Sarah Mirando  |  August 1, 2011

Category: Legal News

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Military Veterans Win PTSD Class Action Settlement

By Sarah Pierce

 

military veteranMore than 1,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who were medically discharged due to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) between 2003 and 2008 may be able to receive lifetime disability retirement benefits under the terms of a class action lawsuit settlement reached last week.

“These veterans served our country in time of war, but have waited 3 to 8 years to receive the disability benefits which they’ve earned for their service,” said Bart Stichman, co-executive director of the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP), which filed the class action lawsuit in 2008 along with pro-bono counsel Morgan Lewis. “Today, a terrible wrong to our nation’s war veterans is being righted.”

The military veteran PTSD class action settlement stems from a 2008 class action lawsuit filed by veterans who were medically discharged due to PTSD, but were denied benefits they were legally entitled to. The law requires the military to give a disability rating of at least 50 percent to troops discharged for PTSD — a disability rating that entitles the veteran to receive disability retirement benefits. According to the military veteran PTSD class action lawsuit, however, each of the plaintiffs and hundreds others received a disability rating less than that.

Under the terms of the military veteran PTSD settlement, the U.S. military agreed to pay lifetime disability retirement benefits to 1,029 veterans with PTSD who were denied these benefits upon discharge from the military following wartime service in Iraq or Afghanistan. The settlement also affects an additional 1,066 veterans who already had lifetime retirement benefits, but would receive a higher disability rating from the military if the class action settlement is approved. The increased disability rating may qualify these veterans for thousands of dollars in back pay spanning several years.

Additional benefits provided under the military veteran PTSD class action lawsuit settlement include:

* Eligibility to apply for Combat-Related Special Compensation (which may increase the veteran’s monthly disability payments further).
* Lifetime military healthcare (TriCare) for the veteran, his or her spouse, as well as their children until at least age 18.
* Lifetime commissary and military post exchange privileges.
* Eligibility to purchase life insurance coverage through the Survivor Benefit Plan.
* Reimbursement for expenses paid for the medical treatment of the veteran, the veteran’s spouse, and the veteran’s minor children, from the date of the veteran’s separation from military service.

The military veteran PTSD class action settlement must be approved by a judge to be final, but the NVLSP predicts that the Court will quickly grant final approval.

“This is a happy ending to a sad chapter of military mistreatment of those who served our country in time of war,” said Stichman. “The veterans covered by this agreement were exposed to highly traumatic events during deployment, only to return home and be shortchanged on benefits after the military found they suffered from PTSD that was so severe that they needed to be discharged.”

 

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Updated August 1st, 2011

 

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7 thoughts onMilitary Veterans Win PTSD Class Action Settlement

  1. James Michael Boarman says:

    I have PTSD from the military service please add me. Thanks

  2. Jimmy Jones says:

    I would love to have more information about this.. please add me.

  3. Desert Storm Vet says:

    After Desert Storm i started getting bad nightmares.I also started hearing voices in my head giving me military commands. I knew it was PTSD .I was still in the Army at the time so i talked to my company comander about switching my job to something not combat related.I didn`t tell him why due to fear of a medical discharge,so i told him i just needed some time to adapt to a friendly environment.The option to take the early out program was available to me so i took it.Do i qualify for this?

  4. Thaddette Davis says:

    I would like to get help and information concerning military individuals who have been confined after bad behavior post war experience.

  5. Anonymous says:

    i was diagnosed with ptsd after iraq. when my claim was put in the VA review amounted too a DR i’ve never seen re diagnosing me as not having it. for the past 7 years since i had a heart attack, the VA has done nothing but twist statements and make up crap. Pretty bad when a congressmans office finds problems in the paperwork refiles it all and its still been 5 years of the same. i asked if they were waiting for me too die like they did my cousin, who had cancer from agent orange, of course they denied they do that, but those of us that have seen it happen know better

  6. Anonymous says:

    My husband is a Vietnam Vet. who suffers from PTSD, and other medical dissabilities from being in the service of our country,and he is having a hard time getting service connected also. My father died before he got his service connected medical dissabilities. How many more service men, women and their families have to endure this terrible disrespect?

  7. Anonymous says:

    i think its great ,these vets are getting fair treatment but what about widowed spouces, my husband suffered from ptsd from viet nam . i believe the we the widows deserve compensation to i cannot use va home loan benafit cause i cannot prove service conected illnes we tryed to get a loan when he was alive but that was in the hight of the real estate swindle of hard working people ,home were to expensive for us now i could could afford one but he died i think its very unfair

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