Dear Members of Military Families Speak Out,
If you have a family member who has tried to get care from the VA on mental health issues, your testimony is needed in a class-action lawsuit pending in federal court. Anyone - veteran or family member - who has had problems with the VA over mental health issues should register with the attorneys representing veterans and provide their testimony. Please read further for details.Background:Last July, 2007, two veterans' groups filed a class action suit against the Veterans Administration on behalf of 600,000 veterans The veterans groups that filed the lawsuit are Veterans United for Truth and Veterans for Common Sense.(Veterans for Common Sense et al v. Peake, Case No. C 07 3758, U.S.D.C., N.D. Cal. 2007) The case accuses the VA of failure to provide prompt mental health care to veterans with PTSD and failure to promptly and accurately process disability claims.Testimony from individual veterans and MFSO family members is needed, and we are writing to you today to urge you to participate.
Although it was feared that the judge hearing this case would dismiss it, Judge Samuel Conti has allowed the case to proceed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco.In mid-March, he heard testimony from both sides, and he has ruled that a full trial on the issues will begin on April 21, 2008. Despite the extreme backlog of cases and epic levels of suicides among veterans, the VA is arguing that veterans are only entitled to health care if the VA decides to provide it, that veterans lack any "entitlement" to health care.The class action complaint seeks a judicial finding that the VA's system of handling claims and appeals is so dysfunctional that it violates veterans' constitutional and statutory rights.The suit also calls for court orders requiring the VA to provide immediate medical and psychological help to returning troops and to screen them for risk of suicide.
What can MFSO members do to help? First, if your family member has had trouble obtaining help from the VA, register as a participant in this case.Either the veteran or his/her family member who has had problems with the VA over mental health issues is urgently needed to register. Your testimony is confidential. Often family members are providing the evidence, because the veteran has given up or is reluctant to complain. Sign up to participate here. There you will find a very short form to complete, after which you will be contacted by the law firm representing the veterans, Morris & Foerster. They will conduct a brief phone interview with you and ask you to provide more details. They are friendly and understanding of veterans' reluctance to talk. In the record provided to the court, the name and personal information of the veteran will be redacted. (Only the judge can see the personal data, if he so requests. Personal data is kept by the veterans' attorneys as client-privileged data.)
This is a serious opportunity for MFSO members to contribute to this important lawsuit.If you have questions, you can also contact Sandy Cook at Veterans United for Truth at scook@vuft.org.Alternately, if you still have questions or are reluctant to contact the attorneys yourself, MFSO Board member Linda Englund will be happy to talk to you via phone (773-680-3836) or email (Linda@mfso.org) for further details.MFSO members can do one more thing to assist the progress of this lawsuit.The VA and Dept. of Justice attorneys are trying to get Veterans for Truth thrown out of the case as not having standing to sue. They are asking for MFSO members to join VUFT as members. The more members they can claim, the stronger their standing as plaintiffs and the stronger this case is.Sign up with VUFT at http://www.vuft.org/membership.html.
Thank you for your participation. This is a very concrete way for us to "take care of them when they get here".Again, if you have any questions, please contact Linda Englund at linda@mfso.org or call her cell phone at 773-680-3836.
In peace and solidarity,
MFSO Board of Directors
