Question:
For a time while I have been fighting (and losing) for disability benefits, XX was Director at VAMC in Spokane, WA. When I asked the "medical professional" dealing with disability claims for help getting doctors' exams pertinent to my claim, she asked me if I wanted to get her fired. Some of this person's findings were that tinnitus is not associated with loud noises, parasites are not associated with malaria, headaches are not associated with trigeminal neuralgia. My question is can the government be sued over something like this ? I'm sure I'm not the only Vet that experienced similar problems and not only through VAMC Spokane.
Jim's Reply:
I usually reply that anyone can sue anyone else, even the feds, if they can pay the expenses of doing so. I don't advise that you'll prevail but you can try even though it can be expensive. It's almost impossible to prevail with vague claims about how we were mistreated during the benefit claims process but, yes...if you can afford a lawyer to try and sue someone for you, I'd have to say you can go ahead. When veterans have claims that are denied, we can retain a lawyer to appeal them for us for no money out of our pocket. If we don't appeal properly, there isn't much else to be done.