via mal contends
Just in from Veterans for Common Sense:
The federal government is subjecting veterans to long delays in obtaining mental health care and medical benefits, but the power to change the system rests with officials and Congress, not the courts, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled Wednesday in dismissing a lawsuit by veterans' advocates.
The case, argued pro bono by attorneys at Morrison and Foerster, was a victory in that it established that veterans are experiencing unconscionable delays in seeking health care treatment.
But the relief will have to come from Congress.
From Veterans United for Truth
June 25, 2008
MEDIA ADVISORY
JUDGE RULES THAT VETS IN PTSD CASE SHOULD SEEK RELIEF FROM CONGRESS — VETS RESOLVE TO APPEAL
WHAT: Decision After Trial—VCS, et al. v. Peake, et al.
JUDGE Senior Judge Samuel Conti, United States District Court, Northern District of California.
Senior Federal District Court Judge Samuel Conti has issued his decision in the landmark case brought on behalf of veterans suffering from PTSD and traumatic brain injury in July of 2007.
The trial was conducted from April 21-30, 2008, and included a week of testimony in early March. The trial focused on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care and adjudication systems for disabled veterans. The trial included testimony from the heads of national veterans’ organizations, top VA officials and some of the leading experts in the country on the widespread failings of the VA system.
In his decision, Judge Conti held that it is "clear to the Court" that "the VA may not be meeting all of the needs of the nation’s veterans." He agreed with, and explicitly adopted, many of the factual assertions made by the veterans. Those include the following:
• "The suicide rate among veterans is significantly higher than that of the general population," and there is "a strong connection between PTSD and suicide."
• "One out of every three soldiers returning from Iraq was seen in the VA for a mental health visit within a year of their return" with PTSD being a "leading diagnosis."
• "The high rates of PTSD among Iraq veterans are the result of various factors, including multiple deployments, the inability to identify the enemy, the lack of real safe zones, and the inadvertent killing of innocent civilians, " as top VA officials admitted.
• "Initiatives such as screening veterans at risk, a suicide prevention database, emerging best practices for treatment, and education programs were all still at the ‘Pilot Stage’ three years" after VA’s Mental Health Strategic Plan was adopted.
• "It is beyond doubt that disability benefits are critical to many veterans and any delay in receiving these benefits can result in substantial and severe adverse consequences."
• The VA’s track record with respect to delays in processing veterans’ appeals "is troubling." It is taking veterans on average 4.4 years to adjudicate a benefits claim at the first two levels in the VA benefits system.
The full text of the decision can be found at www.veteransptsdclassaction.org.