"I don't know if the public is informed about how our boys are being treated," Vincent Cafici said. "A lot of them need help, and I don't know if they are getting it."

A spokesman for the VA, Phil Budahn, said the department does not routinely comment on pending lawsuits.

He also said "for most veterans, the VA will only care for problems caused by or aggravated during their military service, and that in some circumstances, a less than honorable discharge can limit a veteran's eligibility for medical care and other VA services."

Cafici's parents said their son, who lost 100 pounds in order to join the Marines, and served between December 2003 and March 2006, began struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder while he was stationed in Iraq. Concetta Cafici said her son was particularly distraught after having to pull the bodies of two Marines from a Humvee that was immolated during an attack.

She said her son fell into a depression after receiving a less than honorable discharge when he was discovered to have used an illegal steroid to bulk up as he prepared to again be deployed to Iraq.

She said she persuaded him to get treatment at Northport beginning in September 2006 after his anxieties worsened, and he began secluding himself in his bedroom at his parents' home.

But he continued to struggle with depression and anxiety. In May 2007, he went into heroin-induced cardiac arrest at his parents' home, according to their lawyer, Ray Negron, of Mt. Sinai. Negron said Northport doctors indicated in Cafici's records that they considered the overdose to be a suicide attempt.

Negron said Robert Cafici moved to Pennsylvania to get away from bad influences after the overdose, but continued to attend counseling sessions at Northport.

According to the lawsuit, when Cafici sought treatment for jaundice at Lebanon, Pa., personnel there told him he was ineligible for care because of his discharge status, and that he would have to pay for care.

The lawsuit said Cafici left the hospital thinking he would no longer be able to receive treatment at Northport.

His mother said he called her as he left the hospital, and that she urged him to return to Long Island.

But he stopped at his apartment, where he took a fatal dose of heroin. His bloated body was discovered days later. "I think he was saying, 'I've had enough,'" Concetta Cafici said. "I think he was saying 'I don't have anything to live for.'"