VA LAWSUIT -- RANDEN HARVEY
2008-Nov-25 at 12:19 by Veterans Law Project
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is being blamed for the suicide of a 24-year-old Michigan man who served with the Marines in Iraq. A lawsuit filed 25 NOV accuses government doctors of failing to keep Randen Harvey in a hospital or commit him to a mental-health facility in 2006. Harvey died of a drug overdose at his father’s home in Farmington Hills in JUN 06.
The lawsuit says he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after two tours in Iraq. The lawsuit says Harvey was found on the roof of the VA Medical Center in Ann Arbor, three days before his death. He was discharged and told to wait for substance-abuse treatment. The lawsuit in federal court in Detroit seeks $600,000. A message seeking comment was left with the VA.
The VA made a financial offer before the lawsuit was filed “but it was too low,” lawyer Thomas Campbell said.
[Source: MarineCorpsTimes AP article 25 Nov 08 ++]
