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At War Again

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Guest Berta

Question

The DRO just sent me a 32 page SOC- to deny my claims!

HE only mentioned two of them -there were 6-

There are NO REASONS or BASES at all-

just pages of all the regs and persumptives!

Check this- they said under Evidence I had wriitten them letters-

I had sent them letters referring to specific medical evidence-right-

I sent them plenty of medical evidence from the med recs.

this is how I won my Sec 1151 and my lawsuit! Letters explaining the evidence I had enclosed with the letters-

AND CHECK this out- NOT ANY acknowlegement of Dr. BAsh's IMO or Dr. Rabiees IMO!!!!! whatsoever as evidence- there is no Reason or Basis so it isnt there either-

I was told by VARO they got this IMO in Nov 2004.

Then I emailed me vet rep to make sure they didnt lose it yet-a few months ago- and he did chech the c file as far as I know as it all left the DRO and went back in a day or two later-

If my vet rep didnt put it in back in the C file- I will see Monday if I can sue him-

Can you believe it- I am livid because I had an awful feeling something would go wrong- it did for many years in the past-they refused to even look at evidence and then if it was real good, they would lose it (but it all appeared in my c file)

I emailed the State of NY DVA and asked them point blank where is my IMO-

how could my vet rep in Buffalo VARO allow this to happen,with the email I had sent him-and even the local vet rep knew I had a good IMO.

Oh well- I sued the DAV but went into the wrong court-

If I need to sue NYSDVA or this SO by Monday I will know what is the right court -

That $2,000 IMO must be somewhere-

I have the VAROs email addy and guess the director is going to get a piece of my mind too!

I swear that billboard across from the VARO with my name on it has to come down

It is actually almost hilarious to see a decision based on NO facts at all-

Nothing- they gave NO reasons and No Bases for the denial!!!

This is absolutely ridiculous.

BUT the good part is- I am sending a copy of the whole damn thing to the Commission as well as the IMO they lost - now the commission can see what crap we claimants have to put up with-

I knew they could have argued that I am not a doctor -like they did before - on this- that is why I got the IMO-

but I sued them and won Sec 1151 without a doctor-and also the lawsuit.

yet this is, as I recall, the sameo sameo crapola they put me and the veteran through for many years.

I am really not worried about succeeding on my claims-but the VA PTSD sure came back-

I think not only the DRO messed up but

that SO messed up too-he has a boss- it is Gov. Pataki.

I will get this straightened out . Good thing I go to a war college-

these people need some civilian command presense to start kicking their asses.

Berta

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I would never give up-

I knew something was wrong when I saw how big the packet was.

You know- if they had given the claim to some VA quack-to try to knock these opinions down I would have loved it!

But the last thing in the world I expected was no consideration of these IMOS at all.

NYSDVA has to answer some questions for me too-

If I dont like what they (NYSDVA) say Monday, my complaint is all ready to be typed and I have copied the evidence for it.

And my FOIA is done too-

I feel like I am in a parallel war.

Actually it is kind of fun-just that I have limited time to deal with this stuff so I have to attack every flank all at once.

I have no intention whatsoever of dropping my POA.

Something did go wrong there though-

They can fix it and I wont let them off easy by rescinding-

My vet rep sent me an expanded version of their mission statement a year ago and I have it here and cannot see how I got any representation yet at all. That is what the FOIA to the state of NY is for- documentation of what they did and when they did it.

Geeez- I must sound like the Watergate Committee!

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I would never give up-

I knew something was wrong when I saw how big the packet was.

You know- if they had given the claim to some VA quack-to try to knock these opinions down I would have loved it!

But the last thing in the world I expected was no consideration of these IMOS at all.

NYSDVA has to answer some questions for me too-

If I dont like what they (NYSDVA) say Monday, my complaint is all ready to be typed and I have copied the evidence for it.

And my FOIA is done too-

I feel like I am in a parallel war.

Actually it is kind of fun-just that I have limited time to deal with this stuff so  I have to attack every flank all at once.

I have no intention whatsoever of dropping my POA.

Something did go wrong there though-

They can fix it and I wont let them off easy by rescinding-

My vet rep sent me an expanded version of their mission statement a year ago and I have it here and cannot see how I got any representation yet at all. That is what the FOIA to the state of NY is for- documentation of what they did and when they did it.

Geeez- I must sound like the Watergate Committee!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My husband currently has a SO as his POA, but you would never know it. I don't want to mention any names here as I did that once before and got slammed big time by someone from this board. The person contacted our SO and I even got a phone call personally from the SO.

But, that is not to say there are not good SO's out there. We have just never been lucky enough to find one who wants to listen or do any thing to help. In fact, the current SO we have was in attendance at my husbands BVA hearing. Instead of him speaking only about my husbands claim, he started talking about his problems. Needless to say, my husband went off and let him have it. I think the law judge jumped a little at that point. I basically handled the entire BVA hearing myself because our SO was incapable of helping. He is an older fellow, very nice, but getting too old to handle veterans claims. I'm just glad I'm in a position to handle his claims for him.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Bev.

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I would never give up-

I knew something was wrong when I saw how big the packet was.

You know- if they had given the claim to some VA quack-to try to knock these opinions down I would have loved it!

But the last thing in the world I expected was no consideration of these IMOS at all.

NYSDVA has to answer some questions for me too-

If I dont like what they (NYSDVA) say Monday, my complaint is all ready to be typed and I have copied the evidence for it.

And my FOIA is done too-

I feel like I am in a parallel war.

Actually it is kind of fun-just that I have limited time to deal with this stuff so  I have to attack every flank all at once.

I have no intention whatsoever of dropping my POA.

Something did go wrong there though-

They can fix it and I wont let them off easy by rescinding-

My vet rep sent me an expanded version of their mission statement a year ago and I have it here and cannot see how I got any representation yet at all. That is what the FOIA to the state of NY is for- documentation of what they did and when they did it.

Geeez- I must sound like the Watergate Committee!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Berta,

This one is long, but it should be worth reading.

In the early days of my claim my SO who was a rating specialist for the VA for 20 years told me that the RO would not rate my claim and would go to the BVA. This was before they invented the DRO. He also told me that I would win in the long run even if it had to go to COVA. There was a perception by the RO's they they did not have to settle complex claims and they just waited until they thought you were done with it. On one of my pre-DRO claims the BVA actually demanded the file from the RO. The RO was just sitting on it.

Then there was some pressure from the BVA on the RO's to develop and make decisions on all claims before they went to the BVA. I do not know how effective this was. So there is always a good chance the BVA will do a better job.

On my second denial the RO became totally indifferent to my claim. During the time of the claim they invented the DRO. I guess they just wanted a DRO to settle it. I had asked the RO to schedule a C&P exam. My first denial was denied without a C&P exam. I did not hear anything and a lot of time went by. I took it upon myself to get a current medical opinion. I got lucky, the head of immunology and allergy at my locaql VA hospital wrote a slam dunk report. Would you believe they denied it again. They said that my doctor had not read a report indicating that my condition developed as the result of post service employment. No such report existed. They had confused a report for another condition with the condition that I requested service connection for.

The reason I say they became totally indifferent is that the fact that my doctor did not read a report about a condition that was relevent or a mistake is not a reason for denial. I argued that in civil court they would not be able to disregard a report unless they had evidence to the fact that the lack of knowledge of the report actually caused the doctor to make an incorrect assessment. If there is no evidence that the failure of the doctor to have read the report caused an inaccurate assesment then disregarding the report is not prudent. Also primarily the only person who could evalute the impact that the failue of my doctor to read a report would be another doctor. The end result of the VA's actions was equated to an adjudicator rebutting a medical opinion. Adjudicators can not rebute a doctor. My argument is that they can not disregard a doctors report for any reason unless they have a medical opinion supporting their action.

The correct proceedure would have been for the RO to send the report to the doctor and see if it changed his mind. They did not do this because they did not want to develop the claim. Thus my SO was right the RO did not and would not award the claim. The DRO did get it right.

Also, by the time my claim went the entire 8+ years there were fifteen doctors reports specifically submitted as evidence. Additionally they had my entire medical records. The file took up three folders and was over a foot high when sitting on the DRO' desk. 4 SOC's were produced. At time I got my second SOC, there was a comment in the SOC that they had requested records from a local VA hospital and the hospital did not respond. I got so pissed I went to the hospital and started yelling a a records clerk. These were the records that had been lost for five years. I finally find them an the hospital does not respond. The records clerk told me to hold on a calm down. She went to her computer and printed out a copy of the request from the RO and the name of the person from the RO who signed for them. Thus, the RO did get them and lost them or threw them in the trash. I asked the records clerk how this couild happen. She said to ask the RO because I am not the first person that has come into her office about records she sent to th RO.

At my DRO hearing for secondary conditions the DRO made it a point of showing me how high the file was. My SO asked him a question about a report and the DRO refused to even try a find the report because it was not on the top of the file. It was not important at the time and I do not make a fuss. The DRO had already told me he would not give weight to the report and he was scheduling an appointment with a doctor of his choice to clarify his questions. Fortunately, the report on the secondary conmditions from the DRO's doctor were more favorable for me than any previous report.

I never considered my claim that complex. I did involve evidence of inservice treatment, continuity of post service treatment and ongoing symptoms that were sufficiently chronic to be considered disabeling. All of these issues were addressed in doctors reports and by the timing and abundance of post service treatment records. Most of which were for life saving intervention and treatment in VA emergency rooms. The reson why the were so resistant in my opinion and hinted at by my SO is that they were not accoustomed to claims involving real diseases caused by exposure to organic chemicals. Most of these types of claims are for vague symptoms of pain and discomfort. In my case my entire face mouth, tounge and throat would swell up to point that I was not recognizable. I had difficulty breathing and talking. If untreated by emergency medical intervention the disease often becomes fatal.

All this rambling and my point being "hang in there", there is some reason they a being beligerent. The beligerence can and does end.

Hoppy

100% for Angioedema with secondary conditions.

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Yep -and I believe they pick certain claimants to try to work over.

The DAV NSO who consistently told me I would never succeed on my two claims with them and the FTCA Tort against VA- well he did send support letters to the VARO on the claims but then he would call me and tell me I would never succeed and his letters were only what his job required.

If was WONDERFUL at our deposition to whip out my 2 award letters on those claims and also my financial settlement with the US 0f A for the VA causing Rod's death.

The DAV's attorney turned green and the SO excused himself quickly and some other lawyer told me he ran into the men's room and threw up. He came back into that deposition and had aged 20 years.

The VA query emailed me that my complaint was sent to VACO and I could add more to it and they gave me the link-

so I sang like a bird-

told them the DRO's job description which I have here calls for a review that does not depend or rely on the prior decision.

This SOC had the prior decision typed verbatim as the so=called de novo review. Nothing new in it at all. I also mentioned 3 specific ways she (the DRO) had violated not only 38 USC 5107 (a) but also had prevented my basic right to respond to the SOC. told them how she did that- wont go into the whole thing here though-legalize- VACO holds the VA lawyers-

My kid said Mom how new is she- (DRO for about a month) and then my kid said mom -maybe she was the adjudicator who had made the March 2004 decision and then she was supposed to give me a de novo review as a DRO. So she couldnt reverse herself and copied what she already wrote before.

That is interesting- a conflict of interest perhaps to add to the firelines.

My kid is smart =the VARO already tried to screw her too.

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