| The VA rejected an Afghanistan veteran's disability claim for PTSD last month, citing his membership in VoteVets.org as a reason for the denial.
Staff Sergeant Will King retired from the Army in late 2003, after serving in both the first Gulf War and the war in Afghanistan. As one of the first troops into the Afghan theater after 9/11, Will had been awarded a Bronze Star after participating in fierce fighting in the Shah-e-Kot Valley in March 2002. I know, because I was there with him.
As the months turned to years after his retirement, however, Will started having problems as the Iraq War dragged on. Depressed and unable to sleep, he thought it might be PTSD. Because, as those who study PTSD know, this is perfectly normal: The symptoms of PTSD frequently have a delayed onset that can take months or years to fully materialize. That's why, in April 2007, Will filed a claim with the VA for combat-related PTSD. The VA eventually agreed with Will and diagnosed him with mild PTSD. But Will felt like his condition was worse than that. And to boot, he thought it was getting worse. So Will appealed, and filed another disability claim with the VA in November 2007: He felt his symptoms were serious enough to warrant an increase in his disability rating from "mild" to "moderate."*
Unfortunately for Will, the VA denied his claim six months later, in May 2008. And while I won't challenge the VA's ultimate decision (I'm not a doctor), I find it repulsive that they cited Will's membership in VoteVets.org as a reason to deny his claim.
This is what the VA told Will in his denial letter:
The examiner states your PTSD symptoms are still present but you do not report symptoms at a degree or level which appears to suggest more severity. The examiner concurred with the previous diagnosis and assigned Global Assessment of Functioning Score of 52, stating you have occasional suicidal ideation but are able to cope with these symptoms and continue to function. The treatment reports from Memphis show you are currently involved with VoteVets.org, an advocacy group for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. You indicated involvement with this advocacy group makes you feel coping with your symptoms is worthwhile. The treatment note of March 10, 2008, indicates no homicidal or suicidal ideation and no thought disorder.
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The medical evidence of record does not show you meet the scheduler requirements for unemployability, nor does the evidence show we could consider extraschedular entitlement based on your being incapable of substantially gainful employment due to your service-connected disabilities. Although you sent letters from your mother and the person who owns the property on which you live indicating you are not currently employed in farming, but are engaged in normal household gardening and chores, the treatment reports from the VA Medical Center show you are currently involved with a veteran's advocacy group and have traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with and lobby members of Congress on behalf of this organization. While you are not, strictly speaking, employed by this organization, you are actively involved and able to control and manage your symptoms sufficiently to engage in activities required by your involvement. Further, evidence shows you were enrolled in school as recently as Spring 2007 and, although you encountered some difficulty and received failing grades, your overall grades were in the average range, indicating you were attempting to establish credentials which may have led to better employment prospects; therefore, entitlement to individual unemployability is denied.
So to distill the relevant quotes, here's what the VA acknowledged and said to Will:
"you have occasional suicidal ideation"
"you are not currently employed"
"you . . . received failing grades" in school
Faced with the fact that Will was unemployed, occasionally suicidal, and failing out of school, the VA had to come up with a reason to deny Will's claim that his PTSD was worthy of a higher disability rating. To do that, they minimized each of the above "troubles." Then, they brought up his membership in VoteVets.org:
"you are currently involved with VoteVets.org"
"you are currently involved with a veteran's advocacy group and have traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with and lobby members of Congress on behalf of this organization"
The VA then used his membership with VoteVets.org to tell Will:
" you are actively involved and able to control and manage your symptoms sufficiently to engage in activities required by your involvement."
They told him that
the evidence of record does not show your condition meets the requirements for a higher evaluation.
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Given that VoteVets.org has been highly critical of both the Bush administration and the VA in the past, this is troubling, to say the least.
In fact, Will spent a total of only 48 hours in Washington, D.C. with VoteVets.org in March--hardly enough time to determine whether or not he is consistently able to "control and manage" his symptoms. But more importantly, why is Will's association with a veteran's organization even being brought up? This claim on the part of the VA is acutely disingenuous: VoteVets.org has a number of members whose disability ratings for PTSD are higher than Will's--as do other veterans' organizations. So does this mean that no combat veteran with moderate to severe PTSD can participate in a veterans' organization and expect to be compensated by the VA? This makes no sense at all.
Either the VA should have left the references to VoteVets.org completely out of their decision, or they should back up their claim and apply it to all veterans. As it stands now, however, the VA has made a decision that reeks of partisan politics. And, as we all know, partisan politics have no place in how combat veterans are rated for disabilities concerning PTSD--or anything else for that matter.
So the question must be answered now: Did the VA deny Staff Sergeant King's claim for a higher disability rating because of his association with a political group?
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* = For the layperson, I'm defining VA PTSD disability ratings of 0% - 30% as "mild," 30% - 80% as "moderate," and 80% - 100% as "severe." If any physicians or therapists disagree, please let me know and I'll change it. I'm not a doctor. UPDATE: Okay, see this comment for some clarification on this. |
