CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Paul Muschick: Soldiers' claims of sexual assault not adequately investigated

Morning Call - 8/29/2018

Aug. 29--Allegations of sexual assault are being taken a lot more seriously these days in many walks of life. Some victims still are struggling to be heard, though, including military service members.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs mishandled an estimated 1,300 claims for disability benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from sexual assaults during military service. That's according to the agency's inspector general.

Errors included failing to request medical exams or records; not checking whether a report about the alleged assault had been filed; and not clarifying contradictory or insufficient medical opinions, according to the audit.

If those steps had been taken, some veterans may have qualified for compensation.

These claims are more common than you might think. In each of the last three years, the Veterans Benefits Administration has processed about 12,000 applications for disability benefits for PTSD related to sexual trauma. In fiscal year 2017, about 5,500 of those claims were denied.

Investigating claims of sexual assaults that happened some time ago can be difficult. Claims raised by service members can be especially hard to get to the bottom of because of the military's unique culture, the inspector general said.

Victims may be reluctant to report an assault if the perpetrator is a superior officer. They may fear being punished or receiving poor performance reviews. Victims may also lack faith that the system will take them seriously.

If the victim later seeks benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder, the lack of a report can undermine a claim.

The Veterans Benefits Administration is supposed to take a "liberal approach" and do all it can to substantiate claims, including reviewing a veteran's records to look for changes in health or behavior, known as "markers," that could indicate they had suffered a trauma.

That didn't always happen.

Here are a few examples of denied claims the inspector general said were mishandled.

* The VA concluded there was insufficient evidence to support a claim that a sexual assault resulted in pregnancy. Yet military medical records showed the veteran was pregnant and gave birth consistent with the timeline of the reported assault. The VA requested a medical exam and it supported the claim. But the claim was denied because the exam finding's "vague language" made that opinion unclear to the claims processor. Clarification should have been sought.

* The VA concluded there were no "markers" in a veteran's file to support a claim, so a medical examination was unnecessary. The veteran's job performance declined after the alleged sexual assault, though, which is a behavioral marker. The veteran also had reported the in-service assault to VA medical center personnel and she was treated by a private medical provider. A medical exam should have been requested.

The inspector general pointed to a change in how some claims were processed as a possible reason for the mistakes.

The VA used to require that specialists handle sensitive cases such as those alleging sexual assault. But it did away with that requirement in 2016, resulting in some claims being handled by inexperienced officials. The inspector general recommended that specialists be used in the future, and the VA agreed to do so by November.

The VA also agreed to review all military sexual assault benefits claims that were denied between October 2016 and June. That may fix past mistakes, but the focus must be on improving the system to prevent future errors. Mishandling such important claims can heap even more harm on someone who is struggling to deal with an unspeakable event.

paul.muschick@mcall.com

610-820-6582

Paul Muschick's columns are published Monday through Friday at themorningcall.com and Sunday, Wednesday and Friday in The Morning Call. Follow me on Facebook at PaulMuschickColumns, Twitter @mcwatchdog and themorningcall.com/muschick.

___

(c)2018 The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.)

Visit The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) at www.mcall.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.