Judge in S.F. allows suit charging VA denies some vets health care
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, January 11, 2008
Veterans' advocates can proceed with a lawsuit claiming that the federal government's health care system for troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan illegally denies care and benefits, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti, a conservative jurist and a World War II veteran, rejected Bush administration arguments that civil courts have no authority over the Department of Veterans Affairs' medical decisions or how it handles grievances and claims.
If the plaintiffs can prove their allegations, Conti said, they would show that "thousands of veterans, if not more, are suffering grievous injuries as the result of their inability to procure desperately needed and obviously deserved health care."
He said federal courts are competent to decide whether those injuries were caused by flaws in the health care system and the VA's grievance procedures.
Conti did not rule on the adequacy of the treatment system, which will be addressed in future proceedings. But he decided one disputed issue, finding that veterans are legally entitled to two years of health care after leaving the service. The government had argued that it was required to provide only as much care as the VA's budget allowed in a given year.
A lawyer for the plaintiffs, Melissa Kasnitz of Disability Rights Advocates, said the judge had rejected the VA's "shameful effort to keep these deserving veterans from their day in court."
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/11/BAKDUDEB5.DTL
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