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Legal & Legislative Updates Archives

New Bill to Make Emergency Mental Health Care Free to All Veterans

In January, members of the House of Representatives introduced a bill that would give veterans access to free emergency mental health services. The bill is titled Veterans’ Acute Crisis Care for Emergent Suicide Symptoms Act (ACCESS Act) and would increase access to resources for former servicemembers and others who are typically not eligible for veterans’ […]

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Veterans Sue Navy for Improper Discharge After 9/11

A federal class-action lawsuit is being brought against the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps despite attempts by the defendant to dismiss claims of improper conduct. The original claim was filed in 2018 by a Naval veteran who was not discharged under honorable conditions following his 2003 deployment in Iraq. The plaintiff, Tyson Manker, was demoted […]

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Military-Veterans Advocacy Files Lawsuit Against Department of Veterans Affairs

A lawsuit was recently filed against the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in order to stop it from sharing veterans’ health records with third parties. A group of former servicemembers filed the lawsuit, stating that sharing health records is a violation of their constitutional rights. VA has agreed to not release records until January of […]

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VA Investigates a West Virginia Physician for Allegations of Sexual Assault

More than a dozen patients at a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical center in West Virginia have reported instances of sexual assault, and many of the allegations name a single physician as the assailant. In early September, a news station spoke with an anonymous patient who claimed that he was one of more than […]

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New Bill to Address Veteran Suicide Rates

The Veteran Overmedication and Suicide Prevention Act was passed in early 2019 to prioritize gathering information in order to improve people’s understanding of veteran deaths by suicide. The act also calls for a determination on the impact of opioid prescription’s use and abuse on veteran suicide. This bill was first proposed by the late Senator […]

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