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July 23, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is flagrantly violating the constitutional and statutory rights of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a national class action lawsuit filed today in federal court. The lawsuit is the first of its kind in the country.
The complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, seeks to prohibit the VA from continuing a number of improper practices in handling claims for health care and disability benefits.
Most disabled veterans cannot receive medical treatment without a disability claim approval. However, the VA now has a backlog of over 600,000 claims, and a decision on a claim can take up to twelve to fifteen years. Some pending claims go back to the Vietnam era. In the meantime, many disabled veterans give up in despair or frustration, fall into drug or alcohol dependency, or commit suicide. Even after claims have been approved, veterans face ongoing problems receiving care. Because the demand for medical care and treatment by the VA has risen dramatically since the U.S. became involved in the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the VA has long waiting lists and, in some cases, no appropriate treatment for disabled veterans is available.
The suit claims that numerous VA practices violate the constitutional and statutory rights of veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) by denying veterans adequate procedural safeguards in the VA benefits process, access to the judicial process, mandated medical care, and VA benefits as a result of their PTSD. In addition to seeking a declaration from the court that these practices violate the constitutional and statutory rights of the Plaintiffs, the lawsuit seeks an injunction preventing the defendants from continuing certain policies and procedures. No damages are being sought. Plaintiffs in the case include two non-profit organizations, Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth, on behalf of all veterans who are seeking or receiving health care or disability benefits from the VA. Plaintiffs are represented by the California-based public interest law firm Disability Rights Advocates (DRA).
“The VA’s motto, taken from Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address, is ‘to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and orphan,’” said Melissa Kasnitz of DRA. “The VA is not living up to its motto or its obligation to care for our disabled veterans. Instead it is abandoning our veterans, shamefully following a path that will lead to broken lives and staggering social costs.”
Among those veterans suffering the most are Iraq and Afghanistan troops returning home with mental disabilities. As many as 15-50% of returning troops have PTSD, according to the complaint. These troops are being deprived of critical mental health services, especially in the early phases of the illness when identification and treatment are crucial. Left untreated, severe PTSD can lead to substance abuse, depression and suicide. Veterans with PTSD and other psychiatric disabilities may also be the most unprepared to face the bureaucratic battles necessary to secure the benefits to which they are entitled.
The suit alleges that the VA has not only shortchanged the disabled veterans for whom they are supposed to provide care, but it has also consistently presented misleading statistics to the American public. Specifically, the complaint says that the VA has falsely understated the length of time it takes to decide a veteran’s claims and the true cost of caring for disabled veterans.
“Our Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans want immediate access to high-quality VA healthcare and benefits when they return home,” says Paul Sullivan, Executive Director for Veterans for Common Sense. “After the terrible failures following the Vietnam War and Gulf War, never again shall our government turn its back on our veterans when they return home from war. We must do everything we can to prevent more veterans from falling in the cracks that lead to broken families, unemployment, alcoholism, drug abuse, crime and homelessness. When one of our combat veterans walks into a VA hospital, then they must see a doctor that day. When a war veteran needs disability benefits because he or she can't work, then they must get a disability check in a few weeks. Since the Iraq and Afghanistan wars began, the VA has betrayed our veterans. Instead of hiring more doctors and claims processors, the VA instituted new policies that block veterans’ access to prompt mental healthcare. America should be outraged. While we are reluctant to file suit against the VA, it is the VA’s anti-veteran policies that leave us no other option than to fight for what our veterans earned after fighting on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
“This lawsuit is unprecedented,” says attorney Sid Wolinsky with DRA. “It is the first class action lawsuit to directly challenge the VA’s unconscionable backlog of claims, the endless waiting time that disabled veterans face in receiving appropriate mental health care from the VA, and the adequacy of VA care for PTSD.”
PTSD is a psychiatric disorder that can develop in a person who witnesses, or is confronted with, a traumatic event. PTSD is the most prevalent mental disorder arising from combat. According to the complaint, “more than any previous war, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are likely to produce a high percentage of troops suffering from PTSD,” due to the widespread use of improvised explosive devises, multiple rotations, the ambiguity of fighting combatants dressed as civilians, and the use of National Guard members and Reservists.
Read Article on Los Angeles Times
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