john999

We really have no idea how many unnecessary deaths occur from malpractice and neglect in the VA health care system. I know James A. Haley was scolded for having too many open heart surgeries. They are next to a medical school and you can believe they use old,sick and poor vets to practice on to teach young, healthy and wealthy future doctors to make lots of money in the future. None of these doctors will be serving in Iraq unless they sign to obligate themselves to the military to pay for their schooling.

When you get your official decision NOD it and start to gather more evidence to appeal. This is how you win these things. The VA knows that many if not most vets don't even bother to appeal. You are ahead of the game if you appeal and keep appealing. Nothing in the VA system is really final.

It is always about cost when dealing with the VA. I had a PA do a cardiac exam. The VA can't afford a cardiologist to do a heart exam? I will get my own caridologist.

Florida does not recognize common law marriage. Since this is a federal matter regarding DIC then I don't know, but I would not trust the VA to tell the truth. The hadit member needs a lawyer or legal eagle to advise. I am sure there is a time limit to file a suit.

GAD is just as compensable as PTSD. Did the VA say you did not have a verifiable stressor? This is usually what kills a PTSD claim.

We had a memeber who was in a veteran's home. Everytime they did something to try and screw him he pullled the fire alarm. We all thought he was crazy but he knew what he was doing. It was the system that was and is crazy. The VA evicted him from a Veteran's home because he was a "trouble maker". He sued them and one a couple hundred grand. His seemingly crazy acts were acts of desperation. Now when I hear something that seems impossible I don't dismiss it even if I suspect it is not true. Reality is much stranger than fiction at the VA. I don't think too many people thought Josephine would win her claim and she beat the hell out of the VA. I did not think she could get through all the smoke and BS the VA had piled up over the last 40 years but she did it. Given that the VA will provide an exam I would never have gotten TDIU without a private opinion. I actually had three private opinions. I wanted to crush them with evidence.

Right, Carlie, then they will start to think up reasons to deny the claim. That is why I say get your IMO, private medical records and hearing request. The VA just does not hand out TDIU without a fight. They know you will never work again and they will be paying for you and yours for many years.

Did you have a private medical report as well as the VA exam as evidence of bipolar disorder. Your claim reminds me of my own. I was kicked out in 1971 as being "unsuitable" and I did file a claim within one year of discharge and was granted 10% for residuals of schizophrenia. I had a private medical opinion that said active chronic schizophrenia but the VA just ignored that report. If you go back and try to get your discharge changed to a medical with a pension you will need a lawyer. The military boards are just ruthless with vets. If it has been more than 15 years you must get there permission to appeal. Maybe the CUE thing might fly for an earlier effective date but these things are hard because if it is a question of judgement you are screwed. If there are records the VA had in their possession that they did not review then maybe you have a chance. If you file the CUE you may want to consult with a lawyer also to see if you have engough to go forward. Since it involves retro a lawyer might take it up. What happened to you was standard for many in those days. I bet many of the PTSD vets from Nam got bad conduct or undesireable discharges because of their symptoms. What a shame and a scandal.

Only bad thing is that you are then depending on the VA to rate you on the diagnosis correctly. I trust nothing they say either pro or con. What the VCAA means is that you can get a C&P exam without already have proof of an illness or injury from you military days.

I was evaluated for TMJ while in the Army. Years later when I thought about filing a claim I found in my medical rercords the dentist had only make one note "Evaluation" with no other description or diagnosis or prognosis or even a reason for the visit. My claim was denied because the VA said my records were silent on the TMJ issue. Yeah, they were silent because this doctor did not want to document my problem, and told me a buch of BS about there being no treatment. I was 19 and actually believed that these people would not mislead or lie to a young soldier. My impression is they wanted to get the most out of us at the least cost because we were going to Vietnam anyway. Why fix up a guy who may die anyway. I had 6 months of MH notes that evaporated while I was in the Army. I think the doctor bowing to command influence just destroyed them because they did not want to pay me a pension. It was easier to just discharge me as Unsuitable after 2 years.

The best thing to do when young and somewhat healthy is to get a really good disability income insurance policy. Also, young workers should save for potential disability. This is much more likely than early death. It is harder to get good disability insurance policies these days. I got a lifetime disability policy when I was 35. It was from a private company and was for life time. It was unaffected by any other income I might get from SSD or VA. It said that if I was unable to do the work that I had when I signed the policy was the standard for disability. If I could not do my job as a postal clerk then I was considered disabled. Most group policies don't do this. They reduce your payment by any SSD or disability retirement or worker's compensation you get. Even so if you have some income while you wait for TDIU or 100% schedular it is a lot easier. This requires planning and some money, but it is worth it. If you main asset is you ability to work you need to protect yourself. You can usually get into IRA's and 401-K's if you are disabled. I bet 80% if Americans are completely unprepared for serious disability. I would love to sell disability insurance. Too bad I am disabled now. The thing is that people with money are usually the ones who have disability insurance. Poor and middle class people can't afford it or don't know how important it is. Above all, you have to plan for your possible disability. Plan for it just like you plan for a vacation or a house payment. Assume it will happen. If you are wrong then you are lucky and if you do become disabled your planning will be a life saver.

I think employers hate to state in writing that they fired you because of a disability. If you had a legal document that would relieve them of all liability they might be more willing to make such a statement. If they have a lawyer you have to get by him. This is where having your lawyer talk to their lawyer to iron out any potential blowback on the employer. If you have the right kind of approach I think most claims can be won.

I would still try for the personal hearing. My reason being that you get to talk to a living human being. God knows what condition your file is in, and what the VA is doing with your claim or will do with it? Many of these so-called DRO Reviews are just cut and past jobs.

As far as I know artery disease is not presumptive for AO. If you have DMII then you can make a good case for it being secondary. I got awarded 0% compensation for arteriosclerosis as secondary to DMII but I had to get a medical opinion linking the two. Heart disease is not presumptive except as a secondary condition to some disease that is presumptive. With almost all secondary conditions you need a medical opinion to back it up. If you can get it from a VA doctor that is even better.

A vet who is 100% or IU for more than a year should ask to be made P&T.

20% when you get your retro is the usual fee. Otherwise I don't know how they charge. If there is no retro I bet you won't find a lawyer to represent you.

Allan VA is counting the days until the last RVN vet dies. They will be high fiving at HQ.

This just confirms my opinion of the Tampa VAMC. It is a good place to go if you want to die. I hope someone sues them for malpractice. The article says the VA medical chief says to err is human. So is to sue. If you use that facility for anything serious you are risking your life.

That sounds like CUE language to me. It sickens me that such mistakes happen and that it takes astute understanding of VA regs to right such a wrong. Would the DAV or VFW have fought this thing out, or would they have just thrown in the towel? That is why I hired a lawyer to help me, and I may need him again since they are going to deny my heart disease claim as secondary to DMII because the PA doing the C&P exam cured me.

VA strategy is to make claims for secondary conditions such a pain in the ass that you will give up. I get really sick of hearing how the VA has changed and that it is not adversarial. You have to appeal and appeal and if you want to win and it is important to you get more evidence.

You can be total due to IU or schedular for ten years to get DIC and you don't have to be p&t. If your wife is married to you for eight of those years she/he gets a little more money. This is an incentive for all of us to live long and stay married just for spite.

Winning two CUE's is a big deal. The VA must have really screwed up on your original claim. Break it down for us so we can understand how you won the CUE's.

That's right, Larry.

If a VA doctor or your private doctor will use the phrase "as likely as not" when making the connection between the SC condition and the secondary conditions that is enough. One secondary condition that almost always is the result of a SC disability that involves pain and immobility is depression. The Veteran's Benefits Manual has a very good discussion on secondary conditions and what is required to win them. If you have a good relationship with you primary care doctor they will often write opinions for you. They even have a form letter for it in their computers. My primary care doctor did three secondary condition letters for me that arose from my SC diabetes. I had no trouble getting sc'ed for them. As Larry has said having a couple of VA employees make the connection for you is a good way to win a secondary claim. That is why it is good to really use the system and pursue treatment via the VA even if you think it is a waste of time. You are building a mound of documentation and that is what the VA feeds on is paperwork.

If you can afford to retire on disability due to the SC conditions then you could get IU. The waiting for IU is what many can't afford to do. I mean the VA could fool around for a year with your IU claim and meantime you have to have an income. They know this I am sure. If you could retire with some money coming in then you could also go for SSD and IU. Together you can survive. You have to plan your 100% disability so you don't go bankrupt in the process. If you have a IRA or 401-K you could live off that until the IU comes through for you. I think most vets end up broke and almost homeless while they wait for the VA to give them the correct rating. It is part of the plan.