Perez emails shows VA care depends on where you go

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:25:01 GMTE
SF: JUDGE ACCEPTS CONTROVERSIAL E-MAIL AS EVIDENCE IN VETERANS CASE

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

A federal judge who is overseeing a case challenging mental health care for veterans accepted a controversial e-mail by government psychologist into evidence at a hearing in San Francisco today.

U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti said, "This hearing is unique" because he reopened the case after the conclusion of a two-week trial in April and May on a lawsuit filed by two veterans' groups.

Conti accepted into evidence both the e-mail written by psychologist Norma Perez and the transcript of a June 4 U.S. Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on the message.

Perez is the coordinator of a post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, team at a regional veterans' medical center in Texas.

Her March 22 e-mail appears instruct staff members to avoid diagnosing PTSD in returning vets because of the cost and instead to diagnose a less expensive adjustment disorder.

The e-mail says, "Given that we are having more and more compensation-seeking veterans, I'd like to suggest that you refrain from giving a diagnosis of PTSD straight out. Consider a diagnosis of Adjustment Disorder, ruling out PTSD."

U.S. Justice Department attorney Daniel Bensing told Conti today that officials of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs have repudiated the e-mail. He said the "unfortunate wording" has been clarified.

Heather Moser, a lawyer for Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth, argued that the message supports the two groups' claim that the veterans' agency isn't able to enforce its policies on the local level.

"The people who suffer at the end of the day are the veterans," she told the judge.

The veterans' groups are seeking court orders barring the agency from denying needed mental health care to veterans and requiring the agency to act in a timely way on medical claims.

Conti said he plans to rule on the case soon.
http://cbs5.com/localwire/22.0.html?type=bcn&item=VETERANS-CASE-EVIDENCE

What happened to rules that apply all over? They served one nation but it looks as if when it comes to them needing us, it all depends on where you live. What a shame this is!