Judge considers new e-mail evidence in veterans care trial
June 10, 2008
A recently surfaced e-mail by a Department of Veterans Affairs psychologist was added Friday to the evidence a federal judge is considering in deciding whether to order a massive overhaul of the agency's health care system.
Written by Paul Elias, Associated Press
A recently surfaced e-mail by a Department of Veterans Affairs psychologist was added Friday to the evidence a federal judge is considering in deciding whether to order a massive overhaul of the agency's health care system. Two veterans groups sued the VA last year, alleging that its mental health care and benefits award system were so flawed that a federal judge was needed to step in. U.S. District Court Judge Samuel Conti was deciding what to do with the VA after a two-week trial without a jury ended in April. On Friday, he took the unusual step of briefly reopening the case so he could formally consider the e-mail, in which the psychologist suggests that counselors minimize their diagnoses of severe mental disorders in soldiers. A transcript from a June 4 hearing on the missive before the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee also was added to the trial evidence. Heather Moser, a lawyer for the veterans groups, told the judge said the March memo written by Norma Perez, who helps coordinate a post-traumatic stress disorder clinical team in central Texas, shows that VA bureaucrats routinely attempt to deny veterans proper health care. Moser told the judge that Perez was encouraging counselors to make more initial diagnosis of "adjustment disorder" rather than the more severe post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, because it was less costly and time-consuming to do so. "The adjustment disorder diagnosis is a way around paying benefits to the veterans," Moser said. The e-mail surfaced a month after the trial ended when it was leaked to VoteVets.org, an Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans lobbying group opposed to the Bush administration's handling of the war and veterans issues. "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," Perez wrote to VA counselors. "We really don't or have time to do the extensive testing that should be done to determine PTSD." Justice Department lawyer Daniel Bensing told the judge that the e-mail was a mistake and didn't represent VA policy. He said Perez had been disciplined and that her e-mail was inartfully worded and is being misconstrued as an attempt to unfairly deny benefits. He said the VA's inspector general's office had launched an investigation. "It was an honest mistake by a junior staff member," Bensing told the judge. "There really is nothing more to this matter. We submit that it should have no effect on this case." Conti said he would soon rule on the lawsuit.
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