thedrifter
06-26-08, 07:53 AM
Federal judge refuses to order overhaul of VA
By Paul Elias
ASSOCIATED PRESS
1:34 p.m. June 25, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO – A federal judge on Wednesday refused 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.
U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti ruled that the lawsuit was “misdirected” and that the retired warriors should instead ask Congress, the head of the Veterans Administration and the federal court in Washington D.C. to improve the system.
Veterans groups had sued the VA, alleging that its mental health care and benefits award system were flawed. The groups wanted Conti to order the agency to dramatically improve how fast it processes applications and how it delivers mental health care, especially for preventing suicides and treating post-traumatic stress disorder.
Conti said the groups “did not prove a systemic denial or unreasonable delay in mental health care” in their lawsuit.
“Although the evidence clearly did not prove that every veteran always gets immediate mental health care, it by no means follows that there is a systemwide crisis in which health care is not being provide within a reasonable time,” Conti wrote in his 82-page ruling.
Conti did say that the “VA may not be meeting all of the needs of the nation's veterans” and said veterans “have faced significant delays in receiving disability benefits and medical care from the VA.” But he concluded that he was powerless to order changes where he did find problems and said that such decisions are left exclusively to the agency's chief.
Conti wrote that “what constitutes 'timely' and effective' health care is an issue that lacks consensus even among those who are experts in the mental health field.”
VA spokesman Phil Budahn said the agency was “pleased.”
Gordon Erspamer, a lawyer for the veterans group, said he would appeal the decision.
“The judge essentially said that there's nobody to oversee the VA,” Erspamer said. “The VA isn't doing its job.”
Conti's ruling came after a two-week trial without a jury that ended April 30.
During that trial, lawyers for the groups showed the judge e-mails between high-ranking VA officials confirming high rates of suicides among veterans and a desire to keep quiet the number of vets under its care who attempt suicide.
“Shhh!” began a Feb. 13 e-mail from Dr. Ira Katz, a VA deputy chief. “Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among the veterans we see in our medical facilities. Is this something we should (carefully) address ourselves in some sort of release before someone stumbles on it?”
Katz wrote in another e-mail that 18 veterans kill themselves daily on average.
After the trial another e-mail surfaced that was written by VA psychologist Norma Perez suggesting that counselors in Texas make a point to diagnose fewer post-traumatic stress disorder cases. The veterans' lawyers argued that e-mail showed the VA's unwillingness to properly treat mental health issues.
Conti, a World War II veteran, said the e-mail was “troubling” but not proof of a systemwide policy.
“Dr. Perez is one minor supervisor in a bureaucracy of 230,000 employees,” Conti concluded. “At the time of the e-mail, Dr. Perez had less than a year in her position at the VA and the e-mail she sent had limited distribution.”
The VA said it received an unprecedented number of claims last year, which have grown from 675,000 in 2001 to 838,000 in 2007.
Ellie
By Paul Elias
ASSOCIATED PRESS
1:34 p.m. June 25, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO – A federal judge on Wednesday refused 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.
U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti ruled that the lawsuit was “misdirected” and that the retired warriors should instead ask Congress, the head of the Veterans Administration and the federal court in Washington D.C. to improve the system.
Veterans groups had sued the VA, alleging that its mental health care and benefits award system were flawed. The groups wanted Conti to order the agency to dramatically improve how fast it processes applications and how it delivers mental health care, especially for preventing suicides and treating post-traumatic stress disorder.
Conti said the groups “did not prove a systemic denial or unreasonable delay in mental health care” in their lawsuit.
“Although the evidence clearly did not prove that every veteran always gets immediate mental health care, it by no means follows that there is a systemwide crisis in which health care is not being provide within a reasonable time,” Conti wrote in his 82-page ruling.
Conti did say that the “VA may not be meeting all of the needs of the nation's veterans” and said veterans “have faced significant delays in receiving disability benefits and medical care from the VA.” But he concluded that he was powerless to order changes where he did find problems and said that such decisions are left exclusively to the agency's chief.
Conti wrote that “what constitutes 'timely' and effective' health care is an issue that lacks consensus even among those who are experts in the mental health field.”
VA spokesman Phil Budahn said the agency was “pleased.”
Gordon Erspamer, a lawyer for the veterans group, said he would appeal the decision.
“The judge essentially said that there's nobody to oversee the VA,” Erspamer said. “The VA isn't doing its job.”
Conti's ruling came after a two-week trial without a jury that ended April 30.
During that trial, lawyers for the groups showed the judge e-mails between high-ranking VA officials confirming high rates of suicides among veterans and a desire to keep quiet the number of vets under its care who attempt suicide.
“Shhh!” began a Feb. 13 e-mail from Dr. Ira Katz, a VA deputy chief. “Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among the veterans we see in our medical facilities. Is this something we should (carefully) address ourselves in some sort of release before someone stumbles on it?”
Katz wrote in another e-mail that 18 veterans kill themselves daily on average.
After the trial another e-mail surfaced that was written by VA psychologist Norma Perez suggesting that counselors in Texas make a point to diagnose fewer post-traumatic stress disorder cases. The veterans' lawyers argued that e-mail showed the VA's unwillingness to properly treat mental health issues.
Conti, a World War II veteran, said the e-mail was “troubling” but not proof of a systemwide policy.
“Dr. Perez is one minor supervisor in a bureaucracy of 230,000 employees,” Conti concluded. “At the time of the e-mail, Dr. Perez had less than a year in her position at the VA and the e-mail she sent had limited distribution.”
The VA said it received an unprecedented number of claims last year, which have grown from 675,000 in 2001 to 838,000 in 2007.
Ellie