an inspector general's internal study found inconsistencies in the way the claims were decided, including many cases approved though they lacked required medical evidence.

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

The VA started to review 72,000 claims approved between 1999 and 2004 for full disability benefits - $2,299 a month - for PTSD alone or in combination with other conditions. But in looking more closely at the sample of 2,100 claims reviewed by the Inspector General, the problem appeared to be missing documents, Veterans Secretary R. James Nicholson said Thursday.

"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."

Nicholson emphasized that the PTSD is considered a "combat wound" and taken as seriously as bullets and shrapnel.

Sound Off...What do you think? Join the discussion.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

More Military Headlines

• New TRICARE Fees, 'CR' Plan, Blocked
• Senate Won't Order McChrystal Testimony
• Soldiers Begin Taking Stress Survey
• Iraq, Afghan Refugees Start Over in US
• No Young Soldiers