Shamefully Delayed Care is Killing America’s Veterans

[pinboy3niner]

08.08.2011 Katharine Russ




RUSS REPORT - U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit issued a landmark decision on May 10, 2011 that medical care delays have deprived veterans of their Constitutional Rights.


In a 104-page decision, Judge Stephen Reinhardt said, “Veterans who return home from war suffering from psychological maladies are entitled by law to disability benefits to sustain themselves and their families as they regain their health. Yet it takes an average of more than four years for a veteran to fully adjudicate a claim for benefits. During that time many claims are mooted by deaths."

...


Since May, Robert Handy, HMC USN (Ret) Chair- Veterans United For Truth, a Plaintiff, said that the VA has asked for an en banc hearing before the full panel of 11 judges and the case will likely be sent to the Supreme Court.


While it’s certainly no secret that General Eric Shinseki took over the helm of the Veterans Administration (VA) at the height of corruption and mismanagement, he promised to create relationships of trust, timeliness and excellence of services and support and to optimize opportunities for delivering the best services with available resources (January 14, 2009).


However, rather than agreeing with the court and resolving issues in Regional offices, the VA has chosen to fight this decision. Handy says this case could go on forever.

...


(Katharine Russ is an investigative reporter. She is a regular contributor to CityWatch and to the North Valley Reporter. Katharine Russ can be reached at [e-mail] ) –cw


http://citywatchla.com/lead-stories/2086-shamefully-delayed-care-is-killing-americas-veterans

[midnight]

1. But our elected officials already have their health care so why should they care?

I know my response seems so over the top, but that is how they think about all the same entitlements they have... Those entitlements need to be revoked...

[proudlib8134]

3. amen

[Amerigo Vespucci]

2. The wars are pretty much off the public's radar...

...they've woven themselves into the fabric of everyday life to such a degree that unless a copter goes down with 40 people on it, the major stories of the day range from Charlie Sheen's character getting killed off on Two and a Half Men to Newsweek drawing ire for using a photo of certified nutcase Michele Bachmann that "made her look crazy."

The men and women of the U.S. Military make the ultimate sacrifice...putting their lives on the line to defend our country, regardless of the politics that created a need for their service. The ones who come home physically whole are often not mentally whole...and while we should be making them our first priority and honoring their sacrifice, we simply shuffle them to the bottom of the deck.

It's not right, but in the absence of sufficient public outrage, it's the way it is, and the way it's likely to remain. America should be ashamed. America is not.

[white cloud]

4. K&R

Thanks