The recent testimony of a Stanford University psychiatrist brings to life the specifics behind a war veteran's claims of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, in a medical malpractice lawsuit against the VA for it's failure to recognize and treat his disorder, as reported by Pennsylvania Live and the Associated Press.
The lawsuit was filed in 2010 by S.L. and his wife M.L. and seeks over $5 million. The trial began on September 10. The presiding judge is Senior U.S. District Judge James M. Munley.
The VA's Plains Township medical center is named for prescribing ineffective medications, in 2007, for the treatment of S.L.'s PTSD.
Daniel T. Brier, the couple's attorney, said, "This is not a complicated medical case. The VA knows PTSD (is) the way McDonald's knows hamburgers."
Attorney G. Michael Thiel is representing the VA.
Originating in 2003, when S.L., now 34, returned from a tour in Iraq, he told VA doctors that he had recurring nightmares, difficulty sleeping, flashbacks and issues with anger and paranoia.
S.L., a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps, stepped out of the courtroom during the time when Brier asked Dr. H.D., a Stanford University psychiatrist, to describe the scenes that S.L. encountered while in Iraq.
Dr. H.D. said that S.L.'s psychological issues began following a raid of an Iraqi apartment building.
Dr. H.D. explained that S.L. heard mumbling behind an apartment door and shot at the lock to gain access. Once inside he immediately saw a child, dying from a gunshot wound, and assumed he had killed him.
In another incident he was faced with the remains of a 6-month-old infant in a home that had been bombed.
Brier claimed that for four months S.L. was refused treatment by a trained physician, or a psychiatrist, in regards to his PTSD. He further claimed that the Plains Township VA examined his client in 2007 and learned that he required an evaluation for PTSD.
However, argued Brier, instead of medical treatment S.L. was prescribed drugs over the phone. When his client complained that his condition wasn't getting better, they altered his prescription, again without being seen by a doctor.
Brier stated that it was all "telephone medicine."
According to Brier, one medical referral, for psychotherapy, never resulted in treatment.
In 2007 S.L. was arrested, and jailed, for stealing prescription pills from a Olyphant pharmacy. Brier called the incident a "flashpoint" of S.L.'s psychosis.
Thiel argued that S.L. had a substance abuse problem prior to entering the military it continued though his PTSD treatment. The different medications S.L. took, contended Thiel, came from what S.L. stole from the pharmacy.
Thiel said that S.L. did not fully disclose his PTSD symptoms to VA clinicians. He further argued that the medications prescribed for S.L. were under VA's guidelines and allowed him to sleep better, as well as stopping the nightmares and flashbacks.
If you haven't been incorrectly treated by a doctor or a medical facility, contact a medical malpractice attorney for help today!