This article reviews and analyzes two national studies of the efficacy of treatment for war veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A careful analysis of the studies conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) Northeast Program Evaluation Center (NEPEC) reveals conceptual, methodological, and design flaws in the research, which reports minimal treatment efficacy for PTSD. Based on this limited, if not biased, data, the results were used for policy purposes to dismantle inpatient PTSD hospital units and trauma-focus treatments. A critique is offered as a review to suggest how future studies might be conducted, designed, and evaluated, including the need for independent, "outside" peer reviews inasmuch as the issue of treatment outcomes generalizes to many nonmilitary populations.Key words : PTSD, research, treatment, policy, therapy, outcome, DVA, Vietnam veterans AS THE FIELD OF POST-TRAUMATIC Stress Disorder (PTSD) has grown since it was classified in 1980 as an anxiety disorder (APA, 1980), there has been a corresponding interest in understanding the effectiveness of clinical interventions . As noted in comprehensive analyses of the growth of PTSD as a field (Friedman, 2000; Van der Kolk, McFarlane, & Weisaeth, 1996; Wilson & Raphael, 1993), the scientific research on Vietnam veterans spearheaded a plethora of empirical investigations of the disorder and its treatment due to the large prevalence of PTSD among the 3.1 million personnel who served in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War (Kulka et al., 1990). In that sense, the Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA) intensive inpatient, outpatient, and outreach counseling programs for war veterans have initiated a wide range of approaches for treating chronic 112 AUTHORS' NOTE: We wish to acknowledge the assistance of Dr. Thomas A. Moran. The authors are solely responsible for all subjective, personal, and concluding perspectives expressed. We do want to acknowledge the very helpful factual information received that was incorporated into an early draft of this article from the following colleagues: Kathleen D. Letizio, Larry Wohlberg, Ph.D., Denver VAMC; Leslie Root, Ph.D., Biloxi VAMC, Gulfport Division; and Beverly Donovan, Ph.D., Brecksville VAMC. This article is based partly on a presentation, "PTSD: Controversy in Outcome," at the PTSD Treatment Outcome Symposium, Hines VA Medical Center, Chicago, IL, on September 15, 1998 PTSD. Only recently, however, have these efforts undergone evaluation to determine their effectiveness as assessed by a range of outcome criteria for the improvement of symptoms that impair adaptation and functioning. Thus, the review and analysis of treatment outcome studies is very important because it sheds light and offers insight as to the core issues involved in understanding the efficacy of treatment approaches. As stated by , "what treatments work best for which kind of PTSD client and under what circumstances" (p. 15). Moreover, the extensiveness of research on treatment outcomes conducted by the...