FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 14,
2007
Statement on CBS News Stories Aired November 13 and 14
WASHINGTON – Every
suicide in America is a tragedy. VA
cares about each veteran and their physical and mental health. We have
more than 10,000 mental health workers who have dedicated themselves to
helping veterans cope with the issues and crises they face. We operate a veteran suicide hotline which is
available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to help any veteran in need. That number is 1-800-273-TALK (8255). VA has suicide prevention coordinators at
each of our VA Medical Centers.
VA strongly encourages veterans
who may be considering harming themselves in some way to seek treatment from VA
or other health care providers in their communities. Our people are there to help during a
crisis. VA's care and treatment works
and is available for veterans with PTSD, depression and other mental health
problems.
VA operates the largest
mental health care system in the country, spending $3 billion each year on its
mental health programs, and has taken several measures to increase its mental
health services in recent years. Those
include new programs bringing mental health into primary care, intensified
rehabilitation for those with serious mental illnesses, and expanded programs
for homeless veterans and those with substance abuse problems.
VA is concerned that the data
CBS presented in its broadcast was not reviewed by independent scientists as
most legitimate academic studies are. Regardless of this questionable journalistic
tactic, VA takes the problem of suicide very seriously and wants veterans to
come to VA for help if they are under stress or in crisis.
VA is constantly reviewing scientific findings, both from our own
research and that of others, to guide us in improving care for veterans. We are reviewing the limited information that
CBS has made available to us and are accelerating our own research to ensure we
are doing everything possible to improve the information available to the
medical and research communities about suicides in veterans as a means of
better understanding how to prevent these tragedies.
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On the surface of it, that seems like a good thing, right? Not so much. The thing is that the people who are bending the ears of Congress have a hidden agenda. The VA holds a great deal of sway over these organizations. The VA controls office-space, telephone systems, email access, and most important to some, power. Not power in the electricity sense, but power in the political sense. Power and perquisites. Pay attention to how many "conferences" and "meetings" these inside people are attending in places like Las Vegas and Tampa Bay.
Pretty good gig if you can get
it. All expenses paid. Available only to the good boys and girls who
don't rock the boat.
# # #
Richardson v. Nicholson
Mr. Lee T. Richardson’ s fiduciary, appealed the decision of the Veterans
Court that dismissed both Mr. Richardson’ s petition for a writ of mandamus,
seeking payments of accrued benefits, and fiduciary’s petition for substitution
of party for the writ. Richardson v. Nicholson, No. 06-7060 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 30,
2007).
Mr. Richardson was granted a 100 percent rating for PTSD in May 2005, with an
effective date of March 10, 1986. When his accrued benefit payments were not
processed as of July 2005, Mr. Richardson, through counsel, petitioned the
Veterans Court for a writ of mandamus to compel VA to pay the benefits owed.
Mr. Richardson died July 28, 2005, the same day fiduciary received her
Letters of Curatorship from the State of Kansas. VA had not paid Mr.
Richardson his accrued benefits as of that date. Fiduciary filed with the
Veterans Court a motion on August 12, 2005, to substitute a party for a writ of
mandamus. On August 20, 2005, the Veterans Court dismissed the petition for a
writ of mandamus as moot. Fiduciary timely appealed the decision to the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Upholding the Veterans Court decision, the Federal Circuit couched the matter
as one of standing. It explained that at the point in time that Mr. Richardson
died all claims for disability were extinguished. Thus, party could not be
substituted in for Mr. Richardson to compel VA to pay the benefits owed, as the
underlying claim for disability benefits on which the writ was based was mooted
by his death.
Despite petitioner’s argument, the Court has held that a petition becomes
moot by virtue of the death of the petitioner. White v. West, 11 et.App. 8
(1998) (per curiam order); see also Landicho v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 42, 47 (1994)
(veterans’ disability claims under chapter 11 of title 8 of the U.S. Code do not
survive their deaths). In such circumstance,
the petition will be dismissed. See White, 11 Vet. App. at
9.
# # #
The VA has recently added a requirement that any claim granted where the
accrued benefits are 250,000 dollars or more, the claim must be reviewed by the
VA secretary’s office.
Adding the review provision will ensure that the VA will not have to pay as
many claims because the Veteran will die before a decision is
reached.
