Florida Veteran Survived Two Wars But Not Being Home

VA Benefits Ultimately Failed One Young Veteran
Lawyer and Settlements
Gordon Gibb
March 9, 2015

Broward County, FL: There is a widely held view that VA benefits are hard to come by due to the number of VA members applying and qualifying for benefits coupled with a backlog of cases and a lack of resources to properly deal with all the cases in a timely manner. Others hold the view that a culture of systematically denying VA disability benefits on the first application leads to an appeals process and delays that mirror a culture widely seen in the insurance industry.

And yet, sometimes it’s not the lack of benefits that adversely affect the veteran, but the quality and diligence of care that is actually extended to the veteran.

“VA’s current protocol is not working. It’s failing. But [the VA continues] to do it. It’s killing these veterans.”

These are the words of Janine Lutz, a grieving mother whose son Janos Victor Lutz took his own life after washing down a concoction of pills with beer. The young veteran of both the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts was just 24.

He had attempted suicide once before

He came home with PTSD and attempted suicide in 2010. Veteran benefits ensured he was afforded the necessary treatment. However, his mother characterizes a VA that appears to be talking out of both sides of its mouth. To wit, a young veteran battling PTSD and suicidal thoughts is prescribed drugs that carry cautions issued by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning against the rare possibility of suicidal thoughts. In this case, disabled veterans benefits may have done more harm than good.
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