Steppenwolf

Thanks for answering my question Vike. Let me answer a few questions that you asked and see if i can answer a few others. "What do you mean by a federal judge?? Do you mean a Veterans Law judge at the BVA?" Had a DRO hearing in May of 04. Appealed her decision. Was offered a video hearing or in person hearing with whatever kind of judge hears that claim. Since it was held in a VA hospital it probably was a Veterans Law judge. The judge was always refered to as a "federal judge". If this helps any, i've been told that there is only one more appeal left. What might that be? If this isn't getting off track a bit allow me to say that each service officer rep that i had looked at my evidence and in essence saw it differently than the next. As i mentioned in another post the one guy who was the best quit from burn out. That said he found the fatal flaw after taking first my decisions home with him, reading them, and then asking me specific questions about each decision dating back to the first one in 1971. If my may paraphrase the words in one part of the decision itself it basically said: " Records and a support letter from Mr.X's doctor were recieved after this decision was made " The rep that quit ( that sounds bad but i understood his choice to leave ) asked if anyone resubmitted the claim asking that that info be taken into consideration. i told him no. Instead the rep at the time was getting pissed off and upset with the way i looked: Long hair and long beard, hippie garb. He told me i looked like Charles Manson and that " If we're going to win this case you need to clean up your act " i refused to change my appearance. Was this what we fight for in America? i did my time, got an honorable discharge, was awarded metals, was injured in service and chose then to follow my heart. Never was arrested, went to college on the GI Bill, had a job, what more did they want? So an appeal was filed and perhaps another letter was written by my private physician which was deemed " no new and material evidence " But it was never mentioned that the original evidence was never considered. This point was not made until June 2006 by me speaking on my own behalf to the judge then again reiterated by my DAV rep who told me when we walked out of the hearing that he would be i would be awarded at least 70%. It might also be noted that after the decision i asked for an appearance before the board. Once again my reps did not want to walk into the hearing with me. They wanted me to " go to the drugstore and buy a razor and shave ". i got the feeling in the hearing that the board didn't like what they saw either. So you said somewhere that you could say without seeing the decision and my evidence. This is why i was asking who hear can help me at this point in time? This case has dragged on for all of these years perhaps on a technicality and influenced by prejudice rather than the facts. i am willing to travel anywhere in hopes of finding the one person who can argue the points that the judge notes in her decision and perhaps to submit new evidence which i am told that i can do up until the decision is made. Also as i mentioned in a post somewhere here on hadit that my current DAV rep, the one who read my file in 3 days ( that is his idea of reviewing my file ) suggested that i NOT get an IME/IMO from Dr Bash with whom i had spoke on the phone to and who stated that he would not write an IME if he didn't think that i had a case. My DAV rep poo pooed the indea of paying him $3000 for "evidence you already have". i can no longer hold a 9 to 5 job and haven't for years as the result of injuries that happened in the service or in the VA. Even the zero percent was never challenged for an increase. i want to start a non-profit Veterans Adocacy group that will agressively help vets who have become victims of the system. i will write about this idea in a sperate post soon. Thanks again Vike

I know the story was lengthy but the meat of my question was not about presumptive conditions but presumptive period which i have heard to be 6 months, 1 year, and not at all. Is there such a thing as a presumptive period?

This "new and material evidence" thing has been a thorn in my side and my case since the begining. For years this rule has invalidated almost every piece of evidence that i have submited. If my rep couldn't help me through this horrible rule then why did it take a federal judge to see that my whole case was mishandled and remanded back to ?. i don't even know who it was remanded back to. My current DAV rep keeps telling me to "do nothing". i think this is also horrible advice and up until now i have had no "advocates" to tell me if his advise is as bad as all of the rest of the advice i've gotten from reps over the years. i wanted to get an IMO from doctor BASH and my rep told me: "Your case is strong enough as is why pay this guy $3000.00 for something that may not help your case" i have been given some of the most horrible advice over the years and i got the feeling that the fed judge that i appeared before June of 06 saw that but instead of ruling for a % of disability she just sent it back to the idiots who screwed up in the first place. Now i've been told that i'm stuck with the DAV and can not change service officers. What's true?

During my exit exam the doctor ( i knew this doctor better than most vets know the exit exam doctors ) told me that i had a mild case of prostatitis. He told me that if he wrote down that i had prostatitis that i wouldn't get out of the service on my due date. He went on to say that they will not release me until the problem cleared and that this kind of problem can persist a long time. He advised me to go to a VA hospital as soon as I got out; that i had a year to discover it and other problems that would be the same as if i was still in the army. He called it a presumptive period. He then Rx' some antibiotics and sulfer meds for me "for a cold" so the meds would work on the prostatitis and i could get my european discharge. i liked this doctor and thought his advice was good. Sure enough i went to a VA hospital after returning to the states and was Dx'd with what was no a sever case of the condition. That VA in Miami Rx'd a major dose of antibiotics which i had an allergic reaction to. The Miami VA was too far to travel back to since i was in terrible pain, my liver was swolling and i was throwing up and faint. i went to my parents doctor who wanted to put me in the hospital immediately. i told him that i didn't have medical insurance and that i needed to use the VA. He called the VA and spoke with the urologist who treated me and told him that in his opinion i need to be hospitlaized and checked out for hepatits while i was in the hospital. They agreed on the phone but by the time i got back to my parents house the VA had called and asked me to call them back. The doctor asked about the color of my stool and a few other questions then suggested that i simpley stop taking the meds and drink lots of cranberry juice. If i didn't feel better in a couple of days to have someone drive me in. Of course very little of this "conversation" can be proven. To make matters worse the Miami VA convieniantly lost my records and with in a month the doctor who saw me was gone. The other urologist who saw me didn't recall anything. All of this happened with-in 3 months of ETSing. What i have is a limited copy of my records from the VA that they gave me while i was there, and appointment card that was stamped, a post card notifying me of my follow up appointment and the private doctors records. i have heard conflicting interpretations about this so called "prsumptive period" and how it works. It seems that my friend the exiting exam doctor may have been wrong about "being the same as if you were dx'd in the service" but i am not sure. i have a few other questions about the private doctors records and 5 letters that he wrote for me over the years that i should probably post seperatly. Thanks for your feedback

Is that true that "......you can only have one mental condition. "??? i know BP ( bi-polar ) is one disorder but in many ways it is several disorders wrapped in one bun; kinda like a hotdog with everything on it. i also know one disorder can morph into something else for numerous reasons. How would something like that effect a rating?

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloa...ppowertoys.mspx Almost a must have if you use XP "Resize" several up from the bottom of the list of toys ( tweaks )

Plugging the camera into the computer is one way to get the images into your computer. Some camera manufacturers, Kodak most of all, want you to use their software as well as their hardware. They'll tell you that it makes things easier and in someways it does. It also gives Kodak a way to monitor you. i would suggest simply using your card in the computer. XP comes with a viewer. You can edit you pictures in paint although that's nowhere near the best option. There are several free image editors available on cnet or other download sites. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=i...G=Google+Search Photoshop is the king of image editors. It also costs about $700.00 and has a step learning curve. http://www.irfanview.com/ is popular and been around for a long time. i like paint.net. One of the ( IMO ) most important modification you need to understand and make to jpegs is the size of the image. Larger to print smaller to email. There is this little program that if i am not mistaking comes from microsoft that allows you to change the size of your images with a right click of you mouse button. i'll try to find the link for it and post it later.

Thanks Pete for the Safari link. Didn't know that it existed for PC For now i have been using Opera as my alternate browser and it is better ( to me ) than explorer although i have not used the latest version hearing it had bugs i did notice on my Dad's computer that the newest ie has "tabs" which Opera has as well. i like that feature. But what i like about Opera best is it does not allow certain tracking cookies to automatically be downloaded to my computer. After using IE to check my email i have no less than 5 cookies tracking my every movement sending info back to who knows who. Opera does not allow those cookies to be set. Looking forward to Safari. My first real computer was a MAC and when i switched over to PC just to learn the OS i thought people had to be crazy to want a PC over a MAC. Although my laptops are PC i'm buying a new iMAC this year. T-Bird, you might want to go to a MAC store and play with one for a while and talk with one of the well trained people who work in MAC stores to answer questions.

Not sure the degree of sensitivity Pete except to the extent that i signed an agreement retainer with a law firm that IMO is too cautious with what i can say and to whom. Email can come back and bite me but a forum is a public place. Plus i'm not sure where i should post yet "My story"? i'd be a liar if i didn't admit that a little understanding and sympathy might help some, but since my current big case is a FTCA case i'm not sure once again where to post it. In short: The VA med center in one state through me out and refused me the most basic services after my house burned down in a fire. They claim that i was "drug shopping" because i mentioned that all of my meds were lost in the fire. The Narcotic contract and the doctor in the facility where i signed the contract put two notes in the system which i have only been able to get a copy of one. The other was read to me over the phone but no matter how many times i ask for that "progress note" the twilight zone factor kicks in and i find myself on that merry-go-round of signing release of information forms, faxing, and sending them with no reply. Today i confront the beast head on. i am returning to the scene of the crime and the fire....been having nightmares and chest pains about this day for months now. How sensitive is that?

Not sure the degree of sensitivity Pete except to the extent that i signed an agreement retainer with a law firm that IMO is too cautious with what i can say and to whom. Email can come back and bite me but a forum is a public place. Plus i'm not sure where i should post yet "My story"? i'd be a liar if i didn't admit that a little understanding and sympathy might help some, but since my current big case is a FTCA case i'm not sure once again where to post it. In short: The VA med center in one state through me out and refused me the most basic services after my house burned down in a fire. They claim that i was "drug shopping" because i mentioned that all of my meds were lost in the fire. The Narcotic contract and the doctor in the facility where i signed the contract put two notes in the system which i have only been able to get a copy of one. The other was read to me over the phone but no matter how many times i ask for that "progress note" the twilight zone factor kicks in and i find myself on that merry-go-round of singing release of information forms, faxing, and sending them with no reply. Today i confront the beast head on. i am returning to the scene of the crime and the fire....been having nightmares and chest pains about this day for months now. How sensitive is that?

Yesterday was the first day i read any of your posts. Last night when i got home and put the TV on guess what movie was just starting. In a couple other posts i mentioned that a law firm that is representing me is looking into a class action suit. i've also spoken with a pro vet newspaper journalist who told me that no vet has ever mentioned this to him. IMHO there in lies the problem. No one is outraged enough to make it matter and evoke change. If everyone in this forum called the newspaper journalist i've been speaking with maybe attention would lead to a change of policy and action. Again, i've mentioned this class action suit in a number of other posts and only BETRAYED has inquired in severala emails to me about the details. What if change was possible and we, those of us who served, got treated fairly and in a timely fashion? What if we organized and had a united voice? Isn't anyone else outraged that they, the VA gets away with this kinda crap that might otherwise be seen as unconstitional? And all we do is ask each other if they do it to us. There will not be a class action suit if the firm doesn't find others who are pissed that this crap goes on??? My first post was about the Narcotics Contract. It was suggested by the journalist and the firm to see how many others were effected by it and unhappy with it. Was anyone besides BETRAYED upset about this practice? Sometimes i think that we all become a little too apathetic to evoke change...we never get to that point where we say "enough is enough" ( Part of a closing arguement in an episode of Boston Legal when Alan Shore was questioning when the American people where going to show the government that they were sick and tired of politics as usual and say: "we're not going to take it anymore" ) The show may be fictional but the message was right on and profound IMO. Now that the show may be interested in my case i'm wondering if i shouldn't take the money from the show because i'm not sure that there is enough energy behind the attack on the craziness of the system. My first rant of the day. Wolf

Thanks carlie, i've been doing searches like this for over a year and passed much of the information on to the attornies. They found even more than what i found. i contacted Michael Krawitz by phone ( http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/457/pa..._administration ) and several other vets. There is no standard when it comes to Narcotics Contracts. They seem to be implimented independantly. In an ironic way it's a problem that more vets are not effected by this contractual agreement. That said it seems that there is enough interest to bring some heat. SW

Update: A popular TV show seems to be interested in using this theme as the root for one of their stories for next season. Do I take the money for the TV story or move forward with the suit?

Sometimes i think i'm just blind or simply dense. Can you please copy and paste a few words and or a specific number for this chronic pain rating or whatever it's called. This page of: PART 4—SCHEDULE FOR RATING DISABILITIES is so long that it would take me the whole day trying to find what best applies to it and or me. Over the past couple of months what was once called " a simple one page form " has turned into calls to several different attornies, a visit to the service officer for the DAV who gave me 28 pages of info on standard form 95, and conflicting information about how to file the form and what my rights are as they pertain to the FTCA. My "pro bono" attorny has not gotten back to me and when i told him that i have had experience with records and files disappearing as well as doctors being relocated or dismissed he wrote back to me and told me to "manage my expectations". It's obvious that the more complex things are the harder it is to know the best and quickest way to find a solution. In many cases people just give up. The VA counts on that....that should be a crime!

Thanks for writing. i have been told that your ailment is considered by many medical people to be "all in your head" "psycosomatic" and will treat you with any and all things approved, allowed and or associated with fibromyalgia. Once again it is my experience that doctors learn to be two faced about this condition treating you with a straight face while in your presence. Behind your back they joke about people with this condition. i have heard doctors and even chiropractors joking about people with FM. It's wrong in my opinion but what can we do? Make a hidden tape and suit the doctor? IMHO even if a persons illness is rooted in anyway to their mind, brain, or way of thinking then it is still a disease and needs to be treated. That said i am not implying that FM is just in your head. It is my opinion that all diseases are effected by the way we think about it. My PTSD gets triggered by any number of things, many of them are in my head and are my take on whatever....a lot of my current angst is connected to my perception of the VA and the current war as well as all the other wars where the soldiers are more or less pawns for the crazies in power. Good luck with getting help for your FM and the VA. Keep checking in here i am working on starting a new resource of help for Veterans. Wolf

Is this a hyper link? It doesn't work on my computer. Can you post the page with the full address? ie www.xxxxxxx.com

Not that this will help but i'm curious which VA do you use? As far as getting an appointment i can tell you this about the VA(s) in FL. We get vets who spend the winter in FL and it clogs up the system. Then if what Betrayed said is true ( and i have no reason to doubt him ) the VA is prioritizing the incoming vets moving them to the front of the lind so to speak. In my med-center the waiting list for accupunture is 8 months long but it seems that i've been on the list 15 months so maybe there are unwritten reasons why we all get pushed to the back of the line.

Thanks for telling us about your experience. i have a few things to say about methadone but will save that for another post. If i can find those studies that you mention that will help a lot too. Today i'm giving this forum address to a reporter who is very interested in all veteran issues but is working on this narcotics contract now with me and i want him to read as many accounts as possible. i'm working on a letter that can be signed by all of us who appose this form of entrappment that the VA is pulling on people who need meds. That's not to say that some people don't abuse their benefits in one way or another but making everyone suffer for the few is simply WRONG!

Don't know what that is: 9422. Can you tell me more about it and send me to some links that may discuss it? Got more news and will post here after i read a few more posts....looks like a few more people have responded.

Good letter Jim, This helps show the inconsistancy of the VA medical System. I'd like to hear from everyone who has dealt with pain management and narcotic drugs. Thanks

Yesterday 25 May 2007 my congressman held a 2 hour town meeting for Veterans. The meeting was attended by approximately 60 or so veterans and a few family members. Most of the Vets were WWII veteran which I found interesting since they are probably the fewest by number in the VA system. I don't know this as a fact but like my Dad most are in their 80's or older. There was one vet from the current war, a few from the Korean war and a few Nam vets. During the Q&A session most of the questions came from the WWII guys who had questions about their own issues, ie why they can't get Lipitor at the local VA when it's available at other facilities. The Iraq vets wife spoke about PTSD. And I spoke about the contract which the congressman had never heard about; he was not happy that the VA would try to execute their own form of policing narcotic medications especially without a VA form number. I gave him a copy of the contract. He said he would look into it. It was also obvious that a few of the older guys thought that I was complaining about the system that has served them well. I see how this can be interpreted that way since it only applies to people with chronic pain who need narcotic medications. The VA probably knows that for the majority of their patients this contract does not apply so the number of complaints are automatically limited by the nature of the conditions concerning the contract. Well in my opinion illegal is illegal whether it effect 1 person or a million.

As "betrayed" said: "Hell of a QUESTION FOR YOUR FIRST POST............Why are you asking?" I realized that this was coming out of the box strong but I have an agenda and the ones who can help me and I'm sure help themself is to assist me in getting answers to these questions. I'd like to ask the moderators here if there is another place I can post this question even if it's in the form of a poll. It would also help me if anyone can recomemend other forums or blogs for Vets? This question is also posted on Craigslist but only for the West Plam Beach area. If you live in another area and would like to help me gather information and facts please consider posting on Craiglsist or other forums and direct them to me. I'm in the process of putting together a website mostly for this issue for now. Overtime I'm looking to start a non-profit Veterans Advocacy group with a resource page for anything and everything we need. Unless something exists between a service organization and a patient advocate I've been finding that there is a strong need for something inbetween. Does anyone agree with that or have thoughts about what is needed?

You see that's the part that I am just finding out. This is not system wide. It is unheard of in some medical centers. Count yourself lucky to be in a VA that is not asking you to sign one of these. May I ask which VA and state were you reside?

Pulled from your answer: "Another time I went to the ER and they did a drug screen with out me knowing it and I popped positive again. I started asking questions what gives them the right to do a drug screen on me, the answer I heard was my narc contract." Here's why I ask without saying more than what I've been warned not to say. There seems to be no consistant policy. This so called contract is not in effect in all VAMCs. No one seems to know who gave the order to put into place a policy that is not approved offically by the VA on a federal level. At the VA that I go to there are over 500 complaints to the patient advocate; more complaints than any other issue. The contract at the VA that I go to ( and I'm hoping that there are a few Vets here from VAWPB ) is the strictest one that my attornies have found so far. It is so draconian that I at first refused to sign it. I was told if I didn't sign it they did not have to treat me. That in and of itself is against the law. I tried talking to anyone and everyone involved in the contract but funny thing the had me running from the basement to the 9th floor on several occasions and I could not get a straight answer. The one thing they loved to tell me was: " If you don't like it suit us. It's been challenged before and has stood up to the challenge. " Right now I'm trying to gather as much information as I can from Vets who have been cut off or refused treatment as a consequence of this contract. If you haven't signed one count yourself lucky. If you had signed one and tested positive for ANYTHING other than what they Rx in an amount that falls with-in the levels expected for that dose you would be cut off, no excuses, no hearing, no second chance. If there was a good reason; it doesn't matter. Your done! So here we are, 1% of the whole population who serves their country whether you joined or were drafted and the promises made when we served are now being broken. Without sounding like an anarchist or something worse, it makes me wonder why the system has turned on US; the defenders who served?