Vets Cleared to Sue US over PTSD Claims

[babylonsister]

Vets Cleared to Sue US over PTSD Claims
by Aaron Glantz


SAN FRANCISCO - A federal court in San Francisco has cleared the way for a major national class action lawsuit on behalf of veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

The federal Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) had sought to dismiss the lawsuit claiming that the groups bringing the suit, Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth, were simply “advocacy organizations” and did not have standing to sue on behalf of the estimated 320,000 to 800,000 service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with cases of PTSD.

“We won this round against VA. Veterans will have our day in court,” the director of Veterans for Common Sense Paul Sullivan said in a statement. “The VA must now release documents under discovery about their deliberate attempts to deny and delay medical care and disability benefits for all veterans, especially our Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans.”

“The decision is vitally important,” added Melissa Kasnitz, an attorney with the Berkeley, California based non-profit Disability Rights Advocates, which along with the law firm Morrison and Forrester is representing the veterans groups. “It allows the case to move forward toward trial.”

“We want the government to ensure that veterans get prompt care and that the VA disability claims process is fair and run in a timely fashion,” she added.

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/01/17/6440/

[qb]

1. It is shameful that this lawsuit was even necessary.

The VA should be the best health care system in the world rather than the mess it's become. Our vets deserve no less.

[babylonsister]

2. No arguments here; I agree. nt