Natural News
Monday, July 16, 2012 by: J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) There is despicable, there is diabolical, and there are both. This appears to be a story about the latter.
Families of four veterans diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder following their tours of duty in combat zones who committed suicide after returning home are charging Prudential Insurance and the Department of Veterans Affairs with refusing to pay life insurance benefits they are due.
Mathew Ecker, the lead plaintiff in the case, which was filed recently in U.S. district court in Newark, N.J., said that his son, Michael - who served in Iraq in 2005-06 - received "at least 11 medals, ribbons and badges for his service."
The complaint goes onto say that following his son's return, "his parents observed a dramatic change in his personality. He was in constant physical pain, suffered memory losses, and was anxious all the time. Michael never left the war behind and after medical treatment efforts failed him, on August 28, 2009, he walked to the garden, saluted his father in military fashion, placed a gun to his head and pulled the trigger."
The complaint says the elder Ecker was the sole beneficiary of his son's SGLI (Servicemembers Group Life Insurance) policy, which amounted to $400,000.
"Mathew has testified under oath that, while alive, Michael never received from Prudential any notice that he could convert his SGLI policy to a VGLI [Veterans Group Life Insurance] policy," the complaint says.
Prudential didn't let beneficiaries know to change coverage?
