Jim Fausone
Veterans Disability Lawyer
We hear from hundreds of veterans a month about VA disability claims or medical malpractice. We understand the frustration of a veteran going it alone against the federal government. When we have filed medical malpractice actions against the VA it seems like pushing water up hill. What gives you hope in these situations are stories like this one where a federal judge had the courage to find the VA's actions negligent and properly find for a veteran.
On January 16, 2013, Senior U.S. District Judge James M. Munley awarded $3.7 million to an Iraq War veteran from who sued the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs after his war-induced post-traumatic stress disorder worsened because the agency prescribed him the wrong medication and treated him over the telephone. The ruling was in favor of Stanley Laskowski III, 34, and his wife, Marisol, after a civil nonjury trial before the judge at federal court in Scranton. It took 3 years for the case to be heard for this Marine Sergeant. He was required to testify and relive the stressors that gave him PTSD in Iraq.
In Judge Munley's 69-page ruling, he agreed that clinicians with the local VA should never have prescribed Sgt. Laskowski new medications or changed his medications over the telephone to treat his PTSD.
Also when Sgt. Laskowski first sought help in April 2007, he was not treated by a physician for several months and instead dealt mainly with "physician extenders" - medical professionals like nurses and physician's assistants, the judge wrote.
In addition, clinicians did not immediately offer psychotherapy to help him overcome nightmares, paranoia, insomnia and flashbacks spawned by his gruesome wartime experiences, according to court testimony.
The lack of appropriate care worsened his condition, causing him to make the rash choice to break into a pharmacy in Olyphant and steal prescription medications, his attorneys argued. So this case should give veterans and their attorneys hope that there are reasonable federal judges who will find the VA at fault. This Pennsylvania veteran had to fight his demons since his discharge in 2007 without appropriate care. Let’s hope this award allows him to get the care he needs and encourages VA to help all those veterans who need its help.
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