Category Archives: Veterans for Common Sense News

May 3: VCS Supports Sen. Bond’s Bill to Open VA’s Vet Centers to Active Duty Troops

May 2, 2008 – Active and reserve service members would be eligible for mental health counseling from one of the 207 veterans’ centers operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs under bipartisan legislation introduced Thursday. [Note: Veterans for Common Sense … Continue reading →

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Union’s War Protest Shuts West Coast Ports

May 2, 2008, Seatle WA – West Coast ports were shut down on Thursday as thousands of longshoremen failed to report for work, part of what their union leaders said was a one-day, one-shift protest against the war in Iraq. … Continue reading →

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Audit: Vets With Brain Injury Still Not Getting Proper Care

May 1, 2008 – Many Iraq war veterans with traumatic brain injury are not getting adequate health care and job assistance for their long-term recovery despite years of government pledges to do so, Veterans Affairs Department investigators say. “Significant needs … Continue reading →

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May 2: Shh! . . . . (VA E-Mail Conceals Suicide Epidemic Among Veterans)

Official VA e-mail from February 13, 2008, where top VA official concealed the enormous and growing suicide epidemic from CBS Evening News. http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/VA_email_021308.pdf  The e-mail was obtained by attorneys representing veterans in the lawsuit Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United … Continue reading →

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May 1 VCS in the News: Vets’ Case Rests With Call to Overhaul System

May 1, 2008 – Veterans are suffering and dying because of a broken-down mental health system at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the only remedy is a court-ordered overhaul, a lawyer for advocacy groups told a federal judge Wednesday … Continue reading →

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May 6: Congress Holds Hearing to Investigate VA Scandal Concealing Veteran Suicide Epidemic

Witness List for Hearing, “The Truth about Veteran Suicides” Where: 334 Cannon House Office Building When: May 6, 2008, 10:00 a.m. Witness Panel 1: The Honorable James B. Peake, M.D., Secretary, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Accompanied by Gerald Cross, … Continue reading →

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May 2 VCS and VUFT Lawsuit Profiled: ‘Epidemic of Suicides’

Paul Sullivan, Executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, urged Congress to enact legislation to immediately to overhaul the VA.  “Congress should legislate a presumption of service connection for veterans diagnosed [with] PTSD who deployed to a war zone after … Continue reading →

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May 1 Lawsuit News: VA’s Kussman Unfairly Stigmatizes Combat Veterans with PTSD

Lawyers for the veterans fought to get testimony from Dr. Michael J. Kussman, the under secretary for health at the V.A. Asked on the stand whether he was playing down the traumatic stress issue, Dr. Kussman said, “It is unfair … Continue reading →

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May 1: Attorneys Present Final Argument in Veterans’ Lawsuit Against VA

May 1, 2008, San Francisco, CA – A federal court judge in San Francisco today heard closing arguments from lawyers disputing whether the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is providing adequate care for veterans with stress disorders, and whether the … Continue reading →

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Senators Call for Action to Improve Veterans’ Mental Health Care

April 30, 2008, Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI), Chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the Committee, held a press conference today to call for improved mental health … Continue reading →

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