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On May 10, 2011, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an unusually scathing opinion condemning the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) for “egregious problems” in the operation of its health care system for our nation’s veterans. In a 104-page opinion, the Court of Appeals concluded that an influx of injured troops returning from deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan has overwhelmed the VA, exacerbating already lengthy delays in providing vital health care and benefits to injured veterans, and thereby violating veterans’ constitutional “due process rights to receive the care and benefits they are guaranteed by statute for harms and injuries sustained while serving our country.” The court’s decision vindicates the fundamental constitutional rights that veterans have been fighting for in this nationwide lawsuit.
Acknowledging that it would have preferred for the VA to reach a settlement with the Plaintiffs, or for Congress or the President to remedy the VA’s problems, the Court of Appeals nevertheless recognized its obligation to intervene “when the political branches have so completely and chronically failed to respect the People’s constitutional rights . . . . The VA’s unchecked incompetence has gone on long enough; no more veterans should be compelled to agonize or perish while the government fails to perform its obligations.”
The Court of Appeals credited evidence presented by Plaintiffs that an average of 18 veterans commit suicide each day, and that among all veterans enrolled in the VA system, an additional 1,000 attempt suicide each month. Such veterans, and others suffering serious mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder, face delays in receiving proper diagnoses and treatment, without any recourse to expedite the process. In addition, veterans must endure delays of more than 4 years to fully adjudicate claims for disability benefits. The Court found that veterans have a “towering interest” in avoiding such delay, and that the VA’s broken system violates veterans’ constitutional rights to due process of law. In reversing the judgment of the district court, the Court of Appeals remanded the case to that court with instructions to enter an order consistent with its opinion. The district court has scheduled a Case Management Conference for May 27, 2011.
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