The subject of military veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the amount of care available to them has contributed to plans for a lawsuit by a national group.

The California-based, nonprofit law firm Disability Rights Advocates announced Thursday that they will be filing a class-action lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs.

In a press release the group accused the VA of providing inadequate services for veterans seeking help with PTSD.

Terry Schow, director of the Utah Department of Veterans Affairs, defended the VA's mental health care assistance for veterans in his home state.

"In my view, the VA is trying everything they can to help these folks," said Schow, who had not heard of the lawsuit until Thursday.

Schow said one problem in Utah is a lack of available help on nights and weekends, an issue he hopes state lawmakers will address with extra funding in the next session.

Schow said he couldn't speak about other states. But on a national level, the VA's critics have reached a boiling point.

"The VA has been unconscionably mistreating wounded veterans returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan who are in desperate need of ongoing support, including medical and mental health care," Disability Rights Advocates officials said in a statement. They singled out returning veterans with mental disabilities, such as PTSD.

One representative of the group said on the phone Thursday they will not comment until a news conference Monday morning, when they will reveal more details about the lawsuit and the veterans organizations involved as plaintiffs.

News of the lawsuit comes on the heels of an announcement this week by the VA that it plans to pump about $37 million of its $3 billion mental health budget into providing more help to address PTSD and traumatic brain injury for vets coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan.

In a statement on the VA's Web site, VA Secretary Jim Nicholson said the "wounds of war" are not always the result of direct combat and, if kept unseen or left untreated, can be lethal.

"Given the reluctance of some veterans to talk about emotional problems, increasing our mental health presence in primary care settings will give veterans a familiar venue in which to receive care, without actually going to an identified mental health clinic," Nicholson said.

It's estimated that about one third of soldiers and Marines returning from duty in Iraq will show some signs of PTSD, while about half of National Guard Iraq volunteers are experiencing some form of PTSD. Multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan increase the likelihood that a military member will deal with PTSD.