Veteran Lawsuit Against Rumsfeld

Residents of a historic retirement home for war veterans filed a class-action lawsuit Tuesday against Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, asserting that the Pentagon chief has imposed excessive and illegal cutbacks in on-site medical and dental services.

The suit was filed in federal court on behalf of the nearly 1,000 residents at the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington, one of two such institutions managed by the Defense Department.

Veterans can live there if their active duty service in the military was at least 50 percent enlisted or warrant officer. They must have served on active duty for at least 20 years and be at least 60 years old. Also eligible are veterans unable to earn a living due to a service-related disability or whose disability is not service related but who served in a war zone. All female veterans who served before 1948 are eligible.

Among the cutbacks cited by Rutherford and other residents are the closing in 2003 of the home's main clinic and an on-site pharmacy, elimination of on-site X-ray and electrocardiogram services and reductions in annual physicals as well as the number of on-site dentists.

Taken from CNN