VA Suicide Hotline has received almost 225,000 calls

"Hotline has received almost 225,000 calls" and that is a good thing on the surface but this many calls is an indication of how severe the risk is after service because there isn't enough being done.

Why would so many veterans reach such a desperate state, they end up on the verge of suicide? The VA says they "rescued about 6,800 veterans" out of that many calls. What happened to the others? Did they receive help? Did they end up with help filing their claims? Did they receive any kind of emergency help so that they would not end up needing to call the Suicide Prevention Hotline again? That's a point we all need to consider. What happens to the others should matter as much as how things got so bad for them in the first place.

Keep in mind we're not talking about your average citizen absorbed with their own problems. We're talking about men and women willing to lay down their lives for a greater cause other than themselves ending up wanting to die after they survived risking those same lives. None of this should be acceptable.

The other enormous factor is, if Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth did not file a law suit and seek documentation from the VA under Freedom of Information Act, nothing would have been done at all.

VA Saves Nearly 7,000 Suicidal Veterans

Secretary Shinseki honored Dr. Janet Kemp, who received the "2009 Federal Employee of the Year" award from the Partnership for Public Service. She helped create the Veterans National Suicide Prevention Hotline to help distraught veterans. Since August 2007, the Hotline has received almost 225,000 calls and rescued about 6,800 veterans, according to VA. VCS supports Dr. Kemp's work and the hotline.

VA set up the hotline after VCS filed suit in July 2007, and after many suicidal veterans had already been turned by a VA still unprepared to handle hundreds of thousands of additional patients from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars on top of the steady flow of new patients flowing into VA due to PTSD, Agent Orange, and the war-exacerbated global economic crisis.

Marine Cpl. Jeffrey Lucey's family had to file a law suit over this.

Posted On: January 24, 2009 by Lebowitz & Mzhen
Federal Government Settles VA Wrongful Death Lawsuit with Family of Iraq War Veteran who Committed Suicide
The federal government has settled a VA wrongful death lawsuit with the family of an Iraq war veteran who killed himself soon after he was denied mental health care. The family will receive $350,000.

Jeffrey Lucey was a corporal in the US Marines who was based in Iraq in 2003. When he came back to the United States, family members says he was having nightmares, behaving erratically, suffering from insomnia and serious depression, and drank a lot. The 23-year-old was involuntarily committed to a VA medical center’s psychiatric unit but was discharged from the hospital after four days following a diagnosis of mood swings and alcoholism.

Two days later, Lucey’s family readmitted him to the hospital after he crashed a car in an attempt to kill himself. He was turned away by a VA hospital nurse who failed to have a psychiatrist examine him.

Lucey hanged himself on June 22, 2004. His family filed their Veterans Affairs wrongful death lawsuit alleging medical malpractice against the United States. The Federal Tort Claims Act allows plaintiffs to file tort lawsuits, including those involving medical malpractice, against parties acting for the federal government.

Although the settlement has been reached, the Assistant US Attorney for the case says the VA is not admitting that it was responsible for Lucey’s suicide. The veteran’s death, however, has led to changes in how the VA medical system works with veterans and suicide prevention.

In 2007, A CBS News’ Investigative Unit found that from 1995 – 2007, almost 2,200 active duty service members killed themselves. The journalism also discovered that when it asked all 50 states for their suicide data for veterans and non-veterans, information sent back from 45 states showed that in 2005, 6,225 individuals who served in the armed forces were among those who committed suicide.

The Lucey family’s wrongful death lawsuit is not the first complaint filed against the federal government alleging that a VA hospital was negligent and therefore responsible for an Iraq war veteran’s suicide.

U.S. to pay $350,000 to family of Belchertown veteran who killed himself, MassLive, January 15, 2009

Suicide Epidemic Among Veterans, CBS News, November 13, 2007
read more here
Federal Government Settles VA Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Lawsuit says VA mishandled claims
Updated 7/24/2007
By Laura Parker, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — A coalition of disabled Iraq war veterans sued the Department of Veterans Affairs on Monday, accusing the VA of illegally denying or delaying claims for disability pay and mental health treatment.
The lawsuit names Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, among others, and asks for sweeping changes in the way the federal government handles claims of more than 1.6 million veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-07-23-iraq-vets_N.htm

Notice
Oral argument was heard on the appeal of this case on August 12, 2009. The case is now under submission at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.


On July 25, 2008 Plaintiffs Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth, Inc. filed a Notice of Appeal of the decision issued by Senior Federal District Court Judge Samuel Conti. In his decision, Judge Conti held that although it is clear to the Court that the VA may need "a complete overhaul" the the power to remedy this crisis lies with the other branches of government.

The importance of this appeal is underscored by the fact that a serious suicide epidemic among veterans continues to exist. Meanwhile, VA continues to turn away suicidal veterans, as shown by the recent case of Lucas Senescall in Spokane Washington. The flood of veterans with mental health problems will continue to increase as the wars go on. This is because, as a recent Army study found, repeat deployments increase the risk of PTSD by 50 percent, above and beyond what we are already seeing from veterans discharged from the first few years of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

In his decision, Judge Conti found that many veterans are suffering, and that the VA is the cause of much of that suffering. For these reasons, Plaintiffs believe they should continue to fight, that their cause is valid, and that Judge Conti was incorrect in holding that the courts are without power to grant veterans a remedy.
http://www.veteransptsdclassaction.org/

CBS joined the fight to force the VA to take care of our veterans.

April 21, 2008

VA Hid Suicide Risk, Internal E-Mails Show
Follow-Up Reporting On Exclusive Investigation Reveals Officials Hid Numbers
By Armen Keteyian

Veterans Suicides In Question

In a recently filed lawsuit, the Department of Veterans Affairs is accused of deliberately misinforming the American public about the number of veterans committing suicide. Armen Keteyian reports.

Suicide Epidemic Among Veterans
Help And Resources: Veteran Suicide
(CBS) The Department of Veterans Affairs came under fire again Monday, this time in California federal court where it's facing a national lawsuit by veterans rights groups accusing the agency of not doing enough to stem a looming mental health crisis among veterans. As part of the lawsuit, internal e-mails raise questions as to whether top officials deliberately deceived the American public about the number of veterans attempting and committing suicide. CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian reports.



In San Francisco federal court Monday, attorneys for veterans' rights groups accused the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs of nothing less than a cover-up - deliberately concealing the real risk of suicide among veterans.

"The system is in crisis and unfortunately the VA is in denial," said veterans rights attorney Gordon Erspamer.

The charges were backed by internal e-mails written by Dr. Ira Katz, the VA's head of Mental Health.

In the past, Katz has repeatedly insisted while the risk of suicide among veterans is serious, it's not outside the norm.

"There is no epidemic in suicide in VA," Katz told Keteyian in November.
Video Veterans Suicides In Question

read more here
Veterans Suicides In Question

As you can see, for the VA to be able to rescue any veteran, there were people pushing for them to make the changes and a news station willing to make sure the American people found out about it.

For more from Veterans for Common Sense, go here and read how hard they are working for veterans.

VCS Testimony Before Congress

On February 4, the day before the DC blizzard, VCS testified before Chairman Bob Filner and the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. We shared our strong support for President Obama's VA budget as well as our concerns about VA's inability to properly estimate Iraq and Afghanistan war casualties. This is important because our new war veterans wait longer for VA healthcare and benefits, and they often receive lower disability ratings.

There are too many things that still need to be corrected for the sake of our veterans. Because people are willing to step up and fight, things will change for the better. Maybe then we can finally live up to what George Washington thought,

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

As bad as the numbers are right now, we will see more Iraq and Afghanistan veterans needing help flooding the system. As the VA tries to deal with the flood there is a tsunami offshore of new veterans heading in. We also have not reached all Vietnam veterans needing care. Because of those willing to fight for those we send to fight, we are closer than we would have been, but we have so much more needing to be done.