What's New
| VA Secretary Pressed by Senator on High Percentage of Wrongly Denied Benefit Claims |
March 16, 2010, Washington, DC (CQ Politics) - A leading Republican senator on Tuesday asked Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to explain why so many veterans’ benefit claims are wrongly denied, resulting in a high rate of reversal on appeal. |
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| Profile of New Veterans' Courts in New York Times |
Defendants Fresh From War Find Service Counts in Court - VCS Supports Veterans' Courts March 15, 2010, Charleston, West Virginia (New York Times) — When Judge Robert C. Chambers handed down Timothy Oldani’s federal sentence for selling stolen military equipment on eBay, he gave the former Marine a break. |
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| Presdent Obama Donated $250,000 of Nobel Prize Money to Fisher House |
March 11, 2010, Washington, DC (New York Times) - President Obama made good on his promise to give his $1.4 million Nobel Prize money to charity, releasing the names on Thursday of the organizations that will benefit. |
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| Philanthropist Bobby Willis to Build New $3.3 Billion Hospital for VA in Farmington, NM for Rural and Native American Veterans |
Proposed state-of-the-art Kirtland veterans clinic could provide as many as 8,000 jobs March 14, 2010, Farmington, New Mexico (Farmington Daily Times) — A proposed veterans complex in Kirtland centered around a new hospital, backed by a wealthy entrepreneur and costing an estimated $3.3 billion promises to bring state-of-the-art medicine and other benefits to veterans, as well as 8,000 jobs to the local economy. |
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| Dr. Haley at UTSW Presents Compelling Brain Images Showing Gulf War Illness |
VCS Asks VA: Since UTSW Research Remains Vital to Understanding Gulf War Illness, Then Why Did a Handful of VA Staff in Washington Impede UTSW Contract and Then End Funding for UTSW? March 9, 2010, Salt Lake City, Utah (Science News) - Nearly two decades after vets began returning from the Middle East complaining of Gulf War Syndrome, the federal government has yet to formally accept that their vague jumble of symptoms constitutes a legitimate illness. Here, at the Society of Toxicology annual meeting, yesterday, researchers rolled out a host of brain images – various types of magnetic-resonance scans and brain-wave measurements – that they say graphically and unambiguously depict Gulf War Syndrome. |
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VCS Weekly Update: VCS-VUFT Lawsuit Appeal Hearing Aug 12
Written by Paul Sullivan
Monday, 10 August 2009 10:55
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VCS Fights for Due Process Rights of All Veterans
August 10, 2009 - Your support for VCS is shaping the history of veterans' rights. Veterans for Common Sense invites you to watch a very important court hearing impacting access to healthcare and disability benefits for America's 25 million veterans and their families. C-SPAN will cover the event live. This Wednesday at 9:30 AM, our attorneys, Gordon Erspamer, Morrison & Foerster, and Sid Wolinsky at Disability Rights Advocates appear before the Ninth District Court of Appeals in San Francisco. I will be there with many other veterans as a sign of support. Please read our press release about the Appeals Court hearing. This is the next step in our landmark lawsuit against VA. The first trial uncovered lots of dirty laundry and brought it to light for America and Congress to see. We are eagerly anticipating even more positive changes so veterans can fully utilize VA. Please assist VCS with covering our expenses associated with our lawsuit by making a donation. Remember, VCS is largely member funded! Your tax-deductible gift will be put to work helping veterans today. Impact of VCS-VUFT Lawsuit Two years ago Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth made history with our lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs. We are tired of the endless delays caused by VA, including the fact that VA medical centers turned away suicidal veterans seeking mental healthcare - a dire moral outrage during a time our Nation fights two wars. While some at VA called our suit a nuisance, and VA tried in vain to have the suit dismissed, our lawsuit provided several victories for veterans. The court ruled VA was harming our veterans with unreasonable delays in healthcare and benefits. The court forced VA to release internal documents showing VA concealed a terrible and tragic suicide epidemic and even sought to block access to healthcare and disability benefits for veterans suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. Your contributions makes a difference! Please set up a monthly gift to VCS today so we can keep the heat on VA to improve access to timely services for our veterans. Be a Part of History - Watch Hearing and Support VCS This Wednesday at 9:30 AM, our attorneys in our case, Gordon Erspamer and Morrison & Foerster and Sid Wolinsky at Disability Rights Advocates, appear before the Ninth District Court of Appeals in San Francisco. C-SPAN will carry the case live. Read our appeal brief here. How important is this lawsuit? Two widely respected veterans organizations, the Vietnam Veterans of America and Swords to Plowshares, wrote the Appeals Court and agreed that VCS and VUFT were right and that the current crisis demands court intervention to overhaul and reform VA. How historic is this case? Last week, Gordon Erspamer was presented with the prestigious pro bono attorney of the year award by the American Bar Association. You can view a video about Gordon here. After VCS and VUFT filed our lawsuit, VA set up a toll-free suicide prevention hotline at 800-273-TALK. So far, 150,000 distraught veterans have called, and VA performed more than 3,200 rescues, including a soldier on active duty in Iraq. Your support keeps the needs of veterans front and center in the news. Please donate to VCS today so we can improve how VA takes care of our veterans. Thank You ! Paul Sullivan |