Time Running Out for PTSD Sufferers to Claim Benefits

Markham Evans with Virginia News Channel 8,

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military has agreed to pay millions of dollars to veterans who were discharged from the service for post-traumatic stress disorder with lower disability ratings than they are entitled to. But time is running out for those who are eligible.

The law says that veterans whose PTSD was serious enough to result in discharge from the military are entitled to 50-percent disability, which would give them and their families lifetime medical care, and, if the PTSD is combat-related, tax-free retirement payments, as well. But for some reason, Iraq (web | news) war veteran Ryan Peck and more than 4,000 others did not receive the 50-percent rating.