Government to pay ($350,000) in case of vet who took own life

[sabra]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — The parents of an Iraq veteran who committed suicide after being turned away from a Department of Veterans Affairs facility say they've agreed to a $350,000 settlement offered by the government.

Jeffrey Lucey, a 23-year-old former Marine corporal, hanged himself in his parents' home in 2004, two weeks after the Northampton Veterans Medical Center in Leeds, Mass., released him. A complaint filed by his parents in federal court in 2007 says VA personnel said they couldn't make an assessment of their son's mental condition until he was alcohol free.

The settlement was announced by Military Families Speak Out, a group his parents joined after their son's death.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jLp4vpxwVHPp13-DFIOPw35Z3ZLQD95NMHP80

[saigon68]

1. "BRING EM ON" shouted the AWOL CHIMPANZEE

[Jefferson23]

2. That's it? 350,000 for his life.

[florida08]

3. what a legacy

and what a bogus argument to make that he has to stop drinking before they could help him. Poor parents. I thank them for their son's service and I'm sorry the VA let you down.

[McCamy Taylor]

4. Indeed. Intoxication increases the chances of suicide . Malpractice happened.

This is a tiny settlement. In real world medicine, the family would probably get the maximum that the hospital was insured for, more like $ 1 million or perhaps more if they were found to be grossly negligent (and this guy is a veteran which would tug at the jury's heart strings). The government is getting off cheap because they write the rules.