Inclusion Daily Express -- Court Says Vets' Challenge To VA Can Move Forward

Inclusion Daily Express Logo

International Disability Rights News Service
Click here for today's headlines & home page

Keeping advocates informed, inspired and connected since 1999.
Click here for daily or weekly delivery . . . OR
Try Inclusion Daily Express for ten days FREE . . .

Court Says Vets' Challenge To VA Can Move Forward
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
January 17, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA--Last Thursday, the U.S. District Court in San Francisco ruled that a class action lawsuit, which accuses the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs of discriminating against veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, can move forward.

The suit was filed last July by the nonprofit legal firm Disability Rights Advocates. It claims that between 15 and 50 percent of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan experience PTSD. Because of a huge backlog of claims -- estimated at 600,000 veterans -- many go months or years without the necessary medical or psychological treatment. This has led to such problems as severe depression causing many to give up, turn to alcohol or drug addiction, or commit suicide.

The suit asks the court to order the VA to stop practices that keep these veterans from receiving the benefits they deserve in a timely manner. It does not ask for monetary damages, but asks the court to order to VA to immediately provide the necessary treatment for troops returning from battle, and to screen them for the risk of suicide.

"We can now address the disgraceful fact that it takes an average of 177 days for VA to process an initial claim for disability benefits, and an additional 657 days, on average, for an appeal, so most veterans wait years for needed medical and mental health treatment, unless they give up or die first," said DRA attorney Sid Wolinsky in a press statement.

Related:
"Text of ruling in Veterans for Common Sense v. Veterans Administration (U.S. District Court, Northern District of California)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/2008/red/0117a.htm

Copyright © 2008 Inonit Publishing
Please do not reprint, forward, or post without permission.

Click here for top of this page

Purchase this story for your website or newsletter . . .

Here's what subscribers say about Inclusion Daily Express. . .

Keeping advocates informed, inspired and connected since 1999.
Click here for daily or weekly delivery . . . OR
Try Inclusion Daily Express for ten days FREE . . .

Get your news here!