Judge dismisses suit seeking overhaul of VA mental-health system

A federal judge, while readily agreeing that the Department of Veterans Affairs shows a significant delay in providing medical and mental health care to soldiers returning from the Middle East — including those suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries — has dismissed a suit aimed at forcing an overhaul of the department.

Senior U.S. Judge Samuel Conti, sitting in San Francisco, late last month ruled in a landmark lawsuit that the remedy for the problems cited by the plaintiffs — national veterans organizations — lies with Congress and the VA and other federal agencies.

Conti said the plaintiffs had failed to show a “systemwide crisis” in mental-health care that would justify intervention by the courts.

Conti’s ruling, if upheld on appeal, “would suggest that veterans have no enforceable rights in America, and the Constitution does not apply to veterans. For all Americans, the implications of this decision are profoundly disturbing,” said the lead counsel for plaintiffs, Gordon Erspamer. “Our fight on behalf of our veterans will continue.”

In his decision, Conti said “the VA may not be meeting all of the needs of the nation’s veterans.” He agreed with, and explicitly adopted, many of the factual assertions made by the veterans’ plaintiff groups, including the following:

•“The suicide rate among veterans is significantly higher than that of the general population,” and there is “a strong connection between PTSD and suicide.”

•“Initiatives such as screening veterans at risk, a suicide prevention database, emerging best practices for treatment, and education programs were all still at the pilot stage three years after VA’s Mental Health Strategic Plan was adopted.”

•The VA’s track record with respect to delays in processing veterans’ appeals “is troubling.” It is taking the VA, on average, 4.4 years to adjudicate a benefits claim at the first two levels in its benefits system.

The full text of the decision can be read online at www.veteransptsdclassaction.org.

TRICARE rule explained

TRICARE, the health-care coverage program for active and retired service members and their families, has clarified a rule that went into effect Jan. 1 concerning TRICARE versus benefits offered by civilian employers.

Generally, the rule bars employers from offering incentives to TRICARE-eligible employees to forgo company coverage; it is intended to thwart efforts to shift health-care costs to the government and taxpayers.

But TRICARE said such incentives are forbidden only if they target only TRICARE-eligible employees. If the incentives are offered to all employees, they are permitted, it said.

Navy vets, Agent Orange

A federal appeals court has placed a heavier burden of proof on Navy veterans of the Vietnam War seeking disability compensation and other benefits for claimed harmful exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange.

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in a May 8 ruling, upheld the VA’s definition of service in Vietnam as actually setting foot on land or navigating the country’s inland waterways. Under that definition, serving off the coast aboard ship does not qualify.

The appeals court overturns a finding by the federal Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims that would have made more veterans eligible for compensation.

The full text of the decision, Haas v. Peake, is online at www.cafc.uscourts.gov/opinions/07-7037.pdf.

Proposed state VA department fails again

A renewed proposal to establish a state Department of Veterans Affairs has been defeated again.

Rep. Kenneth Carter, a North Kingstown Democrat and chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, resubmitted the measure that last year was passed by the General Assembly but vetoed by Governor Carcieri.

This time, the bill won House passage but died in a Senate committee.

Currently, veterans issues are dealt with by a division of the state Department of Human Services.

There were some minor bright spots for veterans during the current Assembly session.

Legislative leaders helped broker an agreement between the City of Woonsocket and the state Department of Environmental Management to keep the city’s World II Veterans Memorial Park open and well maintained.

And a number of legislators joined in persuading the Rhode Island National Guard to rescind a decision to limit eligibility for graveside squads at veterans’ funerals.

The Assembly passed two pieces of legislation dealing with veterans’ license plates. One creates a special plate for war veterans, and the other allows the widow or widower of a veteran to continue using the plate.

•Fleet Reserve Association

Blackstone Valley Branch 132 meets at 7 this evening in VFW Post 306, 171 Fountain St., Pawtucket.

•Veterans of Foreign Wars

Washington County Post 916, 155 High St., Wakefield, will meet tomorrow at 7:30 p.m.

•Korean War Veterans

Northern R.I. Chapter 3 will meet at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Chepachet senior center, at 1210 Putnam Pike in Glocester.

•Coventry Veterans Council

The council will meet Thursday at 10 a.m. at AJ’s restaurant, Main Street, West Warwick, for a breakfast program welcoming new council president Doug Gamage.

•Reserve Officers Association

The Rhode Island Department’s executive committee will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Harwood Army Reserve Center, 385 Niagara St., Providence.

George W. Reilly can be reached at [email protected] or by writing to The Providence Journal, 75 Fountain St., Providence, R.I. 02902.

 Go to original article

"Go to Original" links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted on VT may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the "Go to Original" links.

The opinions expressed on VT are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the staff individually or as a whole.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. VT has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is VT endorsed or sponsored by the originator. Any opinions expressed by the author(s) are not necessarily those of VT or representative of any staff member at VT.)