Capt. Luis Montalvan was joined by supporters to protest his mistreatment by McDonald's employees when he went there to eat with his service dog, Tuesday.
Washington, D.C., January 14, 2009 – The United States District Court for the District of Columbia today granted the National Security Archive’s emergency motion for an extended preservation order to protect missing White House e-mails. With the transition from the Bush Administration to the Obama Administration taking place in six days, and all the records of the Bush White House scheduled for a physical transfer to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) on that same day, the Court has directed the Executive Office of the President (EOP) to search all its computer work stations and has ordered EOP employees to surrender any media in their possession that may contain e-mails from March 2003 to October 2005.
“There is nothing like a deadline to clarify the issues,” said Archive Director Tom Blanton. “In six days the Bush Executive Office of the President will be gone and without this order, their records may disappear with them. The White House will complain about the last minute challenge, but this is a records crisis of the White House's own making.”
Counsel for the Archive, Sheila Shadmand from Jones Day made clear: “The White House has been on notice since we filed our lawsuit a year and a half ago that they would have to retrieve and preserve their e-mail. Instead of coming clean and telling the public what they have been doing to solve the crisis, they refused to say anything. At this point, it is critical to preserve evidence that can help get to the bottom of the problem and prevent it from happening again.”
Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola has scheduled an emergency status conference today at 2 p.m. to consider additional measures that may be necessary to protect the records during the transition. (Courtroom 6 of the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse)
The Archive filed its emergency motion for an extended preservation order on March 11, 2008. After considering the objections of the White House, Magistrate Judge Facciola issued two reports, on April 24 and July 29, 2008, recommending that District Judge Henry H. Kennedy issue an order requiring search, surrender and preservation of the computer workstations and external media devices, such as CDs, DVDs, memory sticks, and external hard drives. Today’s order adopts those reports and recommendations, granting in part the Archive’s emergency motion.
The National Security Archive filed its lawsuit on September 5, 2007 against the Executive Office of the President and NARA, seeking to preserve and restore missing White House e-mails. A virtually identical lawsuit filed subsequently by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has been consolidated with the Archive's lawsuit. A chronology of the litigation is available here.
When we returned from Vietnam many of the Vietnam Vets, needing care at Veterans clinics and Veterans Hospitals as well as attempting to file and receive disability benefits of already diagnosed Occupation Theater physical and mental ailments went through much of the same treatment. Those coming back and developing very serious ailments from coming in contact with heavily sprayed area's of the Defoliants, mostly Agent Orange, were not only denied benefits and treatment the Government and Chemical Companies Denied they were hazardous to humans. We are going through the same All Over Again.
A hearing begins Wednesday, 12-17-08, in a lawsuit aimed at cutting the time that the Department of Veterans Affairs takes to process disability claims to no more than 90 days.
Vietnam Veterans of America and Veterans of Modern Warfare filed the lawsuit against VA after learning the department took as long as a year to come up with disability benefits decisions, and as long as four years to rule on appeals of those decisions. The average time for an initial decision is about six months.
VA has a benefits claims backlog of more than 400,000 cases.
And once again those of us Veterans Advocates find ourselves battling not only the Government but the People that are served by the Military, the Country.
Veterans Sue Federal Government Over Disability Benefits
A group of military veterans filed a class-action against the federal government today, alleging that they were illegally denied disability benefits despite being diagnosed with severe cases of post-traumatic stress disorder that should have qualified them for free care.
This isn’t the first time the Army has come under fire for its handling of PTSD victims. In California last year, a group of former soldiers filed suit against the Veterans Administration in federal court demanding that the agency completely restructure the way it processes PTSD claims and clean up a bureaucratic mess that left many former soldiers without care for months.
As this Country Choose to wage War and Occupation in not one but Two Theaters of Opporations, sending Tens of Thousands of it's Soldiers into the Theaters, not once, not twice, but Multiple Times, many serving in Both Theaters. This all happened under the leadership of President George W. Bush, as Commander in Chief of the Military, and his Vice President Dick Cheney, and a Country Unwilling to Sacrifice and loosing interest in what was and still is happening in these Theaters after 7plus years!
So what happened yesterday, Wednesday 12-17-08:
Judge rejects bid to force quicker VA payments
A federal judge on Wednesday rejected a bid by veterans groups to force the Veterans Affairs Department to speed up handling of its disability claims, saying it was not the court's role to impose quicker deadlines.
Vietnam Veterans of America and Veterans of Modern Warfare, which represent roughly 60,000 military veterans, had filed the lawsuit asking the VA process initial disability claims within 90 days and resolve appeals within 180 days. If the VA failed to do so, the two groups were seeking interim payments of roughly $350 a month.
At a court hearing Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said he was sympathetic to the plight of disabled veterans, many of whom he acknowledged might face unemployment and homelessness in a tightening economy. But Walton said that setting a blanket rule of 90 days for processing claims was a role for Congress and the VA secretary to decide.
Earlier in the hearing, Robert Cattanach, an attorney representing veterans, called the VA's delays "egregious and unacceptable." Noting that the backlogs have persisted for nearly a decade, Cattanach argued that the VA has no incentive or requirement to improve its practices without a clear deadline.
We all, or at least many of us, have read the reports, watched the congressional testimony, read the investigative journalists findings, Finally in these last couple of years. All showing the Incompetence of not only the Administration but the Political Appointed Agency Heads and their Administrations and in the case of the Veterans and Military Care while those Two Occupation Theaters were started and continued to this day!
What will happen now? Will we see the changes needed in this area of our Government as well as the rest, that have been so damaged and ignored these last eight years? Will Veterans and Military Advocates have to continue the already long running battles, long ago started, well before these present two theaters of opporation and continuing through for the new generations of combat veterans?
Things may be looking much better, but we've been frustrated before when all that's come were words of "Support the Troops and the Veterans" than everyone reverts back to ignoring after they speak them. Hopefully with what has been said in the recent presidential campaigns, and now with the incoming next President, Barack Obama and VP Joe Biden, not only by the candidates but their wives as well, who traveled around the country meeting with military and veterans and their families.
Actions speak louder than words and a first action was naming a respected forced retired General Shinseki to head the Veterans Administration, another took place after the Lawsuit was tossed by a judge who really didn't seem to want to, and that is this:
Obama's transition team met with Veterans of Modern Warfare
After losing an attempt to sue the VA to speed up veterans disability claims, leaders of a party to the suit, who represent veterans from the 1991 Gulf War to present, were buoyed by a meeting with President-elect Barack Obama's transition team.
Julie Mock, from the Seattle area and president of Veterans of Modern Warfare Inc., and VMW executive director David Overton met privately Wednesday in Washington, D.C. with a retired military member from Obama's transition team.
Though Obama won't take office for just over a month, Mock, a 1991 Gulf War veteran with service-connected multiple scleroris, said Obama is the first chief executive to reach out to meet with them, she said.
While the incoming President, as well as the new congress, have now placed on their laps Eight Years of not only Total Mismanagement of our Government, but also Two Occupations still raging, a Collapsing Economy that has hit bottom yet, wait till after the holidays and watch as retail companies and more collapse, and a Huge Loss of Leadership on the World Stage as our Countries Morality has been Destroyed and the creation of more who now hate us not only our governments policies but us!
The following came to my attention this morning, though unrelated to the lawsuit, I had caught a few reports about this but have seen nothing nationally. it shows another suspected incident of failed incompetent leadership under the present administration as to our present military and veteran personal.
VA may cut Austin brain-injury research
Decision on program housed at UT expected in January.
An Austin-based, multimillion-dollar program studying brain injuries among veterans might be canceled next month.
U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison , R-Texas, and Department of Veterans Affairs officials confirmed this week that there is talk of shutting down the Brain Imaging and Recovery Laboratory. Diana Struski, a VA spokeswoman in Fort Worth, said a VA deputy secretary in Washington will make the final decision.
Shortly after taking over the program in June 2007, Van Boven said his bosses had authorized the misuse of program dollars before he arrived and then ignored his complaints and began engaging in petty retribution. He has asked for several investigations.
Two veterans advocacy groups called for Congress to intervene and ensure that the program's money is not used for other types of research.
"Closure of the {lab} would amount to a terrible injustice for our veterans," according to a letter to congressional offices from Rick Weidman, director of government relations for Vietnam Veterans of America, and Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense.
"Conventional brain imaging is not sufficient to detect subtle injuries," the letter says.
There has been another Huge Problem which has not only been ignored but like us Vietnam Veterans and the Defoliants of 'Nam has been stonewalled and denied by the Government as well as Chemical Companies that might have been involved adding to what else may have happened In-Theater during the 1st Gulf War. Below you find some of what I had previously posted as another Report Serviced. It's been ignored and denied for far too long!
Gulf War Syndrom/Illness Is Real
An extensive federal report released Monday concludes that roughly one in four of the 697,000 U.S. veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf War suffer from Gulf War illness.
The Gulf War Syndrom Report
RAC Report This link takes you to the site page with the two below.
RAC-GWVI media release, Nov. 17, 2008 DOC
Full report of RAC-GWVI -- Nov. 17, 2008 PDF {The PDF is abit over 6MB download}
The PBS News Hour, on tuesday the 18th of November 08, held a discussion on the recently released report.
PBS News Hour: Gulf War Syndrome
Report Concludes Gulf War Syndrome Is Legitimate Illness - Transcript
A report released Monday revealed that the mysterious illness affecting veterans exposed to toxins during the 1991 Gulf War is real, making it easier for military personnel to seek federal aid. Research advisory committee chairman James Binns details the findings.
It has been 17 years since the first Gulf War ended. A new report now finds that at least one in four veterans of that conflict have been suffering ever since.
Congress started paying attention some 10 to 11 years after the conflict.
In 2002, a congressionally mandated panel set out to get to the bottom of conflicting reports about the veterans' health complaints. Its 450-page report concludes that Gulf War illness, memory loss, digestive and neurological problems, fatigue and pain is a real disease.
More than 175,000 veterans of the war were affected, but not effectively treated.
The two most likely causes: drugs administered to guard against nerve agents and pesticides used in the battlefield.
For a closer look at what these findings mean, we turn to James Binns, the chairman of the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses.
JAMES BINNS: Well, the Gulf War had its own set of unique exposures. As Vietnam veterans were exposed to Agent Orange, so Gulf War veterans were exposed to a number of toxic exposures that were unique to that war.
JAMES BINNS: Now, that's what's -- I heard one of the veterans yesterday call this a bittersweet moment for them, because in large measure all of this work simply confirms what they know, that they are ill and have been for 17 years.
And it's true what you say that actually very little of the research that has been done up to date has been oriented toward treatments, and none of it has found effective treatments.
Here are a few opinion pieces that followed the release of the report.
Government finally admits vets suffer from a real condition
The official U.S. government response to claims of Gulf War illness has run from skepticism to outright denial.
With one in four of the 697,000 Gulf War vets reporting some level of the same symptoms, the lights should have gone on a long time ago in the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.
So now veterans have rigorous support for what they have contended all along -- it's not just in our heads, we're not making it up. We're sick.
Thousands of our Gulf War vets are sick. Let's help them.
BOTTOM LINE: Gulf War illness is real, and few vets who suffer the disease are getting better. It's past time for serious work on a cure.
VCS Urges Research into Gulf War Exposures and Gulf War Illness Treatments
November 17, 2008, Washington, DC
Veterans for Common Sense released the following statement:
Veterans for Common Sense is pleased with the thorough report prepared by the RAC. We commend the veterans and scientists who have worked for the last six years reviewing the work on Gulf War illnesses conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense (DoD). The RAC report repudiates years of delays and denials caused by a group of VA and DoD staff who ignored the eyewitness accounts of veterans and scientific research.
VCS believes action is needed today to make sure the RAC’s recommendations are implemented soon.
VCS urges Congress to fund new research recommended by the RAC into why up to 210,000 Gulf War veterans are ill as well as fund research into desperately needed medical treatments for our veterans.
VCS also urges top VA officials to review the conduct of VA Central Office staff who blocked scientific research into toxic exposures, especially VA's contracts with the Institute of Medicine (IOM) that improperly excluded animal studies from scientific review. The VA Central Office staff who needlessly delayed research, treatment, and disability benefits for hundreds of thousands of Gulf War veterans should be held accountable for their actions.
The facts presented by the RAC reveal how a handful of key VA and DoD officials failed to assist Gulf War veterans by clinging to the discredited myth that Gulf War illnesses were only related to stress for nearly 17 years. The DoD neglected to consider the many toxic exposures as potential causes of Gulf War illnesses, even after Gulf War veterans and scientists raised these as serious possibilities.
We look forward to working with Chairman Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA) as they conduct oversight into VA’s failure to enter into proper contracts with IOM that may have blocked access to healthcare and disability benefits for hundreds of thousands of ill and disabled Gulf War veterans.
VCS thanks Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), Senator Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Representative Chris Shays (R-CT), and former Representative Lane Evans (D-IL) for their diligent leadership in passing the landmark “Persian Gulf Veterans Act of 1998” that created the RAC.
Panel: Gulf War vet health research lacking
Even as possibly hundreds of thousands of veterans suffer from a collection of symptoms commonly called Gulf War illness, the government has done too little to find treatments for their health problems nearly two decades after the war ended, a panel commissioned by Congress said.
The advisory panel of medical experts and veterans wants at least $60 million spent annually for research, calling it a “national obligation,” according to its report, obtained by The Associated Press.
Gulf War troops poisoned, neglected
A new government study backs up veterans of the 1991 Gulf War who said they were literally, and physically, sickened during their service there. The American people have an obligation to help them.
One of the most dangerous threats to the health of American troops in combat might be the United States government. That conclusion can reasonably be drawn after a government panel reported that one in four U.S. veterans of the 1991 Gulf War — about 172,000 troops — is ill from exposure to toxic chemicals, most of them administered by the U.S. government.
The two bibliographies below were compiled by FRONTLINE to aid those who want to dig deeper into Gulf War Syndrome. The first shows many of the most informative and compelling websites on the subject. The second contains citations to books, journal articles and other printed materials.
Visit the above link, there's a host of links leading to further information, study, and research!
What will the government do to make veterans with Gulf War syndrome whole?
The question has new urgency in the aftermath of a report, released Monday, concluding that nearly 200,000 soldiers suffer from the syndrome.
The 452-page report is the first to affirm that Gulf War illness is valid and widespread, affecting as many as one-quarter of veterans from the 1990-1991 conflict.
"The extensive body of scientific research now available consistently indicates that Gulf War illness is real...and that few veterans have recovered of substantially improved with time," says the comprehensive overview, prepared by the government's Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses.
Now we have once again sent our military into occupation, not one but two, halfway around the world. And with the reports finally coming out these last couple of years, with over site and investigation once again being done by our congress, information coming extensively from, once again, great Investigative Journalism, we are seeing, especially us Vietnam Vets, a repeat of what was experienced years ago. Many of these recent reports read like that from 30 to 40 years back, a not to distant past.
This next link starts on the Gulf War Syndrome in the Press Release and moves into the present conflicts.
American Gulf War Veterans Association
PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUGUST 8, 2003
The American Gulf War Veterans Association (AGWVA), an independent Gulf War Veterans’ support organization, has long searched for answers to explain why nearly half of the 697,000 Gulf War I Veterans are now ill and why over 200,000 of those servicemen/women have requested disability, but have received no adequate diagnosis or treatment, from either the Department of Defense (DOD), or Veteran’s Affairs. Though there have been over 125 studies done by the government at the cost of over $300,000,000 to the taxpayer, we still have no answers as to what caused so many of our soldiers to become ill. Meanwhile, the suffering veterans are receiving little, if any, medical treatment for this illness. It seems that whenever veterans become ill, the term “mystery illness” seems to be the first and often the only diagnosis that is ever made. Veterans are then left to fend for themselves, sick and unable to work, with little hope of a normal life again.
The AGWVA is now again asking questions, this time, about the newest “mystery illness” to hit the military. After being pressured by a few independent news reporters who have not permitted this “mystery” to continue unabated, The DOD recently has been forced to announce the “mystery” deaths of Gulf War II soldiers and that at least 100 other men and women have become ill. Again, however, there were no adequate answers, but, only that the “mystery illness” diagnosis had reared its ugly head again. According to a family member of one of the military victims, the DOD recently, has changed its label of the illness and is now calling it “pneumonia” in sharp contrast to what a physician on the scene reported. Due to continuing pressure for sound answers, the DOD was again forced to send an investigative team to Iraq, however the convenient, repeated lack of diagnosis, unfortunately translates into lack of treatment, and lack of compensation for the veteran. The jury is still out, however, if the DOD will be forthcoming with the truth this time.
SNIP Please Read The Rest
The following doesn't look like the 'mystery illness' described in the press release above, but apparently this is another growing problem for the present OIF and OEF soldiers in Theater:
Senior Airman Frances Gavalis tosses unserviceable uniform items into a burn pit at Balad Air Base, Iraq.
Burn pit at Balad raises health concerns
Tue, Oct 28, 2008
An open-air at the largest U.S. base in Iraq may have exposed tens of thousands of troops, contractors and Iraqis to cancer-causing dioxins, poisons such as arsenic
Senator wants answers on dangers of burn pits
Sun, Nov 9, 2008
Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., has written to Gen. David Petraeus, the new chief of U.S. Central Command, demanding to be informed about any pending investigations into health problems for troops exp.
Burn pit fallout
Sat, Nov 15, 2008
Disabled American Veterans has issued a call to all service members and veterans who think they may have illnesses related to burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq: Contact DAV so they can collect data
Army report shows chemicals at burn pit site
Thursday Nov 20, 2008
A soldier concerned about his tour at Forward Operating Base Hammer near Balad, Iraq, this year sent Military Times a report showing high levels of particulate matter and low levels of manganese, possibly due to materials destroyed in a burn pit.
“The high risk estimate is due to the average (particulate matter) level being at a concentration the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers ‘hazardous,’ and is likely to affect the health of all troops,” wrote Jeffrey Kirkpatrick, director of health risk assessment for the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine. “Manganese was also detected above its one-year military exposure guidelines.”
It was sent to the command surgeon general’s office for U.S. Central Command.
And just like what 'Agent Orange' not only did to our soldiers in 'Nam it did to the Citizens of Vietnam, continuing to today, it is and Will Continue to do to the Citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan near where these contaminated garbage pits not only were burned but that contaminated garbage is buried!
We Veterans, who still serve this Country according to our Military Oath and Real Patriotism, and fight against sending our Military into Wars Of Choice by the civilian and military leadership, lost the Battle against the Propaganda of Fixed Intelligence, especially as to invading Iraq, an innocent country and people, but We Won't Lose The Battle As To Care For Our Returning Soldiers, though it's a long battle that shouldn't be!
You may want to visit Mikes webblog {known online as 'testvet'} Military & Veterans: Politics for the deserving, a disabled Veteran, and his personal experiences as to being a 'testvet' and his fighting for not only himself but his brothers and sisters.
And one site to visit often is Larry Scott's VA Watchdog he to has a recent post about the Gulf War I Syndrome Report
For desperate vets, victory, anger over Gulf War Syndrome. Army veteran Randy Saubert takes grandsons Kalev, right, and Ethin to a Colorado Springs park Tuesday. Saubert logged 38,000 miles hauling supplies across the Iraq desert in 1991. Today, he isn't sure what he came into contact with that caused him to develop Lou Gehrig's disease. (photo: Karl Gehring, The Denver Post)
"Why did it take so long to listen to the vets and their families? Why have they denied benefits and hurt people and let families fall apart and have soldiers go bankrupt seeking help?"
Once again the Report:
The Gulf War Syndrom Report
RAC Report This link takes you to the site page with the two below.
RAC-GWVI media release, Nov. 17, 2008 DOC
Full report of RAC-GWVI -- Nov. 17, 2008 PDF {The PDF is abit over 6MB download}
Yesterday, the 25th, a ruling came down from the judge hearing the case, in San Francisco, 82 pages long, and not a surprise to this Vet. In the ruling the judge sided with the Veterans but had to push it to where it belongs, In Congress. Only Congress and the Excutive Branch, of the Peoples Government, can bring about the way to long overhall of the Veterans Administration. Everything that is being reported about the care to the returning Veterans, of the Wars and Occupations of Choice, is actually Old News, just ask the thousands of my brother, and sister, Veterans of Korea and Vietnam, and it's happening once again while these conflicts rage as it did back than. We call the present Military the Professional Military yet we continue the foulups that take place within the Government Agencies, Veterans Administration and DoD Health, that are charged with it's care, especially the Mental Trauma War brings on in the Soldiers and the Civilians in these Theaters of Occupation.
This Government, thus by extension it's agencies, are the People of this Country. We 'Hire' those in charge who in turn hire those that do the work. We pay the salaries and the bills, those who work in the federal system work for us, from the President right on down the whole Government.
The Veterans, and those personal still on Active duty, of this Countries Military, Serve the Country in Defense of. For that service they are owed by the Country the Best Care Available and the Best VA Care Agency in the World, they always have been, but Especially as this Country supports the Wars of Choice it's leaders sell to it. Over 70% were in Support, many were silent but in support many others were very vocal and calling and labeling those of us who saw what was coming every dispicable name they could come up with. Those of us opposed wear our guilt of not being able to stop what was to come and the continuing destruction, we were sadly right about what we saying and it's even been worse.
It is up to the People to give back what is owed to those who serve, Contact your Representatives, in Congress, both houses, and Demand the Overhall of the VA, long overdue! The support from the majority of this countries people has never been there, some speak it but few act on it. The ones who could be depended on to help us Veterans from past conflicts, after WWII, were many of the activists opposed to the conflicts, some of the family members of the veterans who understood, some professionals in physical and mental health fields and law, and caring civilians who were driven by what they saw and heard, and the veterans, but those numbers have always been a small percentage of this countries population.
We have a young generation now seemily getting more involved, they came out in opposition to the invasion, they have come out in greater numbers on the political scene, they are coming out on a whole host of issues as they see this country heading in a direction opposite of that they were taught and led to believe. The Active Duty and Veterans need that energy and dedication to come to their aid in fights with the government and country that shouldn't even be needed, but exist. And the older generations that haven't been there, you know who you are, need to step it up more than just a notch.
SF Federal Judge Refuses To Order Overhaul Of VA
A federal judge in San Francisco refused Wednesday to order an overhaul of the Department of Veterans Affairs' health care system, saying veterans groups who had sued for the changes should take their case elsewhere.
One of the groups who have been tirelessly, and extremely dedicated, working on this lawsuit has been the Disability Rights Advocates and their legal branch. Yesterday, after the ruling came down they posted this on their wensite:
June 25, 2008: Senior Federal District Court Judge Samuel Conti has issued his decision in the landmark case brought on behalf of veterans suffering from PTSD and traumatic brain injury in July of 2007. The trial was conducted from April 21 30, 2008, and included a week of testimony in early March. The trial focused on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care and adjudication systems for disabled veterans. The trial included testimony from the heads of national veterans’ organizations, top VA officials and some of the leading experts in the country on the widespread failings of the VA system.
Read the Press Release.
Read more about the Case
This is the press release, which is a downloadable file, linked above:
MEDIA ADVISORY
JUDGE RULES that VETS IN ptsd case should seek relief from congress — VETS RESOLVE TO APPEAL
WHAT:Decision After Trial—VCS, et al. v. Peake, et al.
JUDGE Senior Judge Samuel Conti, United States District Court, Northern District of California.
PRESS CONFERENCE: 2:30 p.m. PST, June 25, 2008, Morrison & Foerster LLP, 425 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, 11th Floor, check in with building security first and go to the 11th Floor; or dial in to listen to the conference: 1-800-755-6634
Senior Federal District Court Judge Samuel Conti has issued his decision in the landmark case brought on behalf of veterans suffering from PTSD and traumatic brain injury in July of 2007. The trial was conducted from April 21‑30, 2008, and included a week of testimony in early March. The trial focused on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care and adjudication systems for disabled veterans. The trial included testimony from the heads of national veterans’ organizations, top VA officials and some of the leading experts in the country on the widespread failings of the VA system.
In his decision, Judge Conti held that it is “clear to the Court” that “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. Those include the following:
1“The suicide rate among veterans is significantly higher than that of the general population,” and there is “a strong connection between PTSD and suicide.”
2“One out of every three soldiers returning from Iraq was seen in the VA for a mental health visit within a year of their return” with PTSD being a “leading diagnosis.”
3“The high rates of PTSD among Iraq veterans are the result of various factors, including multiple deployments, the inability to identify the enemy, the lack of real safe zones, and the inadvertent killing of innocent civilians, ” as top VA officials admitted.
4“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.
5“It is beyond doubt that disability benefits are critical to many veterans and any delay in receiving these benefits can result in substantial and severe adverse consequences.”
6The VA’s track record with respect to delays in processing veterans’ appeals “is troubling.” It is taking veterans on average 4.4 years to adjudicate a benefits claim at the first two levels in the VA benefits system.
Nonetheless, Judge Conti concluded that the power to remedy this crisis lies with the other branches of government, including Congress and the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, holding VA’s failures to meet veterans’ needs are “beyond the power of this Court” and would “call for a complete overhaul of the VA system.” Judge Conti’s opinion states that Congress, and not the courts, needs to resolve the crisis facing our nation’s veterans. This underscores the importance of the ongoing congressional hearings that seek to find the truth, and to address the problems faced by our veterans. Now, more than ever, it is critical that Congress act. Plaintiffs very much appreciate Judge Conti's consideration, but disagree with his legal conclusions. Accordingly, Plaintiffs plan to appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit so that these important legal questions can be addressed by a higher court. The full text of the decision can be found at Veterans PTSD Class Action.
Paul Sullivan, Director of Veterans for Common Sense, commented that “This ruling will only cause us to redouble our efforts and our pursuit of justice for our nation’s veterans. We will not rest until our job is finished.” Bob Handy, the Director for Veterans United for Truth, added: “Every time we feel discouraged or need to find our way, we always return to the VA’s motto, ‘To Care for Him Who Hath Borne the Battle, and His Widow and His Orphan,’ and that tells us what we need do.”
“The decision, 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,” remarked the lead counsel for Plaintiffs, Gordon Erspamer. “Our fight on behalf of our veterans will continue.” Sid Wolinsky added, “I know that we will not rest until victory has been achieved and the suffering of our veterans ceases.”
Tragically, the VA has been neglecting wounded veterans returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan who are in desperate need of ongoing care and support, including medical treatment and disability payments for living expenses. Among those suffering the most are returning veterans with mental disabilities such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Veteran suicides have reached an epidemic level, with over 120 veterans taking their own lives every week, and 1,000 suicide attempts per month amongst veterans under VA care. This lawsuit was unprecedented in directly challenging the VA’s 600,000 case backlog in handling claims, appellate delays of five to ten years, the waiting lists that veterans face before receiving health care, and the inadequacy of VA care for PTSD.
The trial brought to light many critical facts that the VA had tried to conceal or downplay. An internal e-mail from the VA’s head of mental health, Dr. Ira Katz, surfaced during the trial. At a time when the VA was reporting only 790 veteran suicide attempts in all of 2007, Katz wrote, “Shh!...Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month…Is this something we should (carefully) address...before someone stumbles on it?” At trial it was also disclosed that the suicide rate of veterans is at least three times the national suicide rate and in 2005, the suicide rate for veterans 18-24 years old was three to four times higher than non-veterans.
We are grateful to Judge Conti for hearing our case and for allowing a public display of VA’s enormous systemic failures.
Client Contacts:
Paul Sullivan, Veterans for Common Sense
(202) 491-6953
Robert M. Handy, Veterans United for Truth
(805) 455-5259
Counsel:
Gordon P. Erspamer, Arturo J. González, Heather A. Moser
Morrison & Foerster LLP, Lead Counsel
(415) 268-7000
Sid M. Wolinsky, Ron Elsberry, Kasey Corbit,
Disability Rights Advocates
(510) 665-8644
This is The Courts Decision in PDF File and is 82 Pages long, if you would like to download and read.
Swords to Plowshares also put out a press release, after the ruling, in PDF that you can download here
Here are a few more articles you can read to find out more.
Judge rules court won't step in to aid vets
The federal government is subjecting veterans to long delays in obtaining mental health care and medical benefits, but the power to change the system rests with officials and Congress, not the courts, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled Wednesday in dismissing a lawsuit by veterans' advocates.
The VA is understaffed and takes an average of nearly 4 1/2 years to hear veterans' appeals of benefit denials, and a long-range improvement plan the agency adopted four years ago is still mostly in the pilot stages, the judge said.
But Conti said, "The remedies sought by plaintiffs are beyond the power of this court and would call for a complete overhaul of the VA system.
And what does the VA Administration think.
VA spokesman Phil Budahn said the agency was pleased with the ruling.
What would one expect, for it isn't the hard working Veterans Administration employees that create the failures of the agency, nor any government agency, though I don't blame some who get so frustrated they just go along and stop trying to correct the systems, it's the Political Appointee's to the leadership positions and those hired in the Administrations of these agencies. I wonder how long this Phil Budahn has been working in the Veterans Administration.
Veterans get mixed decision about mental health care from SF judge
Conti found that individual members would have standing to sue. “Given the dire consequences many of these veterans face without timely receipt of benefits or prompt treatment for medical conditions, especially depression and PTSD, these injuries are anything but conjectural or hypothetical,” he wrote.
Do you want to help erase the Vietnam Syndrom, at least a part of that, do you really 'Support The Troops' in more than words, cheap symbols, and maybe an occasional care package, than Contact Your Representatives Today and continue these contacts, as often as deemed necessary, keep the preasure on them, show the Soldiers and Veterans you really care for and support them for their service to the country you live in, Sacrifice your time and anything else needed to give them the help that shouldn't need to be asked for, but should already exist!
Press Conferance
by Gordon Erspamer of Morrison & Foerster LLP
Especially for these Veterans of todays Conflicts, Support from the Country that was Overwelming, over 70%, in Favor of Invasion and Occupation and now Pays Little Heed to!
MEDIA ADVISORY
June 25, 2008
Contact: Amy Fairweather, Iraq Veteran Project (415) 252-4787 ext 356, (415)505-6558
Elinor Roberts, Legal Director (415) 252-4787 ext 317
JUDGE RULES AGAINST VETS IN PTSD CASE
WHAT: Decision After Trial—VCS, et al. v. Peake, et al.
JUDGE: Senior Judge Samuel Conti, United States District Court, Northern District of California.
Senior Federal District Court Judge Samuel Conti has ruled against veterans with PTSD, traumatic brain injury and other disabilities. The case, VCS et al. V. Peake et al. was brought on behalf of veterans to remedy the Department of Veterans Affairs failure to provide timely and adequate mental health care to veterans and to address the VA’s failure to provide fair and timely adjudication of veterans’ disability claims.
Judge Conti acknowledged the VA’s failings but ruled that it is not within the court’s power to remedy the situation.
Michael Blecker, Director of Swords to Plowshares, comments that, “Everyday that goes by without action, another 18 veterans commit suicide and hundreds of thousands of veterans are denied mental health care and the compensation they need to survive. At Swords to Plowshares, we deal everyday with homeless and mentally ill veterans. These veterans need medical care and disability compensation in the near term to prevent the outcomes we still see among our homeless Vietnam era clients. Veterans are giving up, committing suicide, it is a tragedy.”
Elinor Roberts, Swords to Plowshares Legal Director added, “The Court’s ruling is very disappointing, the decision lays out in great detail the failures of the VA, and yet the court will not act. If the Administration and Congress were exercising proper oversight of the VA, then these veterans would not have had to resort to the courts. The VA benefits system should have out a welcome mat, not a locked gate for desperate veterans to pound on to get in — or die waiting for it to open.”
The VA is under equipped to handle their existing caseload and take on an unprecedented wave of new veterans with traumatic brain injury and PTSD. Over 1.7 million service members have been deployed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of them repeatedly. The conditions in these wars are a recipe for PTSD, the urban combat, repeated deployments, 24/7 and 360 degree exposure to extreme combat trauma. Approximately one third of those returning from combat have PTSD or some mental health need.
These disabled veterans have to wait at least 6 months for an initial determination of their disability claims, and appeals can last years. In the meantime they are without resources, they are falling into poverty, unable to work and stuck in a bureaucratic battle for their earned disability compensation. The number of veteran suicides is overwhelming, with over 120 veterans taking their own lives every week, and 1000 suicide attempts per month amongst veterans under VA care. The suicide rate of veterans is at least three times the national suicide rate and in 2005, the suicide rate for veterans 18-24 years old was three to four times higher than non-veterans.
Amy Fairweather, Director of Swords to Plowshares Iraq Veteran Project adds, “There are good people on the ground in VA offices and vet centers, providing care, but the leadership made no provision to meet the wave of new combat veterans. There is no consistency of care, we get a steady stream of calls from Iraq veterans and their families struggling without care and benefits. The homelessness, joblessness, broken families and suicide, are heartbreaking.”
“We had hoped that the Judge would call for some independent oversight of the VA’s mental health services, to bring some consistency and accountability to the treatment of our veterans. We hope for a different outcome in the plaintiffs appeal. In the meantime, veterans and their families wait, suffer and die needlessly.”
******************
Additional news reports.
San Francisco Chronicle: Judge dismisses suit charging VA with shoddy mental health care
AP: Federal judge refuses to order overhaul of VA
******************
Veterans not entitled to mental health care, U.S. lawyers argue
They took Complete Advantage over an Extremely Tragic Event, that they should have Stopped in it's Tracks, Unless, if they paid one little iota to the Intelligence given to them, and Invaded a Country, Destroyed and Killed, that had Absolutely Nothing To Do With the Extremely Tragic Event, 9/11!
So many Lies in justification, when one would fall another would quickly rise, from their spin meisters, So Many Lies!
They sent tens of thousands of our Sons, Daughters, Fathers, Mothers, Neighbors......................................., to another small Country, this time to take out another one of Our Installed Dictators and once Good Friend to the powerful!
And in return those sent get this:
Veterans have no legal right to specific types of medical care, the Bush administration argues in a lawsuit accusing the government of illegally denying mental health treatment to some troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Huge taxcuts for the wealthy, transfer of funds from the treasury to private hands under the guise of taxcuts for the rest of us, and Our Military Personal, fighting foes on Two Now Long Running Fronts are told this:
The argument drew a sharp retort from a lawyer for advocacy groups that sued the government in July.
"Veterans need to know in this country that the government thinks all their benefits are mere gratuities," attorney Gordon Erspamer said. "They're saying it's completely discretionary, that even if Congress appropriates money for veterans' health care, we can do anything we want with it."
Everything one has learned from childhood changes once one is sent into a War Theater, especially one built on the lies of their civilian leadership and likeminded military officers!
Some, because of the nature of their duty and their inner morality, snap under those changes and are haunted by what they may have done and all they've seen!
Some feel they can no longer live any type of normal life in 'The Real World', I have known many of my 'Nam Brothers who felt exactly that and a few, back than, who volunteered to return to that hell saying that was their reason, coming back in Flag Drapped Coffins!
In these times little Volunteering is needed for that, they are Returned, Over and Over, in many cases to Both Theaters on Extended Tours and Stop Lossed!
Think on this:
The plaintiffs say that the department has a backlog of more than 600,000 disability claims and that 120 veterans a week commit suicide.
And from Your Governments lawyer:
"This court should not interfere with the political branches' design, oversight and modification of VA programs," the government lawyers argued.
Veterans for Common Sense brought the Lawsuit against the Veterans Administration.
From Paul Sullivan, Executive Director of Veterans for Common Sense:
Clearly, VA’s troubling court filings are an admission by the Administration that VA lacks the funds to provide care for our newest war veterans, including those who are suicidal.
This Thursday, Feb. 7, VCS will be testifying before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee and expressing our outrage that VA would rather fight against veterans than ask for more money to treat our veterans.
You may want to read this PDF, supplied by Paul, of an Interview-PDF by the Prestigious Magazine Proceedings, published by the U.S. Naval Institute, about the broken 'transition' process from DoD to VA.
More information on this Class Action Lawsuit
You will find this link, at above link, for The Pivotal Court-filed Documents as well as one for Relevant News Articles
I leave you with this reality:
Conservative Idea of 'Strong on National Defense':.
Enhance more Hatreds anywhere possible, through propaganda, destruction, mass death, in order to Continue threats against from similar Failed Policies of Past!
Those Hatreds lead to 'Blowback' by recipients of the many Failed Policies called 'Criminal Terrorism'!
Take the word 'Terrorism', while practising same, and paste it on any group needed to Enhance the Fear in Populations causing Perpetual Conflicts and Huge Profits for any Military Industrial Complex and Control by same for Further Policies set up to Fail!
And when 'Johnny and Jane' come Marching Home, Dump Them {that one cuts across all Political Ideology and This Society }
It's Not 'Strong on National Defense', it Destroys 'National Defense' and brings about more and more 'Conflicts of Choice' for Greed and Power!
If we don't hold those Responsible for the Wrath of Failed Policies instituted than in the eyes of the World 'We Have Excepted All That Has Been Done In Our Names' and are thus Just As Guilty!!
And This:
Blood Wealth - War Profitteering
Deficient Kevlar in Military Helmets
Twelve days before the settlement {note:2mil} with the Justice Department was announced, the company, Sioux Manufacturing of Fort Totten, was given a new contract of up to $74 million to make more armor for helmets to replace the old ones, which were made from the late 1980s to last year.
The Center for Constitutional Rights is filing a lawsuit today under the Alien Tort Claims Act on behalf of the families of three of the Iraqis killed as well as another Iraqi who was injured when Blackwater guards shot dead 17 Iraqis and injured many more. We speak with CCR attorney Susan Burke and Democracy Now correspondent Jeremy Scahill, author of the best-selling book "Blackwater: the Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army."
We begin our show with a Democracy Now exclusive. A lawsuit is being filed today against the private military firm Blackwater USA over last month's shooting in Baghdad when Blackwater guards shot dead 17 Iraqis and injured many more. Earlier this week the Iraqi government called on the Bush administration to sever its ties with Blackwater in Iraq and for the company to pay $8 million dollars in compensation to each of the Iraqi families.
* Susan Burke. Attorney in Philadelphia who is working with the Center for Constitutional Rights on its suit against Blackwater.
* Jeremy Scahill. Independent journalist, Democracy Now! correspondent, author of "Blackwater: the Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army."
Blackwater USA yesterday pulled out of one of the few Washington-based industry associations for private security companies, a move that distances the embattled firm from one of its staunchest advocates.
