Military Spouses for Change (MSC) Opposes Bailing Out Wall Street While Military and Veteran Families Lose their Homes

Military Spouses for Change (MSC) Opposes Bailing Out Wall Street While Military and Veteran Families Lose their Homes PLEASE CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE THIS MORNING (http://www.votesmart.org/search.php?search=76544, then click "current elected officials") and tell them that unsuspecting home buyers, workers, and investors, like yourself and your spouse (who serve this country) deserve as much protection as the financially savvy, multi-billionaire corporations that preyed upon you for short-term financial gain. Today Congress is going to vote on the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 which IMMEDIATELY use $250 BILLION to buy banks' and other financial institutions' LEAST VALUABLE financial investments (i.e. what no one else would buy). The President will be given an additional $100 BILLION dollars to use at his discretion to bail these companies out. Finally, $250 BILLION is going to be set aside for future bailing out.

WHAT IS MISSING FROM THIS PACKAGE? Assistance for homeowners who were lured into home loans that they would ultimately not be able to afford. In May, Bloomberg.com published an exclusive report stating that "[i]n the midst of the worst surge in mortgage defaults in seven decades, foreclosures in U.S. towns where soldiers live are increasing at a pace almost four times the national average." Moreover, Paul Sullivan, from the non-profit Veterans for Common Sense told Bloomberg, "`We've never faced a situation like this, not in the Vietnam War, World War II, or the Korean War, where so many military are in danger of losing their homes.'' We don't know about you, but how many of us really know what "subprime" means? Or "adjustable" rate? Did you know that while veterans comprise eleven percent of Americans, they simultaneously represent TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT of our homeless population? MSC does not opposed helping Wall Street.

We appreciate the need for the government to intervene. But we also believe that the individual tax-payer needs help too and this current plan rewards the predators and punishes the prey. When Congress tells us they do not have the funds to increase mental health services or family support services, how can we allow this bail out plan to move forward? We urge you to take a few minutes out of your morning to call just one of your representatives. Tell them who you are, where your spouse serves, and that you have had it with the rhetoric of supporting the troops (and veterans). Please spread the word. You have a voice. Don't be afraid to use it!

Your ally in change,

Carissa Picard--
Carissa Picard, Esq.President
Military Spouses for Change
P.O. Box 216
Copperas Cove, TX 76522
ww.militaryspousesforchange.com
"Patriotism is proud of a country's virtues and eager to correct its deficiencies; it also acknowledges the legitimate patriotism of other countries, with their own specific virtues. The pride of nationalism, however, trumpets its country's virtues and denies its deficiencies, while it is contemptuous toward the virtues of other countries. It wants to be, and proclaims itself to be, 'the greatest,' but greatness is not required of a country; only goodness is."Sydney J. Harris

Paul Sullivan and Juan Cole coming to Sarasota FL

You're Invited: Paul Sullivan and Juan Cole Address Florida VCS on October 4 in Sarasota

Veterans for Common Sense

Sep 19, 2008

Dr. Juan Cole, a foremost authority on the Middle East, and Paul Sullivan, the Executive Director of Veterans for Common Sense, will speak to the public in Sarasota, Florida on October 4. The event is sponsored by Florida Veterans for Common Sense (FLVCS), Florida Consumer Action Network (FCAN), and Veterans for Common Sense (VCS). The public is invited.

Click here for Tickets, or go to this web site: http://www.fcan.org/juan_cole.html
minimum suggested donation is $10, please.

Dr. Cole has often appeared in print and national television as a commentator on the Middle East and has published peer reviewed books on the Middle East. He has testified before the United States Senate and is the former editor of The International Journal of Middle East Studies. He is President of the Middle East Studies Association of North America. In 2006, he received the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism administered by Hunter College. His blog, Informed Comment, averages 25,000 hits per day. His latest book is Napoleon's Egypt: Invading the Middle East.

Paul Sullivan regularly testifies before Congress and appears in the press as a leading advocate for veterans' healthcare, disability benefits, and voting rights. Veterans for Common Sense worked with ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff to break the news in February 2007 that the Department of Veterans Affairs was treating hundreds of thousands of veteran patients from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. VCS worked with CBS Evening News investigative reporters to uncover the growing suicide epidemic among Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. For more information about the impact of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars on America, please read The Three Trillion Dollar War by Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes.

Professor Cole will sign books after the Question and Answer session. And Paul Sullivan will release new statistics about the impact of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars on the Department of Defense and VA.

Tickets: Minimum suggested donation is $10. Call Julian Koss (941) 923-9280 or go to the FCAN web site: http://www.fcan.org/juan_cole.html

When: Saturday, October 4, 2008, 7:00 PM

Where: 2896 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota (Potter Building) (Three buildings west of Robarts Arena off Fruitville Road, Sarasota)

Speakers: Juan Cole and Paul Sullivan
Sponsors: FCAN, FLVCS, and VCS

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/11207

VA Hospitals Already Treated 347,750 Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran Patients

Sep 10, VCS Releases New VA Fact Sheet: VA Hospitals Already Treated 347,750 Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran Patients

Paul Sullivan, Executive Director, VCS


Sep 10, 2008

Veterans for Common Sense releases our newest "VA Fact Sheet" showing that VA hospitals and patients treated nearly 350,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran patients, including nearly 150,000 diagnosed with mental health conditions.
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/articleid/11066

And they have this from the DOD
Sep 10, VCS Issues New DoD Fact Sheet: 1,001 More Battlefield Casualties for August Raises Total to 79,049 for Iraq and Afghanistan Wars
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/articleid/11133

Veterans will be counted out if McCain has his way

Aug 21, VA Update: Senator McCain's Plan to Privatize Veterans' Healthcare
Aaron Glantz


Inter Press Service News Agency

Aug 21, 2008
August 21, 2008 - If John McCain is elected the next U.S. president, wounded veterans could be in for a world of hurt.

On the campaign trail, the Republican's presumptive nominee has talked of a new mission for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and argued that veterans with non-combat medical problems should be given vouchers to receive care at private, for-profit hospitals -- in other words, an end to the kind of universal health care the government has guaranteed veterans for generations.

"We need to relieve the burden on the VA from routine health care," McCain told the National Forum on Disability Issues last month. "If you have a routine health care need, take it wherever you want, whatever doctor or health care provider and get the treatment you need, while we at the VA focus our attention, our care, our love, on these grievous wounds of war."

The Republican senator argues that giving veterans a VA card that they can use at private doctors would shorten the long wait times many veterans face in seeing government doctors, who are nearly universally viewed as among the best in the world.

A recent study by the RAND Corporation found that "VA patients were more likely to receive recommended care" and "received consistently better care across the board, including screening, diagnosis, treatment and follow up" than that delivered by other U.S. health care providers.

go here for more

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/10972

Lucas Senescall's suicide raises questions about PTSD care

When will they get the message that the suicide hot line is great but they need to have the rest of the VA up to speed or all it does is prolong the suffering?

Army Vet's Suicide Raises Questions About VA's Treatment of PTSD Cases
Written by Jason Leopold
Thursday, 14 August 2008
by Jason Leopold

The tragic death earlier this month of a 26-year-old Navy veteran who hung himself with an electrical cord while under the care of a Spokane, Washington Veterans Administration hospital depression underscores what veterans advocacy groups say is evidence of an epidemic of suicides due failures by the VA to identify and treat war veterans afflicted with severe mental health problems.

Lucas Senescall, who suffered from severe depression, was the sixth veteran who committed suicide this year after seeking treatment at the Spokane VA, according to a report published last weekend in the Spokesman Review.

Senescall’s father said his son was “begging for help and [the VA] kicked him to the curb,” according to the July 20 report in the Spokesman Review.

On Tuesday, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wa, addressed the increasing number of war veterans who are committing suicide, specifically pointing out the death of Lucas Senescall, during a speech on the Senate floor.


“More than five years [after the start of the Iraq war], we should have the resources in place to treat the psychological wounds of war as well as we do the physical ones. But we don’t,” Murray said. “When someone with a history of depression, PTSD, or other psychological wounds walks into the VA and says they are suicidal, it should set off alarm bells We can’t convince veterans or service members to get care if they think they will be met with lectures and closed doors. That is unacceptable. At the very least, we must ensure that staff at military and VA medical centers have the training to recognize and treat someone who is in real distress.

“Time and again, it has taken leaks and scandals to get the Administration to own up to major problems at the VA – from inadequate budgets to rising suicide rates. And its response to rising costs has been to underfund research and cut off services to some veterans. Service members and veterans need more than an 800 number to call,” Murray said.

Paul Sullivan, the executive director of the advocacy group Veterans for Common Sense, agreed.

“The facts show VA lacks consistent and complete policies and oversight on the subject of suicide, as VA leaders confirmed during the trial in the lawsuit veterans brought against VA.”
click post title for more

PTSD:3,000 hired in 2 years-43,000 needing help doesn't add up

You may be tired of hearing about this. Can't say I blame you. Frankly, I'm tired of posting it. I'm fed up! But there isn't a chance in hell I'm about to give up. Too many nights I lay my head down in bed and wonder how many more lives could have been saved today if they had been helped. There's a veteran I've been trying to help, among many, but he stands out the most in my mind and has captured my heart. I've "talked him down from the ledge" more times than I was even aware of until he told me. He's not part of the newer veterans getting all the attention but he's a Vietnam veteran being pushed aside and still having his claim denied. I wonder how I can offer him any hope when he is loosing the battle he should have never have had to fight. If the government were even close to where they claim they are, he would have been helped a very long time ago. The truth is, they are nowhere near where they need to be and these veterans, all generations of them, are dying for attention.

The VA said they hired 3,000 "mental health professionals" in two years but what they don't say is that many of those 3,000 are social workers without degrees as psychologist and psychiatrists. This is why they use the term they do. They tell you that 1,000 of our veterans calling the suicide hotline and were "rescued" but they also say that 43,000 of them called for help. They don't say what was done about them or if any of them ended up being treated, admitted, claim approved or if they took their own lives as part of the others who succeeded. As bad as all of this appears to be, we need to acknowledge right here and right now that we do not have all the numbers in yet. There are many still not seeking help and as a matter of fact, less than half of those needing help, seek it. Some studies put that figure at only a quarter of the veterans needing help, but I'm being kind here.

Another thing the VA needs to be aware of is that these veterans, these families, are not going to suffer in silence. They are not going to hide their stories and they are going to fight for their lives long after the risk should have ended. While the VA and Congress have talked about the need to do outreach work with the veterans and raise awareness, they have also raised the empowerment of the staggering numbers of families and veterans who have decided to take their fight all the way to Washington DC in order to live a life instead of existing in them until all hope has vanished. They know this government owes those who are sent to fight the battles this nation decides to fight and they are demanding to be damned no more! The time for excuses and trying to hide the facts has lead us to this perilous time. It's time for the VA and the DOD to open their books and let the people who can help get to work before this goes any further. Enough is enough. They need to stop sacrificing their lives long after they are out of reach from enemy forces but fight battles against the enemy within themselves.

Army Vet's Suicide Raises Questions About VA's Treatment PTSD Cases

By Jason Leopold
The Public Record
Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Published in : Nation/World


The tragic death earlier this month of a 26-year-old Navy veteran who hung himself with an electrical cord while under the care of a Spokane, Washington Veterans Administration hospital depression underscores what veterans advocacy groups say is evidence of an epidemic of suicides due failures by the VA to identify and treat war veterans afflicted with severe mental health problems.

Lucas Senescall, who suffered from severe depression, was the sixth veteran who committed suicide this year after seeking treatment at the Spokane VA, according to a report published last weekend in the Spokesman Review.

Senescall’s father said his son was “begging for help and [the VA] kicked him to the curb,” according to the July 20 report in the Spokesman Review.

On Tuesday, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wa, addressed the increasing number of war veterans who are committing suicide, specifically pointing out the death of Lucas Senescall, during a speech on the Senate floor.

“More than five years [after the start of the Iraq war], we should have the resources in place to treat the psychological wounds of war as well as we do the physical ones. But we don’t,” Murray said. “When someone with a history of depression, PTSD, or other psychological wounds walks into the VA and says they are suicidal, it should set off alarm bells. We can’t convince veterans or service members to get care if they think they will be met with lectures and closed doors. That is unacceptable. At the very least, we must ensure that staff at military and VA medical centers have the training to recognize and treat someone who is in real distress.

“Time and again, it has taken leaks and scandals to get the Administration to own up to major problems at the VA – from inadequate budgets to rising suicide rates. And its response to rising costs has been to underfund research and cut off services to some veterans. Service members and veterans need more than an 800 number to call,” Murray said.

Paul Sullivan, the executive director of the advocacy group Veterans for Common Sense, agreed.

“The facts show VA lacks consistent and complete policies and oversight on the subject of suicide, as VA leaders confirmed during the trial in the lawsuit veterans brought against VA.”

Sullivan added that the actual number of veterans who have committed suicide is unknown “because VA failed to start collecting national suicide data until after we filed our lawsuit.”

“We called this willful negligence, or “Don’t Look, Don’t Find,” Sullivan said. “If VA looked determined if there was a suicide problem, and if VA found there was a suicide problem, then VA would be forced to address the suicide problem. VCS believes that Congress should order VA to collect robust suicide data so that VA doesn’t change their mind or somehow lose the data.”

Sullivan said the Democratic-controlled Congress began to address veterans’ mental health issues in 2007 with the passage of the Joshua Omvig suicide bill as well the Dignity for Wounded Warriors bill, a new law extending free VA healthcare for up to five years for returning Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. Omvig was a 22-year-old Army veteran who suffered from PTSD and committed suicide in 2005.

And while Sullivan, an Army veteran and former project manager at the VA, applauds Murray for raising awareness about the issue, he said veterans’ suicides have already reached “epidemic” proportions.

“There is an epidemic of suicides among our veterans, especially our younger veterans,” Sullivan said. “The evidence of this was presented by the CBS Evening News and the University of Georgia in their November 2007 report indicating veterans are twice as likely to complete a suicide than non-veterans. Even worse, and an ominous indicator of the severity of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars on the minds of our veterans, younger veterans, aged 18 to 24, are between three and four times more likely to complete a suicide than non-veterans of the same age. Veterans are screened for pre-existing conditions before entering the military, and their suicide rate should be lower, not higher.”

Last year, Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth, filed a lawsuit against the VA alleging some war veterans were turned away from VA hospitals after they sought care for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and later committed suicide. PTSD is a psychiatric disorder that can develop in a person who witnesses, or is confronted with, a traumatic event. Mental health experts have described PTSD as an event of overwhelming magnitude in which a victim's nervous system is afflicted with intense fear, helplessness and horror. The victim shuts down only to re-experience the traumatic event over and over again. Studies have shown that PTSD is the most prevalent mental disorder arising from combat.

The veterans groups had asked a federal judge in San Francisco to issue a preliminary injunction force the VA to immediately treat war veterans who showed signs of or were already suffering from PTSD. In addition, they wanted a federal judge to force the VA to overhaul its internal systems that handle benefits claims and medical services.

But U.S District Court Judge Samuel Conti ruled last month that he lacked the legal authority to implement those measures. But in an 82-page ruling he said it was “clear to the court” that “the VA may not be meeting all of the needs of the nation’s veterans.”

Conti wrote that the veterans groups should get “Congress, the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the adjudication system within the VA, and the Federal Circuit” to address the matter.

Sullivan said his group plans to appeal the ruling.

The VA said it has hired more than 3,000 mental healthcare professionals over the past two years to deal with the increasing number of PTSD cases, but the problems persist. In response to the federal lawsuit, the VA set up a suicide prevention hotline. The VA said it has received more than 43,000 calls, 1,000 of which were from veterans who were on the verge of suicide and were rescued.

But a VA spokesman said the agency would not provide additional data about the number of veterans being treated for mental health issues or the number of veterans who committed suicide while under VA care.
go here for more
http://www.pubrecord.org/nationworld/214.html?task=view

VCS Appeals Court Ruling Because No Veteran Gets Left Behind

Keep one thing in mind as you read this. If the government had lived up to the thoughts we the people have as being grateful, no one would have to take them to court to make sure they finally do it.

VCS Appeals Court Ruling Because No Veteran Gets Left Behind
On Jun 25, 2008, U.S. Federal District Court Senior Judge Samuel Conti issued a detailed 82-page ruling where he concluded that VA is mired in crisis and that he is "troubled" by lengthy delays veterans face trying to obtain healthcare and benefits from VA. Sounds like the veterans won, right?

Unfortunately, Judge Conti said the Court lacks jurisdiction. We are deeply disappointed that he wants VA and Congress to fix VA's enormous problems.

VCS plans to press forward so our veterans receive prompt and high-quality VA healthcare as well as fast, complete, and accurate VA claims decisions. Either we repair VA now, or we face another generation of hundreds of thousands of veterans with broken homes, lost jobs, drug and alcohol problems, homelessness, and suicide.

That's why VCS will appeal the Court’s decision primarily on the Constitutional grounds that if the Judicial Branch does not enforce the law, then Legislative Branch actions become meaningless in the face of massive Executive Branch failures.

VCS needs your help to launch our lengthy and time-consuming appeal. Please click here to make a contribution to VCS today and support our work to overhaul VA for our veterans and their families.

Here are three important items about the Court's ruling:
1. The Army Times provides the best newspaper coverage about the facts.
2. CBS News / KPIX TV broadcast a thorough review of the verdict.
3. You can read the Court's decision and see VCS and Veterans United for Truth did the right thing to file suit.

VCS needs your help. In the past year we gathered veterans' stories, we obtained hundreds of pages of VA documents under the Freedom of Information Act, we worked closely for hundreds of hours with our attorneys at Morrison & Foerster and Disability Rights Advocates, and we flew to San Francisco for the two week trial.

Please consider setting up a monthly or quarterly contribution to VCS today so we can fight for our veterans.

Here is a sample of e-mails showing the broad public and veteran support of our lawsuit:
• "Your efforts will make life better for . . . veterans."

• "Thanks for all the hard work."

• "It was a great effort. The fact you were able to get the VA attitude out in the public, presented as evidence in a federal court, was of critical importance…. KEEP IT UP!"

• "I think you did a terrific job of exposing the tragedy of the veterans with the law suit."

• "All of you working on this should be proud of yourselves."

• "You have accomplished a great deal and there still things to do. This is only the beginning of the fight; end of round one."

There is a lot more work ahead as the Iraq and Afghanistan wars continue. As of April 2008, VA medical centers have treated 325,000 recent combat veterans, including 133,000 with a mental health condition, 75,000 of whom are diagnosed with PTSD.

Although we have a temporary setback, our landmark lawsuit with VUFT achieved several important goals for veterans:
• VA opened a suicide hotline, received tens of thousands of calls from highly distraught veterans, and "rescued" hundreds.

• VA hired thousands of new mental health professionals, including hundreds of suicide prevention coordinators at their hospitals and clinics.

• A trove of VA e-mails confirmed the suicide epidemic of 1,000 VA patient attempts per month. In addition, death statistics reveal that younger veterans are 3 to 4 times more likely to kill themselves than non-veterans of the same age group.

Read more of the facts uncovered by our lawsuit - facts Judge Conti agreed with.

• Congress held several oversight hearings on VA's crisis where VCS testified. Now several critical pieces of legislation inspired by our lawsuit should become law by the end of 2008. VA was also forced to explain why they concealed the suicide epidemic and why some VA staff fought against proper healthcare and disability benefits for PTSD.

• Several major media outlets now have full- or part-time journalists dedicated to investigating the human consequences of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Please give to VCS today so we can win our appeal on behalf of all our veterans!
Thank You,
Paul Sullivan

Executive Director

Veterans for Common Sense
VCS provides advocacy and publicity for issues related to veterans, national security, and civil liberties. VCS is registered with the IRS as a non-profit 501(c)(3) charity, and donations are tax deductible.

Judge let down veterans across the country-after government did

Do you think this judge could have figured out he had no power to do anything before he took the case?

Judge dismisses suit charging VA with shoddy mental health care
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 25, 2008

(06-25) 11:00 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge in San Francisco dismissed a nationwide lawsuit by veterans groups today that sought major changes in the Department of Veterans Affairs' mental health system because of long waits for treatment and benefits.

Veterans' advocates accused the VA of making mental health care virtually unavailable to thousands of discharged soldiers through perfunctory exams, delays in referrals and treatment, and a prolonged and complex system of awarding medical benefits.

They cited internal department e-mails, released in response to the suit, that reported 18 suicides a day among all veterans and 1,000 suicide attempts a month among those under VA care. About 30 percent of the nation's 24 million veterans receive medical care from the department, which is required to provide care for five years after a veteran is discharged from active duty.
go here for more
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/25/BAB111EUFF.DTL&tsp=1

It really would have been great if he figured that part out before he let all this time go by and then left the veterans out in the cold still. What's the answer? Who has the power to make sure the veterans are taken care of if the Bush Administration won't, Congress has limited itself on what it is willing to do and the rest of the American people have not taken enough interest in them to fight for them?

Paul Sullivan of Veterans for Common Sense, should be proud of the effort he put into this law suit and so should everyone else on the veteran's side. That's really all I have to say on this right now because this whole thing is really sickening. Do we care about our veterans or not? Then when are we going to prove it?

Paul Sullivan clears up rumors on VA law suit

Being very involved with what is going on in this country with our veterans for as long as I have, I've managed to come into contact with a lot of dedicated people who won me over with their love for our veterans. One of them is Paul Sullivan of Veterans for Common Sense. I am proud to consider him a friend and he is always quick to respond to emails from me. It never seems to matter how busy this man is. He still takes time out for me. You have to keep in mind that when it comes to the people with power in this country, I am virtually no one. I fly so far under the radar I'm shocked when I'm quoted or something I wrote has drawn any attention at all. I can't really make a difference but I know people who not only can, but are doing it. Paul is at the top of my list of mountain movers.

The NAMI convention distressed me at certain points. Most of those times have been included in postings on this blog since the convention. This bothered me so much, I asked Paul to answer some questions to clear up some rumors I heard during the 4 days of the convention. I'm not picking on the people of NAMI and I'm really very proud to be a member considering how many of them across the nation are doing the jobs of saints. Fantastic things are happening because of these truly dedicated people. But that said, as with anything else, every organization has some people with a mind set on something. There is no way possible for everyone to know everything in their realm. I want to believe these rumors were not made knowing they were not true statements. I also wanted to clear up what I heard and what I know to make sure I have the facts on these issues. It's all too important to me. Plus, knowing how much information goes into this tiny brain of mine, it's far too easy to get things jumbled up. I am thankful I had Paul to turn to for the answers.

What caused Veterans for Common Sense to file the law suit against the VA?

Jonathan Schulze and Jeffrey Lucey, two Gulf War combat veterans with PTSD, were refused VA medical care even though they physically came to VA medical facilities with their families and told VA staff they were suicidal. Congress may legislate and perform oversight, yet the Court can force immediate action: one of our top priorities was to force VA from turning away suicidal veterans.

VCS initially filed Freedom of Information Act requests earlier in 2007 about suicides, and VA responded that they had no information. VCS also filed suit because the number of disability claims waiting for review has doubled in the past few years, and the length of time has increased from five months to more than six months.

However, VA executives paid themselves nearly $4 million in bonuses for their dismal performance. Furthermore, VA’s IG reported three times that 25 percent of veterans waited more than one month to see a doctor. VA testified under oath twice that the figure was less than 5 percent. Clearly, VA has a capacity crisis – too many veterans and not enough doctors or claims processors. Furthermore, the 23-page claim form and several healthcare enrollment forms are overly complex, especially for our veterans with PTSD or TBI. For more detailed information, please go to http://www.veteransptsdclassaction.org/.




What caused Veterans for Common Sense to join forces with Veterans United for Truth?

VUFT is another non-profit veteran advocacy group, and they are based in California.



How were the emails from Dr. Katz discovered?

After more than 8 months of delays, the Federal Court ORDERED VA to turn over the e-mails to our attorneys in our lawsuit as part of the discovery process.



What did Dr. Katz say to explain these emails?

He admitted they were true and that he wrote them. You can read his testimony at the SVAC web site where he offers evasive explanations.



What were the facts discovered as a result of these emails being found?

1. VA says they are monitoring completed and attempted suicides to see if there is a difference in suicide rates between veterans, war veterans, and non-veterans.

2. VA essentially confirmed the CBS study that found veterans are more likely to complete a suicide, and for younger veterans aged 18 – 24, they were three to four times more likely to complete a suicide..

3. VA completes “suicide incident reports” and “root cause analysis” reports for each completed suicide, yet then declares them confidential “quality assurance” and places them off limits to Congress, veterans’ families, and attorneys. It is very important for Congress and the Courts and the public to see these reports (with privacy protections of course) so that we can better understand why the veterans killed themselves, and how VA can be improved to prevent and reduce suicides.



How many suicides does the VA know about since the beginning of the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq?

There is no national “veteran completed suicide” reporting system now, yet VA is under considerable pressure to begin working to identify all of them. VCS provided a methodology to Congress to identify as many as possible by starting with the list of 1.7 million deployed and then checking all federal, state, and local death certificates.

Currently, VA looks at death certificates where the document reports the person as a veteran. This is incomplete because many families do not know if a person was a veteran or the funeral home / coroner don’t ask. DoD only reports active duty suicides and excludes Reserve and National Guard suicides because they are not on Active Duty.. Our VCS methodology would identify all completed suicides among all 1.7 million, not just the incomplete pieces of the puzzle the DoD and VA currently look at.



How many attempted suicides does the VA know about during the same period?

See above. VA knows about attempted suicides only among those veterans receiving VA care, and that is about 1,000 per month, or 12,000 per year, based on Katz’ e-mail.



How did the emails end up with Senator Akaka and his committee?

The Katz e-mails were produced at trial in April 2008, and then journalists reported them to the public. I not exactly sure, yet I believe Sen. Akaka’s staff saw them in the widely reported press accounts of our trial.



Do you know about the Freedom of Information request to the VA by CREW and VoteVets?

Yes. It is too bad that VA still plays games with FOIA. VA should be forced to turn over the information. Embarrassing information is never a reason to deny a FOIA, as VA frequently does.



How did the email from Norma Perez end up in the hands of congress?

The Perez e-mail discouraging diagnoses for PTSD among veterans was sent by Perez to several VA staff, who in turn sent it to other VA staff, who in tern sent it to a veteran advocate in Texas. That person turned it over to VoteVets and CREW. VCS did not play a role in uncovering the e-mail, yet VCS did play a role in publicizing the e-mail.



What did the entire email suggest?

I would suggest reading the e-mail, as it speaks for itself.



How did that email end up with the congress and then incorporated into the law suit filed by Veterans For Common Sense?

The Perez e-mail and news articles were forwarded from me to our attorneys with a request that they investigate it. They did investigate it by sending a letter to the Dept. of Justice, who then authenticated it and confirmed that VA Secretary James Peake’s office knew about the Perez e-mail on April 7, 2008 – a full two weeks before our trial began, yet VA failed to provide it to our attorneys under discovery. Our attorneys then asked the judge to add the Perez e-mail to the body of evidence we introduced at trial. At a hearing earlier this month, the judge agreed with our attorneys, and the judge also admitted the entire Senate hearing transcript about the Perez e-mail into evidence – a victory for veterans. Sen. Akaka would know for sure, yet I believe he and his staff learned of the Perez e-mail from the press.



What is your view of these findings regarding the treatment of our veterans by the VA after these emails were discovered?

Nearly all VA employees are well-intended and want to assist veterans. I know this because I worked at VA and still know many VA employees. However, the system is overly complex, the system is overloaded, and the system is mired in a deep financial, leadership, and capacity crisis.

Compounding the problem is the disappointing fact that the current political appointees in Washington are incompetent at best, and malicious toward veterans at worst. This combination causes very serious adverse problems for VA, veterans, and families. The solution remains the obvious. VA needs an massive overhaul immediately.

VA needs new leaders, full mandatory funding, and significantly streamlined procedures so veterans can get fast and high-quality medical care and benefits. The situation is bad now, with 325,000 new and unplanned casualties from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars flooding into VA hospitals and clinics, plus 288,000 unanticipated disability claims from recent war veterans. If the crisis is not addressed immediately with aggressive action, the current administration will be held responsible for crashing VA on the rocks.

Although VA had systemic problems in the 1990s and early 2000s, the situation spiraled out of control when Jim Nicholson became Secretary in early 2005. Nicholson, who had no experience with VA, healthcare, or disability claims, served as Karl Rove’s and Grover Norquist’s personal partisan wrecking ball to tear apart VA, bust up the unions, and privatize it. In the end, our only recourse was to file suit because veterans were literally completing suicide, yet VA leaders appeared oblivious to this life-or-death crisis.

In my view, we can learn the lessons from the Vietnam and Gulf wars, where many veterans with psychological trauma were neglected, and improve the situation. Or, we can take the current approach by VA: pinch pennies, bury your head in the sand, and leave the disaster to the next administration. The decision to fix VA was straightforward, yet the battle to fix VA is very hard.


Paul Sullivan
Executive Director
Veterans for Common Sense
Post Office Box 15514
Washington, DC 20003
(202) 558-4553
Paul@VeteransForCommonSense.org
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/

I want to thank Paul for his time and for all he has done for the veterans in this country. Think about the numbers of veterans his actions will make a difference for. He doesn't want more families to have to bury another son or daughter because the VA just didn't have room for them when they needed their wounds to be treated. We've all read too many stories like Jonathan's and Jeffrey's, or Tim Bowman, or Joshua Omvig, along with the hundreds of others we found in the media. Far too much suffering that did not need to happen.

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

Judge orders VA back to court over email

The Department of Veterans Affairs was ordered back into U.S. District Court today to explain why they failed to provide the Court with critical documents that reveal a systemic pattern and practice of discouraging diagnoses and disability benefits for veterans suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The judge added the VA’s anti-PTSD e-mail to the evidence he will consider for the trial that ended on April 30, 2008.

In response to the Court’s decision, Veterans for Common Sense issued this statement: “The Court’s ruling is an important victory for veterans. The ruling adds critical new evidence the judge will review as part of our lawsuit against VA on behalf of all veterans. VA’s anti-PTSD e-mail is a shocking example of how serious the problems are within VA. When combined, the e-mail and the evidence presented at trial clearly demonstrate a systemic failure by VA to provide prompt and high-quality mental healthcare to our Nation's veterans suffering from PTSD.”

Please read Associated Press news article: http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/articleid/10339

The AP reports that the Court is expected to make a ruling soon on the case.

VA Law Suit Update, Judge orders hearing over Perez email

June 8, Lawsuit Update:
VCS & VUFT Case Mentioned in NY Times

Daniel Frosch
New York Times
Jun 07, 2008

June 7, 2008 - A federal judge presiding over a lawsuit alleging mistreatment of veterans has ordered a hearing regarding new evidence in the case.

The judge, Samuel Conti of Federal District Court in San Francisco, ordered the hearing, scheduled for Tuesday, after the emergence of an internal e-mail message that appears to urge Veterans Affairs clinicians to avoid making a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder to save money.

The message was written by a V.A. psychologist in Texas, but it did not surface until after the trial concluded in April, prompting the plaintiffs to request that the case be reopened. “It’s part of a systemic pattern where there’s a divergence between the pristine world of the V.A.’s central office and what goes on around the country,” said Gordon Erspamer, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.

On Wednesday, a lawyer with the Justice Department wrote to Judge Conti contending that the e-mail message in question did not represent V.A.-wide practice or policy. Also on Wednesday, Norma Perez, the psychologist who wrote the message, told members of Congress that it was poorly worded and was meant only to suggest diagnostic options for doctors. The lawsuit was filed last year by veterans’ groups.
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/10328

Anyone who thinks this is a bad idea had better reconsider. This is what they have been hiding as the suicide rate and attempted suicide rate goes up in the VA and the DOD.

Norma Perez, there is no excuse for her to hide behind

June 6, VCS in the News:
Judge Orders VA into Court to Explain VA E-Mail Discouraging PTSD Diagnoses

Paul Elias


San Jose Mercury News / Associated Press

Jun 05, 2008

Judge to consider newly-surfaced e-mail in vet care trial

June 5, 2008, San Francisco, CA — A federal judge considering a lawsuit that alleges inadequate veterans medical care ordered government lawyers on Thursday to explain an e-mail by a Veterans Administration psychologist suggesting that counselors diagnose fewer post-traumatic stress disorder cases in soldiers.

The hearing ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Samuel Conti follows a two-week trial that ended last month. Veterans groups had sued the VA, saying it inadequately addressed a "rising tide" of mental health problems, especially post-traumatic stress disorder and suicides.

The plaintiffs asked Conti to reopen the case in light of the e-mail discovered after the trial ended.

The judge agreed, saying "the e-mail raises potentially serious questions that may warrant further attention." He ordered lawyers for both sides to appear in court Tuesday to discuss whether the e-mail has any bearing on the case.

The document in question is a March 20 memo written by Norma Perez, who helps coordinate a post-traumatic stress disorder clinical team in central Texas.

"Given that we are having more and more compensation-seeking veterans, I'd like to suggest that you refrain from giving a diagnosis of PTSD straight out," Perez wrote to VA counselors. "We really don't or have time to do the extensive testing that should be done to determine PTSD."

Perez told senators Wednesday at a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing called to investigate the e-mail that her message was poorly written and she meant to remind counselors that they could initially diagnose patients with a less severe stress condition known as "adjustment disorder."

go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/articleid/10312


I have posted about this before along with far too many other reports to indicated the few people in the VA with this kind of attitude are not only casting a dark, hideous image of truly caring people working for the VA, they have also cost lives. Shall I list them here? Too late, they've been listed for years on this blog, on my other blog and all over the net. Shall we re-read the stories from the families who lost husbands, sons, wives, daughters, mothers, fathers when their lives could have been saved? Again, not really necessary considering the reports have come out all over the nation from grieving families who trusted the Veterans Administration to live up to what they claim by taking care of our veterans. Will one more post about any of them do any good?

Will it do any good at all to people like Perez? Will it bring them back to life? Restore a family torn apart? Undo a parent's unspeakable grief of having to bury a child of their's they thought had returned from combat safely and put into trusting care of the VA? Will it replace a wife's heartache as she lays in bed at night clutching her husband's pillow as she had done so many nights before while he was deployed only to have to face the rest of her life without him because the VA let him die? While it stop a child's tears or blot out memories of the stranger who came home looking like their parent but acting like someone they know longer knew only to find they had to go to their grandparent's house for a few days because "something happened" to their Dad or their Mom, then faced with having to get dressed up to go and stand by a coffin in a cemetery with a neatly folded flag to hold in place of their parent?

No, for Norma Perez, there is no excuse for what she did. There is no excuse for misdiagnosing any veteran when their lives could have been saved with the proper care and some human kindness. There is no excuse to abandon them to whatever may come their way when they could have been saved.

I've been up against too many people like Perez who callously dismiss and deny the suffering of these men and women, so worthy of so much more. I've spent more than half my life trying to undo the stigma people like Perez perpetrated against our veterans to advance their career, get a bonus for cutting costs when they could have been saving lives. Her "poorly written" email was further damage to men and women serving this country who brought home a terror inside of them. That terror made them reach out for help and she took that away from them. She took it away by telling them they are not really as wounded as they were and did not require the help they really needed to begin to heal. It was a betrayal against them.

What she also managed to do was to put up a wall against other veterans who may have sought help if they found other veterans were treated with the care and consideration a truly grateful nation and really dedicated VA employee would have provided if she gave a shit!

These are men and women, humans, who risked their lives for this country! They were willing to die for this nation doing what this nation asked of them. By the Grace of God they made it home only to find the enemy was not back where they thought they left them, but right here in their own country, in their own state in their own government! What Perez manage to tell them was that they were not worthy of the disability compensation that truly reflected their wound and they were turned away from the help they needed to treat their wound properly.

Whatever qualified her for the position she obtained in the VA should have come with the requirement she first prove she was a grateful citizen and dedicated to the veterans before she was even hired!

Military Still Deploys Medically Unfit Soldiers to Iraq War

June 6, VCS in the News:
Military Still Deploys Medically Unfit Soldiers to Iraq War

Lisa Chedekel and Matthew Kauffman


Hartford Courant (Connecticut)

Jun 05, 2008

Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, said he was frustrated, but not surprised, that the military is not following its own pre-deployment screening rules. "First, it costs money. Second, they don't have the staff to do it," Sullivan said. "The military's out of troops, and the military is broken. ... They've knowingly sent unfit soldiers into combat since the start of the war, and they're still doing it."

GAO Report: Military 'Inconsistent' On Medical Records Reviews

June 5, 2008 - The military is not routinely reviewing the medical records of troops being sent to war despite a policy that calls for such a check before service members are deemed mentally fit to deploy, congressional investigators said in a new report.

In the report, the Government Accountability Office said that although the Department of Defense, or DoD, had taken some "positive steps" to improve the mental-health screening of deploying and returning troops, "unfortunately, DoD's policies for reviewing medical records during the pre-deployment health assessment are inconsistent."

"Because of DoD's inconsistent policies," the investigators said, "providers determining if ... service members meet DoD's minimum mental health standards for deployment may not have complete medical information."

The accountability office reviewed changes approved 18 months ago in the way troops are screened for mental-health status before and after deploying to war.

The defense department in late 2006 adopted a policy, in response to congressional legislation, that tightened pre-deployment screening by setting limits on when troops with mental-health problems may be sent to war and retained in combat.

The legislation was prompted by a series of stories in The Courant that found troops' mental illnesses were being missed or ignored during pre-deployment screenings. Some of those troops committed suicide in Iraq.

The congressional investigators noted that the military's 2006 policy called for a "medical record review" of all deploying troops, but they said health care providers at several military bases they visited "were unaware that [a review] was required as part of the pre-deployment health assessment." Their report recommends that the military abide by the policy and require a record review for all deploying troops.
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/index.cfm/page/article/id/10311

Don't Throw Sergeant VerSteegh From His House

Don't Throw Sergeant VerSteegh From His House

Robert Naiman


Huffington Post

May 31, 2008

May 29, 2008 - I'm delighted Senator Webb's GI Bill and Senator McCain's opposition to it presents another opportunity to emphasize that the neoconservative elite who lied about Iraq also lied about "supporting the troops" -- the very club they used to silence criticism when they lied about Iraq. If we can reach the place where a super-majority of the U.S. population is permanently convinced that you can't trust anything related to military affairs said by neocon elitists like Pastor John Hagee's AIPAC, it's quite plausible that we could, at long last, enjoy a Presidency of the United States in which the U.S. commits no new violations of international law with respect to the use of military force.

In the latest evidence that neocons "support the troops" as long as it doesn't cost anything to them or their rich elitist friends, Bloomberg reports:

In the midst of the worst surge in mortgage defaults in seven decades, foreclosures in U.S. towns where soldiers live are increasing at a pace almost four times the national average.
You might think veterans' groups would be very concerned about this. You'd be right.

"We've never faced a situation like this, not in the Vietnam War, World War II, or the Korean War, where so many military are in danger of losing their homes," said Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, a Washington-based advocacy group started in 2002 by Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans. "No one asked them for their credit score when we asked them to fight for us."

How does this affect the family of an individual soldier?

go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/10259

Point Man to interview Paul Sullivan VCS on Stardust radio

From Mike Harris

I will be hosting the upcoming SVR Internet Radio Show:

WHEN: Wednesday May 14th from 6:30 to 8:00 PM Eastern Time

GUESTS:

* First 30 minutes - Mr. Paul Sullivan - Executive Director of "Veterans for Common Sense" -

* Last 30 minutes - Mr. Sid Wolinsky - Attorney and co-founder of "Disability Rights Advocates" - http://www.dralegal.org/

Both individuals are active in a major class action lawsuit against the Veterans Administration for mistreatment of our Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Plaintiffs in the suit are "Veterans for Common Sense" and "Veterans United for Truth". Here is a May 11, 2008 article that explains the situation:

http://tinyurl.com/6aodwr

I may have another speaker for the middle portion of the show, but if not then we will simply continue our discussion on the topic.

TOPIC: Mistreatment of Veterans by the VA and the high Veteran Suicide rate

WHERE: http://www.stardustent.com/svr.htm

Veterans for Common Sense shows problems with National Guard claims

I can just hear them now. Praying for a return to the days when the net did not exist and they could claim whatever they wanted. How would anyone know unless some reporter was chasing after every claim they made?

Read this.

Here are our latest monthly Veterans for Common Sense Fact Sheets – one for the military, and one for VA – describing the impact of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars.



The bottom line: DoD reports more than 75,000 battlefield casualties and VA reports nearly 300,000 patients from the two wars.



One interesting note: There is a huge discrepancy in VA disability claim activity and outcomes for Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans:



Guard / Reserve veterans (23%) are about half as likely to file a VA disability claim against VA than Active Duty veterans (41%).
However, Guard / Reserve veterans (11%) are more than twice as likely to have their VA disability claim denied by VA than Active Duty veterans (4%).


If you would like to see the original source documents obtained by VCS using FOIA, then please send us a note and we’ll gladly send the information.

Paul Sullivan
Executive Director
Veterans for Common Sense
Post Office Box 15514
Washington, DC 20003
(202) 558-4553
Paul@VeteransForCommonSense.org

Since the time we learned how to email and surf the web, the days of secrets ended. Unfortunately it also appears that the days of reporters chasing down leads and proving lies has also come. Very few remain now. Yet in this case, some reporters were not only doing their jobs, they were joined by a real patriot in Paul Sullivan willing to take them on. Imagine that! A man and a group of people so dedicated to taking care of our veterans that would move a mountain out of their way to get them the help they need.

You may ask what's in it for them. After all they are not seeking money. They are only seeking change. They are trying to do whatever they can for the sake of the veterans. In other words, the right thing being done is their only goal. They are magnificent! Please support their work with sending them some money if you can or if not, then shoot Paul an email and let him know how much you appreciate what he's doing. This will help veterans from all generations to come and will show the older veterans they do matter to all of us as well.

Victory for Veterans' Voting Rights

May 1 Victory for Veterans' Voting Rights: VA Reverses Policy, Allows Registration After Pressure from Congress and VCS

The VA bows to public and political pressure, but soldiers still must ask for help. "VA's new directive is progress," said Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, whose mission has long included advocating for former soldiers' voting rights. "They changed from actively opposing it to passively supporting it."

Please see prior article, "April 10, VCS in the News: VA Creates Roadblocks to Voter Registration for Injured Veterans: -
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/9783


May 1, 2008 - The Department of Veterans Affairs has issued new rules allowing former soldiers living at VA facilities to ask for help with registering to vote and voting -- a decision that could increase participation in the 2008 election by wounded Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans.

The new rules, to be published on government websites this week, reverses a years-long policy where the VA opposed helping patients and others living on VA campuses -- notably homeless veterans -- with voter registration and voting, saying to do so would be a partisan activity.

"It is VHA policy to assist patients who seek to exercise their right to register and vote," said the new policy, issued by the Veterans Health Administration as Directive 2008-02. "This policy establishes a uniform approach to assembling and providing information on voter registration and voting to veterans who request it."
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/articleid/9993

Bush Goes to Court to Deny Mental Care for Veterans

Apr. 28, VCS Lawsuit in the News: Bush Goes to Court to Deny Mental Care for Veterans

Peter Collorafi


American Chronicle

Apr 28, 2008

April 25, 2008 - A wise President, who was also a veteran of multiple wars, once said: "The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional as to how they preceive the veterans of earlier wars were Treated and Appreciated by their nation."

The issue of veterans affairs has seen an upsurge of interest in the past few weeks, as Dr. Ira Katz, an official in the Veteran's Affairs Department, is coming under fire from Congress, after giving misleading information to a CBS reporter, who was researching for a story about sucide rates among veterans.

During an interview given in November for the original CBS story, Dr. Katz told reporter Armen Keteyian that "There is no epidemic in suicide in the VA, but suicide is a major problem." When pressed for an answer to explain the VA's inability to come up with any suicide statistics among veterans, Katz replied "That research is ongoing."

However, "After a public records request, the VA provided CBS News with data that showed there were a total of 790 attempted suicides by VA patients in the entire year of 2007." This number does not match up at all with a private email sent by Dr. Katz to a colleague in which he states that the VA has identified "about 1000 suicide attempts a month in patients we see at are medical facilities," a far cry from his public estimate of 790 a year.

Compared with the number of suicide attempts, the number of actual suicides is monstrous in comparision. CBS news identified a total of 6,256 suicides in 2005 among veterans of the "war on terror" [VCS Note: this should read 6,256 suicides among all veterans], double the national average, although that number does not include the 5 states who refused to provide their suicide statistics for the CBS report.

As he did with the statistics for attempted suicides, Dr. Katz again played a two-faced persona. Katz declared that the "number is not, in fact, an accurate reflection of the rate."

Nevertheless, Dr. Katz told colleagues in another private email that "There are about 18 suicides per day among America's 25 million veterans," and "4-5 suicides per day among those who receive care from us [the VA]." Katz goes on to add that his figures are ironically "supported by the CBS numbers," which he disparaged previously in public.

In his later email titled "Shh!" Dr. Katz asks colleagues if the suicide statistics should be buried by dropping them into "a general release about our suicide prevention efforts," "before somebody stumbles onto them."
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/index.cfm/page/article/id/9953

Why didn't Keith Olbermann interview Paul Sullivan?

Supporting the troops Posted: Thursday, April 24, 2008 8:23 PM by Countdown

Paul Rieckhoff, the Executive Director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America who joined us on Countdown tonight, has compiled a comprehensive website devoted to the new GI Bill.

I just posted this on Countdown's site.

I can't believe I was disappointed in a Countdown show. When Keith interviewed Paul Rieckhoff, he interviewed the wrong Paul. Paul Sullivan of Veterans For Common Sense, is the one behind the law suit against the VA. He's been working on this longer than Rieckhoff has. While I do admire Rieckhoff and applaud him, there is an important voice in all of this that is not getting the same attention. I would love to see Paul Sullivan address his work for the veterans. Sullivan worked for the VA and he knows how it works as well as how it is supposed to work. Had it not been for his efforts, we would not know how despicable the heads of the VA have been in hiding data instead of doing the right thing.

I love Olbermann and have since he began his show. I think it's fresh, honest, intelligent and humorous. I absolutely love Oddball. That said, I am disappointed that Rieckhoff seems to be the only one getting the attention working on veteran's issues. There are many important voices in all of this and Paul Sullivan is one of them. I don't think he's receiving a tenth of the publicity he should be getting while he spends countless hours working on behalf of all veterans. Sullivan is tenacious, passionate and a powerhouse! In all the years I've been doing this, there have been very few who come close to his dedication. While watching the show, I got angry that he was not the one interviewed at the time the law suit against the VA has provided the people of this country a clearer view of what has been going on behind the veterans backs by the same department that is supposed to be taking care of them. While people like me have been aware of how bad it is for veterans, average Americans, while they clearly care, are not about to invest this many hours researching any of this. They rely on the mainstream media to provide them with the facts. Sullivan's voice has to be added to all of this or the media, once again, does a disservice to the viewers.

By Paul Sakuma, AP

Execuitive Director of Veterans for Common Sense Paul Sullivan is part of a class-action lawsuit filed Monday against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that is struggling to meet growing demands from veterans returning home from the wars abroad.

Lawsuit says VA mishandled claims

By Laura Parker, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — A coalition of disabled Iraq war veterans sued the Department of Veterans Affairs on Monday, accusing the VA of illegally denying or delaying claims for disability pay and mental health treatment.
The lawsuit names Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, among others, and asks for sweeping changes in the way the federal government handles claims of more than 1.6 million veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11.

go here for more

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-07-23-iraq-vets_N.htm

Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

Law suit message to VA "you can't treat them like crap" after this again

Attorney leading suit a veteran in battling VA
C.W. Nevius

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Gordon Erspamer, the attorney who brought the lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs that went to trial this week in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, is a big, unresponsive government agency's worst nightmare.

He's a rainmaker attorney for a major firm in the city who has set aside time to take legal action that doesn't earn a penny. And besides that, he's got a compelling and personal back story and a chip on his shoulder to prove it.

Erspamer's cause since the late '70s has been the rights of armed forces veterans, and this week's trial has the VA squirming over a shocking rate of suicides among vets and has captured the national spotlight.

The trial led the CBS Evening News this week, and Erspamer says he's getting thousands of e-mails and calls from veterans and media outlets.

Five years ago, he admits, the American public probably couldn't have told you what post-traumatic stress disorder was. Now they are not only aware of the number of vets who are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with PTSD - Erspamer estimates it will be one-third of the 1.7 million who served - but they are ready to look critically at how they've been treated.

"If you add up the veterans' suicides among those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and compare it to the total combat deaths, the veteran suicides are higher," says Erspamer, who introduced a VA e-mail at the trial that showed an average of 18 vets a day are committing suicide. "The VA doesn't want that out."

Erspamer is working the case pro bono with the support of his employer, the high-powered international law firm Morrison & Foerster. This isn't his area of interest. He's a well-regarded partner in the firm who is considered an expert in energy litigation.

But although the case has already taken him away from his regular practice for almost four months, Erspamer says this is only the beginning of the journey.

"I have no doubt in my mind that this will go to the Supreme Court," he said in an interview this week. "But this is not only legally correct, it is morally correct. For me, this is personal."
go here for more

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/24/BA3K10AIB1.DTL