A coalition of injured Iraq war veterans who are frustrated by delays in health care have accused VA Secretary Jim Nicholson of breaking the law by denying them disability pay and mental health treatment. The group has filed a class action against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Suing on behalf of hundreds of thousands of veterans, the suit charges that the VA has failed veterans in several ways: not providing prompt disability benefits, not adding staff to reduce wait times for medical care, and not boosting services for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The lawsuit also accused the VA of cheating some veterans deliberately by allegedly working with the Pentagon to misclassify PTSD claims as pre-existing personality disorders to avoid paying out benefits. The VA and Pentagon deny those charges.
The lawsuit against the VA comes amid intense political and public scrutiny of the VA and Pentagon following reports of substandard outpatient care of injured soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and at other veterans facilities in the United States.
Currently, the VA’s backlog of disability payments is now between 400,00 and 600,000, with delays up to 177 days to process an initial clam and an average of almost two years to process an appeal. Congressional committees and a presidential commission have been established to study ways to improve veterans’ care.
If you or a loved one has suffered or died after serving our country and did not receive benefits you were entitled to, please contact the Washington and Oregon Military Medical Malpractice Attorneys Fuller & Fuller.
