Lawyers Say Vets Dying Waiting for VA Care
Federal Lawsuit Against Department Of Veterans Affairs Comes To A Close
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Veterans Suicides In Question
In a recently filed lawsuit, the Department of Veterans Affairs is accused of deliberately misinforming the American public about the number of veterans committing suicide. Armen Keteyian reports.
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Suicide Cover-Up Runs Deep
New information reveals that statistics related to veterans' suicides was explicitly withheld from the public and from CBS News. Chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian reports.
In closing arguments in a federal lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), plaintiff lawyers accusing the agency of failing to effectively take care of our nation’s military veterans said, “1,457 veterans died while their appeals were pending” in the last six months alone.
“More of these veterans are dying in the United States than out in combat,” attorney Arturo Gonzalez said.
Two veterans rights groups - Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth - sued the VA hoping a federal judge could order the government agency to overhaul and improve its system. The trial took place in San Francisco with seven days of court testimony. Closing remarks were held Wednesday.
Plaintiff lawyers claimed the agency has dropped the ball in a number of ways and as a result has not provided proper access to health care and benefits to veterans. For example, they said the VA has yet to fully implement the Mental Health Strategic Plan that was introduced back in 2004. Gonzalez said, “there is no plan for dealing with all of these veterans who are returning and who are in need of help.” The argument was also made that veterans are waiting too long to get medical appointments and the benefits they deserve.
Daniel Bensing, the Department of Justice lawyer representing the VA, told the judge that the VA has a “very well-regarded system for providing health care.” He insisted that 80 percent of the Mental Health Strategic Plan recommendations have been adopted and he said, “98 percent of Iraq/Afghanistan veterans are seen within 30 days.”
The issue of suicide also played a big part in the trial. Damaging internal e-mails made public early on, as reported by CBS News, showed top officials at the VA discussing how to withhold critical information about the risk of suicide among veterans from the public. Gonzalez and his team said the emails show how the VA’s top brass are not dealing with the true scope of mental health issues facing veterans.
Bensing did not talk specifically about the e-mails in his closing statement but said “we don’t dispute that suicide is a major, serious problem among veterans.” He said the issue of suicide is already a “major priority” for the VA and claimed the evidence presented by other attorneys on the issue of suicide was “unnecessary.” Furthermore, he said the mental health budget has increased from $3.2 billion to $3.5 billion annually and 3,700 new mental health professionals have recently been hired by the VA.
U.S. District Court judge Samuel Conti now has to make a decision in the case and will do so after receiving post-trial summaries from both sides which is scheduled to happen May 9 and May 19.
By Pia Malbran
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See all 95 CommentsFor you people who think socialized medicine is the bee''s knees, you''re in for a very rude awakening.
Don''t worry vets. Help is on the way. Bush is going to send you all a nice new "support our troops" bumper sticker courtesy of the RNC.
What the heck do you think the lawyers would say?
So this is what Republicans mean when they say support our troops?
Thousands dying while waiting for medical care?
With support like this who needs Al Qaeda?
For you people who think socialized medicine is the bee''''s knees, you''''re in for a very rude awakening."
Posted by LibH8er
This isn''t about a health care system failure, it''s about a treasonous transfer of funds meant for military support to private corporations and individuals. The neo-con agenda is the transfer of public funds to corporations like Haliburton, and ultimately to themselves. Jefferson was right: "Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains."
If you are, as you say, a VA employee, then you should know that it is not the employees that are being criticized, it is the way that adequate funding to care for all of those who put their lives at risk, seems to be a running joke among the "we cut taxes, so we don''t have the budget" people, most of whom are on your side of the aisle.
The neocons have no problem however, with lying to start wars, wasting and embezzling trillions of dollars getting the soldiers injured in the first place, but have a strange case of amnesia when it comes to actually "supporting the troops".
And you support these people...
"Thousands of vets dying waiting for medical care."
Is this what Republicans mean by support our troops?
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Posted by democrat122 at 10:25 AM : May 02, 2008
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How is that Swastika Breath?? If they have been DENIED then they are NOT recieving benefits.. I KNOW I''m a Disabled Veteran and know what happened to those in my DAV now who didn''t have a disablitity or had a disablitity NOT recognized by the Defense Department at the time of discharge. This LAW Suit is BY Veterans you pathetic Bootlicker... VETERAN''s ORGANIZATIONS brought the suit.. that''s the STORY! Sieg Heil Bush!! God but you Nazi''s are sleazy creatures... VERY sleazy indeed.
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Posted by shortyinmo at 10:18 AM : May 02, 2008
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Well of course they are... I am one of them. But I''M already in the system... this is about guys who WANT help, who DESERVE help, but are being refused. Now put the Swastika Away, a lot of us are Liberal out here and pay our taxes just like everyone else, and let''s try to be AMERICAN for a Change. We made a VERY big mistake in the 2000 election... that''s just a fact. Time to own up to it and move on... time to get a President who will put people in charge who KNOW what and how to fix these things. Sieg Heil Bush
Dead people cost less than sick people.
I don''t know what you are classifying as "socialized medicine", but here in Canada, there are no veterans or anyone else for that matter, dying from lack of healthcare.
People have a different view of what it is about. And for every country it can be slightly different. The only time it is bad is if you have a corrupt government, and the people have no say.
Posted by psk123 at 10:39 AM : May 02, 2008
Welcome to government run healthcare. The government can''t even take care of our troops, so how in the hell are they going to run healthcare for everyone.
And for all you bedwetting libs who think this is all Bush''s fault, think again. My mom wasn an RN and she worked at the VA Hospital in New Orleans for 12 years.
It has ALWAYS been this way! Why? Because it''s run by the government!!!!!
I don''t know how many MRI machines we have, but I also do not know of anyone that has had to wait for an MRI or anything else for that matter.
I am a 100% disabled veteran, and I have to depend on the VA for all of my medical treatment and have for the past 35 years. I can''t work and since I can''t their is no chance of me getting insurance. People on welfare get better medical treatment than we do, and they can get it in the community. While in my case I have to drive 100 miles to even see a doctor. Oh sure they pay for my transportation, at least they pretend to, in reality, they pay only about 1/2 of the cost. Then once we get to the VA hospital, the doctors that we see are nearly all foreigners, who have no concept of what a veteran is actually going through.
Then when we do see a doctor, the odds of them actually treating what ills us, is slim to none. They will make excuses, act like we are crazy, and that it is impossible for us to be suffering from the symptoms that we describe. Most of the doctors have no idea about the chemicals we have been exposed to, and the uncountable number of shots that we were required to take from basic training on, some of which we cannot even find out what they were, because they are still hidden in a cloak of secrecy. The military has at various times used us soldiers as guinea pigs for what ever concoctions that they develop, with no regards to what damage it may cause us in the years that follow.
While there are those in the VA system who do care, the majority of them are just there for the paycheck and quitting time. they have developed new programs that are suppose to make the care better, but in fact it has made the care less efficient.
When you go to a civilian doctor, you get to know the doctor and his nurse on a personal basis. In the VA system nurses are shuffled from clinic to clinic, and because of that when you call about a problem the odds of the nurse understanding your ailments and your needs are nil. They also have what is called the "call-center" When you call in, instead of getting someone in your clinic that might know you, and what ails you, you get someone who answers the phone, and then if your lucky a nurse will call you back, a nurse that has no idea what is wrong with you, or what you may actually need, because she is in no way part of your treatment team. Then after she talks to you she has to refer your call to a nurse in your clinic who may never have treated you, that in turn refers your problems to a doctor, who if you are lucky may respond within days, not hours to your needs.
I know that every time I go to the VA, that I may very well have to fight for the care that I have coming to me. I can''t count the number of times I have had to go to the patient rep, or the chief-of-staff just to get a problem I have addressed, and at times I have had to go clear to the IG in Washington to get things straightened out.
We went and we fought, and we were wounded and maimed, and our minds have been scarred, yet, you Nazi bast@rds want to act like that we aren''t worth spit. Our leaders would rather spend billions on tax breaks and incentives for the big corporations, instead of spending it on the veterans who have fought for our country. Your a sick-in-the head bunch of morons, who deserve to be locked up and the key thrown away.
Am I mad, he11 yea I am mad, we were promised the moon when we went into the military, and all we get is a pig-in-the poke.
Come on America, wake up, your veterans deserve the very best, because they gave the very best years of their lives for this country. To give them any less is diabolical and evil.
I find that people have a completely distorted view of our healthcare system. There are some people that PANIC at the mere mention of the word "socialized".
My sympathies are with all suffering veterans. US has largest military budget in general. I think the best practice can be to go to local doctor and get that reimbursed or something. May be we need to ask legislature for such bill so that president like this will know the cost of the war when it comes to allocating money in the budget for such reimbursement. My wishful thinking. In first gulf war itself returning cascades of fallen heroes coverage is taken off air for fear of people''s reaction. The VA affairs needs money which was never thought of before going to this war by neo cons as they were misinforming people that war will cost only 50 billions.
I have read that and I find it unbelievable. I could not imagine having to constantly worry about my child getting sick and possibly dying from lack of healthcare.
Posted by lindaredtail at 11:57 AM : May 02, 2008"
As of last year Halliburton subsidiaries are making 2 billions net profit per quarter for the first time in it''s 84 year old history. After Iraq war it''s stock price doubled. Moving HQ to Dubai as you have mentioned is great move by VP so that he will have good nest eggs for retirement.
I have two things to say to you:
#1 I CARE.
#2 It is too bad you don''t live in Canada, because
if you did, you would not be going through this
c-r-a-p.
I am hoping that whoever your next president is, they will be better than who you have now, and that they will step up and do what is right for your country.
As an American living permanently in Canada, I can assure you that you are so far wrong it''s unbelieveable. Health care for everyone is supported, along with all of the rest of the infrastructure across this country that dwarfs the U.S. and is supported by a population base equal to the state of California. Are there problems - YES, as in any system. But if we can do this well here with an incredibly limited tax base, the States could do ever so much more!
However, it would require that all of the insurance/health care industry nouthpieces in the GOP to take a deep breath and THINK for a minute. Oh wait, if they thought for a minute, they''d be Democrats!
Never mind, impossible...!!!!
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