AP - Frustrated by delays in health care, injured Iraq war veterans accused VA Secretary Jim Nicholson in a lawsuit of breaking the law by denying them disability pay and mental health treatment.
The lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, filed Monday in federal court in San Francisco, seeks broad changes in the agency as it struggles to meet growing demands from veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Suing on behalf of hundreds of thousands of veterans, it charges that the VA has failed warriors on numerous fronts. It contends the VA failed to provide prompt disability benefits, failed to add staff to reduce wait times for medical care and failed to boost services for post-traumatic stress disorder.
The lawsuit also accuses the VA of deliberately cheating some veterans by allegedly working with the Pentagon to misclassify PTSD claims as pre-existing personality disorders to avoid paying benefits.
1 comment:
it still sucks that mental health care is put on a back burner somewhere, while broken bones get immediate treatment. mental health issues change a person's life forever if they are not dealt with. a broken bone heals. the system is terrible. a few huge lawsuits may help, but what would be nice is getting many of the anti-war activists' minds off the war and onto this instead. sometimes, the problems the soldiers face is coming home to hate and hate crimes committed by fellow americans. i have seen this in real life all too often, and sadly, by those who flip a peace and say that will end war in the world. ask any soldier who has seen the enemy if a peace sign works with a suicide bomber or an insurgent. i don't think so. hitler would have laughed at the thought. too many of our men & women in uniform have hate to come home to.
i hope the lawsuits work, but in the meantime, i hope that all these protestors will start truly supporting our troops instead of hating them. many of them just want to do their jobs.
much love,
karen
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