john999

I told the docs I did not want to take the damned morphine and because of that I am being taken off all my pain killers. The VA has a way of getting back at you if you don't go along with their dumb ideas. The scripts they give you just throw them in the toilet if they don't work. If you complain too much then the trouble starts. I thought for just a little while they worked like regulare medical providers where if one things does not work they try another....wrong. They retaliate. They are only good for beefing up a compensation claim in my opinion.

It is at least a violation of HIPPA. Go forward with your lawyer and see what he thinks the best course is to take. Maybe you can be compensated for this violation of medical ethics.

Ruby who do you see for pain management. I have seen two doctors in Tampa Dr. Flynn and Dr Raskin. Both are sort of stingy on pain meds. I am fed up with the VA. This nurse at the pain clinic just tells me to sit up straight and rub some cream on my back. I would like to rub some cream on her head. I think it is just an excuse to force us patients into their in-patient or out-patient program where we have to practically live at the VA. I am not driving out there twice a week. I don't even get gas money. I don't like being pushed out of a program designed for people like me, but I don't like dealing with people who think they are God. This is to make room for more Iraq and Afghanistan vets. I see the "Welcome home OIF and OEF vets" signs at my VAMC. No welcome for old Vietnam vets or vets from other wars. Now I will see the podiatrist at the VA today. I have been unimpressed with these student doctors. I will see my primary care doctor, but if that starts to go wrong I won't go back there either. The only one I will continue to see is my shrink. If he retires and they give me a knew doctor who starts to tell me how much better I am I will say goodbye to him also. I really believe we are being driven out of the system by this neglect and the attitude of these doctors and staff. The care I receive is third rate at the VA, I pay for good insurance and I don't need this except to document disabilities and I don't believe I need this as I am TDIU P&T, and they will have to prove I can work which they can't. I guess the only people left at the VA will be the charity cases and those who live a mile away and can live there.

VA is setting up a euthanasa parlor at my VAMC. Any vet over the age of 55 is welcome to come on in and set a while until the gas takes affect. You won't feel a thing. They told me it would just be a white light and harps and angel dust. Then they use you for compost. You can serve your country one last time.

purple That contract you signed is just to protect the asses of your doctors so if you were to off yourself they could claim you were not a serious suicide risk. It gets them off the hook in case. They wanted me to sign such a document one time and I refused. I had a nice stay in the rubber room for a day or two. No problem. The mental ward at the Tampa VAMC used to be quite nice but now is just a crummy hole.

Larry You should tell you psychiatrist all about this. You may get an extra 100%. Shotgun blast at 3am makes a lot of noise as well. As a kid I used to go out in the backyard at night and shoot off rounds from my father's old Walther 32 caliber pistol. I lived in the city and lights would start going on all over the place. The old neighborhood was full of WWII vets. They probably all had PTSD and I am lucky I did not get shot. Guns and cheap wine do mix.

Your C-File is your compensation file. Your VARO has it. You can get a copy by writing a request for it under the privacy act. You need it. Someone else's records may be in your file and the nitwits might use that information to deny you. They hardly ever actually look in your C-File unless they are searching for a reason to deny you. I know they looked in mine to find bogus reasons to deny my CUE.

When I am driving I never carry pills in my pocket. If you have pills in your pocket the cops assume you have pills in your body. If I have to travel and need to take my pills with me I get my wife to drive. These Good Old Boys with the badges (We don't need no stinkin' badges) just love to bust the veteran who might have a brake light out on a DUI charge.

I believe that the VA would be just as happy if many vets who are currently alive were dead, but to kill off vets just to deny a claim???? What next?

Larry So did Audie Murphy. McCaine probably does as well. That is what happened to his first wife.

I had a GAF of 50 and I got 70%. It is not just the GAF that gets you a higher rating. You want the VA to know all your symptoms in detail. If you sleep with a pistol under your pillow tell them.

I went to pain management appointment today at the VAMC here in Tampa. The upshot is that they decided they are stopping my narcotic medications. The head nurse(not a doctor) just decided that narcotics were inappropriate for my conditions and what I really need is intestinal fortitude and PT. She was a complete blockhead and it was no use pointing out to her over and over that I had been on narcotic meds for years and that giving me 4 weeks to get off them without consulting my primary care doctor or anyone else is fascistic. I told the blockhead that just yesterday I could hardly walk due to the pain in my feet....no response. I already called a private pain management doctor and set up an appointment, but I am burning up with anger at being treated like scum on the VA's shoe. Where else do pain doctors just cut you off your medications without discussion or taking your opinion into account? The VA is trying to push all the pain patients into some kind of pain mangage program either in-patient(hell no) or out-patient. I don't want to participate in anything like that with those clowns. What can I do to just get my pain meds as I did before. I complained about being given only a choice of morphine or methadone, so they cut me off everything. I am pissed, but making plans. I may just stop using the VA system all together. I am sick of being treated like a charity case by these jerks. I have good insurance and I don't need them at all except to document my disabilities. I am P&T so do I even need that?

Ron Was it a claim you had originally filed in 1969 that was never adjudicated? Was it a claim that was just left open for all these years? I don't see how you did it otherwise since it was not a CUE. Whatever it was it is going to be a lot of cash. Did you have a lawyer? The devil is in the details and it is going to be the way they award the progression of the disability that will be key. If they say that you were 10% up until you went on SSD that is absurd. I would not put it past the VA to do this. I was 10% for 20 years because of the incredibly poor quality of the representation I got and the C&P exams that just were piggybacked one on another over the years. I did not know what the idea of a real IMO or IME was because since I worked I thouhgt I was OK. Don't stop fighting until you get what they owe you and I think they owe you a lot. Imagine if the &^%$$^^ had to pay interest. Maybe you should post the facts of your claim again for us to absorb. I don't remember all of it.

The VA should have a song and motto. It would be Pink Floyds's "Money". "We at the VA place the treasuray of the USA above the wounds of veterans and we are proud of it". Every vet who is denied compensation is a victory for the top 1% of the well healed population whose only worry is where they will go for the winter either the South of France or Spain.

Just don't hesitate to appeal the rating percentages since 1969. Especially, the last 5 years of being on SSD. This is a case where legal help might be in order if the VA screws around and tries to low ball your ratings. The initial ratings are yours but if you NOD it asking for a higher rating over the years it would be worth it to have a pro. Do you have consistent history of medical treatment for your SC conditions over the years? This way you can demonstarte the level of disability and how it has gotten worse over the years. Was this a CUE?

When I was trying to get TDIU the VA first said they could not make a decision because they did not have my DD214. I had been a disabled vet for 30 years. Then they said they needed employment verification. I supplied them with that and with SSD award letter. Then they tried to say part of the reason I was unemployable was due to NSC reasons. Another IMO to disprove that assertion. Three IMO's in all. The C&P doctor actually said he could not determine unemployability because I was unemployed. I know they make a game of PTSD stressor verification.

If you last claim decision and NOD was after June 2007 you can hire a lawyer. They work based on getting 20% of your retro if and when you win your claim. Since you are asking for 100% that would give the lawyers an incentive to work your claim because they will get a nice paycheck. What immediately comes to mind is a claim for depression as secondary to the chronic pain syndrome you suffer due to the back injury.

Have you talked to your lawyer? Forget about senators and congressmen. Be sure your lawyer has a copy of this SSOC. Sometimes they won't send him a copy. Your lawyer is your sword and shield if he is your POA. Send him copies of every document you get to be sure he gets a copy. Does your lawyer have a copy of your C-File and all your records?

I believe that any vetean with a combat award can get SC'ed for PTSD. The VA knows this as well. If you don't have the combat award then you have to prove you were subject to scud attacks or were shot at or were in other ways in fear of your life. This is a big catch 22. The VA must be thinking how can we defeat all the vets who have combat awards. Those that don't have these awards really get the devil if they cannot prove some life threatening event in service, or some ghastly duty like graves registration.

You need to apply for disability retirement and get approved. Then apply for TDIU. I was a postal worker and that is how I did it. You just have to get by on the small OPM pension until you can get SSDI and TDIU.

Chuck I think you have a good claim for aggravation of your conditions due to DMII. What you need is a medical statement making the connection. Since you were diagnosed with DMII first then the heart problems could easily be seen as secondary. The VA won't make the connections but your doctor can do it.

You would be wise to get the GERD under control, and maybe get a endoscopy to check out the condition of your throat. Do you take meds for the GERD?

The CIA fed LSD to service memebers until one jumped out of a window and was killed. One reason the government does not want to recognized some of these claims is that it would show criminal activity on their part.

If somehow you run afoul of the patriot act either becasue you end up on a watch list or someone's list forget ever getting a straight answer from homeland security. They will neither confirm nor deny you are on any such list, or that you are a suspect or that they are using any methods to investigate you. They did or do have the power to go to your local library and see what kind of books you are reading. I was or still am on such a list. This act is a lot more comprehensive and invasive than most think. The Act is being used in ways never contemplated by congress. If you end up in Egypt getting your finger nails pulled out please forget my email address. Oh, if they start to do that you will tell them anyway so forget about it. How is the food in Syria?

That is a good question since many anti-depressants inhibit sexual funtioning without affecting ability to get an erection. All the SSRI uptake inhibitors like Prozac react with sexual functioning. I, myself, thing that you should be able to get SMC for loss of use if you are taking drugs that affect sexual functioning. The only real way to find out is to file a claim.