Although the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs insists it has done a lot to improve healthcare for veterans, the agency has received many complaints for denying benefits to sick veterans and delayed their claims for so long, that many of them are driven to commit suicide.

"The court faces an agency that is in denial and a healthcare system and an adjudication system that are broken down and in crisis," said Gordon P. Erspamer, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Veterans for Common Sense, based in Washington, D.C., and Veterans United for Truth, based in Santa Barbara, is not trying to obtain any damages, but wants the court to force the department to improve conditions for veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

On the other side, Justice Department lawyer Richard Lepley said the plaintiffs’ demands are beyond the judge’s authority. Veterans want changes in the VA department’s healthcare system, seeking better and faster mental health care, as well as more rights for veterans who are denied certain benefits. But Lepley claimed the court did not have the right to decide the manner in which the agency provided its services.

Lepley, the government’s lawyer, said the VA has increased its staff with 20 percent in the mental health department, and 25 percent in claims processing. The agency also has a suicide-prevention hotline and claims that it has received more than 37,000 calls since last August and made more than 700 rescues.

Still, about 18 war veterans kill themselves each day, out of which five are under Department of VA care.

Some of the veterans involved in the lawsuit said they had suffered from PTSD fro several years and have not received proper attention.

"I was having all these various flashbacks and nightmares," said Barbara Bachmeier, 54, according to Reuters. "But the VA does not want to pay disability payments unless they really have to."      

Bachmeier said she was sexually harassed and raped in South Korea in 1980s, while working in military intelligence for the U.S. army.

Plaintiffs are hopeful to see changes in the agency’s administration and want the court to appoint an administrator that would make sure the changes take place.