Chuck75

Do the circumstances/awards below entitle me to be considered as a "Combat Veteran" under the VA regs? I have previously met the "VA "Feet on Ground" rule in the initial compensation claim, and received a 10% compensation award. In the fall/winter of 1967, I served as part of the crew on an LST assigned as a support ship. We were a part of the "River Rats" or Mobile Riverene Force, TF117. (Operated in the rivers and Delta of Vietnam) In 1968 I was transferred to another ship, an LSMR. This vessel provided "close in" fire support along the entire coast of Vietnam. As a result, for the time that I was on the crew, the ships were awarded: LST CR 11-DEC-1967 NU 20-AUG-1967 16-JAN-1968 RG 24-AUG-1967 01-SEP-1967 13-NOV-1967 29-NOV-1967 26-DEC-1967 02-JAN-1968 VS 1 June 1967 - 29 January 1968 LSMR NU 01-SEP-1968 VS 04-FEB-1968 21-MAR-1968 30-APR-1968 11-JUN-1968 18-JUL-1968 CR Combat Action Ribbon NU Navy Unit Commendation VS Vietnam Service Medal RG Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation - Gallantry

Currently, the "normal" retirement age set by SS is 67 for most of us. Any earlier retirement penalizes the retiree. I was forced to retire at age 61, due to a combination of SC connected and potentially SC problems. What most tend to ignore is that age is a facto, in that it tends to cause a medical problem to become more severe. The fact that the medical problem is service connected has nothing to do with age. With age a sc connected problem can and often does cause other medical problems as well. Since the SC problem is the "NEXUS" and age an aggrivating factor, logically, the SC problem (direct or indirect) should be compensatable at appropriate rates. Reemember that the VA compensation, even at 100%, is far below similar compensation awards in the court systems. Loss if life Military ~100,000 currently Loss of life 9/11 1.5 Mil Loss of life courts 10Mil?

http://digilander.libero.it/statefarm.agen...e-thailand.html Agent Orange (Herbicides) Used Outside of Vietnam DoD has confirmed that Agent Orange was used from April 1968 up through July 1969 along the Pranburi and other locations in Thailand Prosser, Washington The web site operator may have a means of getting more detailed info.

I believe it's a cost thing up front, perhaps followed by narcotic class of drug. I take a non narcotic drug that the VA started making me refill each month, instead of every three.

Many are not aware that "direct deposit" is also direct removal authorization. (And it's not limited to the amount under contest) Therefore direct deposit should be avoided when possible. "they whipped Rods last VA comp out of our bank account so fast he wasnt even cold yet- I got it back -I think- you know I am not really sure -will have to check that-"

I'd take the repayment letter from the VA and the copy of the section of title 38 to your representative. Next, Send the SSS a formal claim letter concerning the child, and again, if possible, the regulatory law, etc. that allows the claim. Again, you may need to get your representative involved. Harassing a veteran's widow is frowned upon. Besides, the money involved might need to flow through the estate.

With the situation as outlined below. 1. With any available test records in hand -- see a private cardiologist and possibly a cardiovascular surgeon ASAP. Further testing may be needed, such as an MRI. If either doctor prescribes additional tests, you will need to decide if you should go back to the VA for them (I'd suggest that you at least do this) If the VA refuses, then have them done elsewhere. There is a possible case of malpractice, coupled with serious patient injury (multiple heart attacks and resulting damage), if it can be documented an to be a result of neglect by the VA. The rules for this are beyond my knowledge, except to say that they are not the same as they are if you were dealing with the normal private medical care system and courts. Berta and others in the forum know much more about this than I hope to ever need to know.

It sounds like you will need to get independent medical opinions to back up your claim. I'd also look into something along the line of "loss of function/use of a reproductive organ", which is compensatable. I believe that constant or intermittent low level or greater pain can cause migraines. As to your options in the legal side, I cannot comment as to which way to go. My personal preference would be to keep burying them in paper until they do more or less what you can be happy to live with.

To me the big thing to do would be to get IMOs that connect the Depression to Obesity however it is medically reasonable.

I assume that you have a service connected disbility level that requries the VA to provide medical care for non service connected medical problems that result in the need for emergency care. Have you ever sent a letter to the hospital explaining the situation? Did the hospital contact the VA within the required time frame? (72 hours as I remember) In my area, the VA does not provide emergency service. If you think it's appropriate, you may want to contact your political representatives. They may be able to get a more favorable response from the VA. The hospital may contact the credit bureau. If so you should write a letter to the credit bureau contesting the hospital's debt letter, and explaining that the VA should be paying the bill asprovided by law. As far as them calling you two times a day. This might meet the harassment requirements of your local laws. You should talk to someone in say state consumer affairs to see if that is the case. You can (in theory) tell them to quit calling you. You do need to make a log of the dates and times that they called, and if allowed by local laws, record them.

What might you have in your service records that would service connect Parkinson's disease? You can certainly apply for veteran's drug benefits if that might reduce drug costs. I'd think that this will be difficult to service connect.

I believe that the veteran should have the choice. It might be appropriate to place limits, such as mileage to an appropriate VAMC in order to support the existing facilities. If the VAMC cannot/willnot provide the care needed, in the view of the veteran, the veteran should be able to obtain proper care. Health insurance. If the veteran is using other than the VA to obtain needed medical services, it should be that he/she has the prepaid equivilent of federal civil service medical coverage at the least.

I assume that the claim was denied. I also assume that the medical treatment and metformin is by the VA. (I take the same drug, but it was prescribed by my private doctor, not the VA). Since the VA changed the complaint to IBS, The VA reply (I believe) should be NOD'd, and the original claim reinstated. The experts on this forum should be able to tell you more than I can. The problem as I see it is that IBS is compensatable, and drug adverse reaction is not of itself likely compensatable, unless some long term or irreversable harm to the patient occurs. So changing the complaint to IBS was an attempt to move the problem to the nearest compensatable area, and the VA's take on the doctors opinion prevented successful award. Saying the patient does not have the "typical pattern" does not say that he does not have "IBS". http://www.medicinenet.com/metformin/article.htm Metformin SIDE EFFECTS: The most common side effects with metformin are nausea, vomiting, gas, bloating, diarrhea and loss of appetite. These symptoms occur in one out of every three patients. These side effects may be severe enough to cause therapy to be discontinued in one out of every 20 patients. These side effects are related to the dose of the medication and may decrease if the dose is reduced. DRUG INTERACTIONS: Cimetidine (Tagamet), by decreasing the elimination of metformin from the body, can increase the amount of metformin in the blood by 40%. This may increase the frequency of side effects from metformin. There are other drugs than can be used instead of Metformin, or with a reduced dose of Metformin. If the VA is providing medical treatment, why haven't they provided alternate therapy? Not doing so may open up another avenue for a claim.

I'm really suprised that they would even consider you for active duty. That aside, problems you show below are/can be medically related, according to the med references. PTSD or stress is also considered to be a risk factor. I suppose that PTSD might be aggrivated by duties in the casualty and mortuary area. Getting a doctor or two to write an opinion saying so, and getting the VA to make a service connection are different things. I don't know how cataracts can be service connected, unless you can show exposure to microwave energy (Radar,etc.) while in the service. (for instance, I was an electronics tech that worked on shipboard radar, and later aircraft microwave systems as a civilian.) If I developed cataracts and tried to claim SC, the first thing would be that the VA might claim that the problem was caused my my civilian occupation (If they knew about it.) That would open up a whole new bag, since the military is extremely poor/lax when it comes to rf safety practices in shops. For one thing safety RF monitors get sent in for required calibration, and instead of returning, get sent to the highest priority user. If you were in vietnam, some recently released ranch hand data may help in making a service connection to heart problems. Seems that the results show a higher rate of heart problems and diabetes in agent orange exposed veterans than the control group. "While on active duty I had a heart attack and stent replacement", "Hypertension", "ED"

I'm afraid that you will need to find an expert to answer this one!. I don't think the government or the IRS has "reasonable" in its dictionary. And I don't want to think about state income tax either.

Having had several root canals over the years, I can say-- When the "bad tooth" is opened by drilling to the nerve, immediate relief of pain is normal. The area is inside the tooth is then cleaned out with bleach. If the drill went beyond the tooth nerve into the surrounding flesh, the bleach will burn some. If the gum below the tooth was opened (an alternate method) you will likely experience quite noticable pain for several days, and may have drainage as well. It's quite possible that the infection had already spread to the adjacent tooth befor the root canal was done. Usually, antibiotics will stop the infection, but it may take two to three times the period normally used for infection treatment with an antibiotic. Figure about 10-14 days using amoxicillin to be safe. Five days is the norm for the usual infection. I'm suprized that you were not given a script for codine if needed. The older method used to do a root canal was better than the current methods in my opinion. The tooth was treated with a palative stick in the tooth canal, and a temporary seal was used for a few days. The tooth was reopened, the canal cleaned out if needed, the pallative stick was either left in place or replaced, and a permenent filling was used. Now they use a rubber plug under the filling. These days, the general dentists want to send a patient to a specialist, and get at least payment for two visits (one before, one after plus whatever you pay the specialist. The total cost is about $500-600 per tooth. On the average, dental insurance pays about half. My old

You should consider writing a letter to the VA asking what specific information they need (Duty to assist). This sounds like they are just trying to delay until they can get their captive doctors to write unfavorable MOs to counter your favorable ones. "We have deferred a decision on the following issues because we need additional information or evidence:"

I ran across something that scares the "H" outta me. A recent request for a copy of my records to St. Louis got a reply that they had transferred the records to the VARO. And, indeed they did. Instead of taking a couple of weeks to get a copy, the VARO sends a copy when they sort of feel like it, or you start asking pointed questions and reference the FOIA in your written request.

Knock on wood--This hasn't been a problem for me. I originally went to the VA specifically for the "drug program" enacted by congress with prescriptions in hand. I do tend to provide the "script" and a copy of any relevent diagnosis or medical tests. If they refuse to issue, I'd ask for a signed written justification why they are not complying with the terms of the Drug Benefit program. :P

When the government is involved persistance is your best weapon. Once it is obvious that you will not go away, there is a strong desire to resolve the issue (one way or another)

I requested my records (Vietnam service, Navy) originally from the NRC St Louis. They actually had them! The original request was for specific items in the records, such as the DD214,etc. and had nothing to do with the VA. A second request was submitted over a year later, after the VA had awarded 10% compensation for diabetes. This time the NRC sent back a letter saying that the VA had the records. (VARO Decatur GA.) I copied the NRC letter, and wrote a FOIA letter, and included the appropriate VA form. It took the VA about one month to respond with the copy of my service records and "C" file. Are the service medical records complete? Yes and no. Military hospital records seem to be there, but records of treatment when I was serving on two ships are missing. We have partial deck logs for one ship. The more important ship (in my case) has no references in the medial records, and I don't have deck logs for it either. These (I don't have) logs should show that "combat" conditions existed (under fire, etc.) and other occurances that are important in the VA's determinations. The problem is that the events occurred over a several month period in 1967, and you must request specific dates, or pay for research.

I looked at the statement as a whole. Translated, if the remaining function of an arm & hand or a leg and foot is the same (or less) than it would be if an amputation existed, and a prosthesis is used --- special monthly compensation is appropriate. The question arises what does this mean, since there can be a great difference in functionality from one prosthesis to another. They are not created equal these days. "The part that I have a hard time understanding is the last part about the determination. Does it mean that if you can walk with a prosthesis then it is not considered loss of use?"

Bsed upon the "Secretary's remarks" in the HASS case, and the subsequent stay requested and approved, the Secretary's main concern is not the Veteran! But rather, how to avoid paying compensation to veterans and sort of stay within the laws and VA regulations, many of which obviously restrict what congress intended with the basic laws. "Giveth with the right hand, take away with the left" Besides, monies paid in veteran's compensation are not monies available for bureaucratic expenditures.

Like it or not the Marine Corps is considered part of the Navy. So, I guess it could be said that--- <G>

Yes, I received such a letter. However, to me it meant that I could submit additional info, (if I had any), or not, as I chose. The 60 day limit was mentioned, however, by doing so, you will stretch out the decision based upon what you submitted. Knowing that it would take months to collect data needed to backup additional claims, and the year limit still applies, although the letter did not mention it, I ignored the form. As a result, the award letter was sent to me about four months after the original claim was submitted. (Atlanta (Decatur) GA RO. ) At the moment, they are not doing so well. I recently sent them a certified letter (first week in October) requesting a copy of records that they "have on loan" from the national records center. I have received the "green card" showing that they received the letter. There is no notation in my file that they ever received the letter. I have been told that it would be a good idea to send them another copy of the letter.