Steve C

This past week I finally received a decision letter. While the VA does acknowledge that I lost a kidney in service due to a botched surgery, I was given a zero percent rating. I am enraged and dumbfounded. SERIOUSLY? Had this been a civilian surgical mistake, the settlement from a lawsuit would be huge for the loss of an organ due to a surgical "mistake". I know too well because I worked in surgery 17 years. I intend to appeal. Which option for appeal? I don't know yet. This is the most absurd thing that I have ever seen. I am still trying to collect my head enough to begin the appeals inquiry and proceed with whichever method might be best for me. My claim was rock solid and well built by myself, my doctors and a VSO who is also a retired medical professional. I know most get denied but who has ever dealt with this kind of unfairness?

As of today a third C&P was supposedly completed by VES. Apparently, the VA requested it due to the MD at VES stating a "pre-existing condition" when clearly, there is none ever on record. I went into the service straight out of being a military dependent. I just recently learned that not only are my military records being reviewed but my dependent records are also made available. The VA apparantly questioned the MD's report and had a third C&P records review done which apparantly was yesterday. My claim in process is about a surgery in the military for a fairly simple procedure to unblock a ureter that was obviously botched. (I spent 17 years as a surgical assistant and know the procedure well). The botched surgery cost me my left kidney and did not find out until recently because I am having some issues with the now remaining kidney and learned all of this due to a CT. The surgery was clearly done in service at a USAF major medical facility and never in my life had I had any kind of kidney issue before that which my records clearly show. I know the system is set up to make us quit or fail the process. That is a given. Who else had similar issues? I am really curious because I think that it is time overdue that we speak up to ALL of our congressional figures about this lack of care and abuse of a system that is meant to protect us in line with our enlistment/commision contracts. I am curious as to how many have had this happen. I already know that the rolls of 22 A Day are filled with veterans who gave up because of all the crap they put us through to prove our claims. I for one, want that to stop!

From my understanding, this is normal. In fact, I had one in person C&P with LHI and have since had two records reviews by VES (the first because an MD stated "pre-existing condition") and the VA caught the misstatement when the record clearly shows that not to be true). My 2nd records review was completed today and am now awaiting the decision.

Okay, to catch you up first. On June 1st this year, I had an in person C&P through LHI which seemed to go pretty well. On June 3rd, I received an email from VES stating that a C&P had been requested by VA from them even before the LHI C&P posted their result on June 6th (my brother was at a VA symposium in Washington DC during that time and saw the day it was posted but of course, was not allowed to see the results). On June 15th, I received a hard copy of a letter stating that the 2nd C&P was a "records review only" and that I would not have to attend an appointment. Now, here is the "fishy" part. I was able to log into my VES account today and see the status of the supposed "appointment" by a physician (I will leave his name out for now). Per the status, for the appointment, it shows "SEEN" yesterday, 6/19/2022 which was not only a Sunday but Father's Day as well. Now, having worked in healthcare 17 years, it had always been my experience that unless a physician is on call or making rounds, they do not typically work on weekends or holidays. So something isn't right about this whole thing. It just does not make any sense to me. I already know this is not normal but has anyone else had questionable experience(s) with VES? Supposedly they are in "good standing" with the VA but nothing about my experience with VES so far has made any sense to me. Even calling VES has been a nightmare because they put you on hold until the call disconnects (I tried 5 times today to just get some understanding of their process). Maybe I am reading more into it than I should, based on my working knowledge from healthcare. Has anyone had any similar experience with VES and if so, how did it resolve for you? I get it. The government has a crazy way of doing things and it is clear that they want us veterans to just give up and quit because the government doesn't want to admit or compensate for what they have caused.

I too filed in July 2021. I finally had a C&P exam on 1 June 2022 but now a 2nd C&P (records only review) is supposed to be done soon. One of the main holdups that I experienced was my military medical records being retrieved from NPRC by the VA. The VA did finally get my records about a month ago but I have to receive the copies that I requested through eBenefits records request portal. I know how you feel. I had not seen any movement on mine until after I had my C&P. I had even called NPRC as well as VBA to find out my progress just before the C&P. My personal recommendation is to contact your VSO that submitted your claim. They can see a lot of things that we cannot and may give you some insight as to where your case is at present. Just recently, the VA had teleconference calls from your state VSO to us to give us an idea what is happening with the claims. I had one on 9 June. That helped ease my mind some. Best of wishes to you.

Records are sent to NPRC. I was a Personnel Technician and from what I am told, the process has not changed much. I know my records are at NPRC and I have requested a copy of mine through eBenefits records request portal. The form to request is SF 1080 and can be submitted electronically or through the snail mail. I have been told by NPRC it does take a while for my peronal copies to be sent. VA did basically the same thing through interagency processes and have received mine for my VA Disability Compensation claim.

The primary reason that I am puzzled is that the VES email was sent the same day LHI posted their report to VA. As of yet, it has still not been reviewed or adjudicated. Ultimately, my records and documentation are cut and dry. The only thing additionally that could possibly be done in further exam is to open me back up to see the kidney isn't there (as far as the surgical mistake goes) and problems with the remaining kidney have been documented over the years.

My claim is pretty definitive. I had a surgery in service for a kidney issue. For 39 years, I thought all was good from the surgery until during a cancer CT anual exam, I find out that that kidney had "died" through the years as a result of a bad procedure/bad technique/ or inept surgeon. I did my itent to file in 2020 and filed in 2021 and thanks to the COVID government shutdown, had to wait. On 1 June 2022 I was able to finally do a C&P (LHI) that I actually left feeling fairly comfortable with. On 6 June 2022, I get an email alledgely from VBA saying that I needed a C&P to support my claim and it listed Veteran Evaluation Service (with contact information) and stated I would be contacted. I immediately called VES who wasw absolutely no help because they had not received my records/information and had not assigned my case to a scheduler. I was basically told I had to wait to hear from them. Okay, I am the type who likes to research things that involve me. When looking into VES, I found that there is very little information on them and that they only have 25 locations nationwide listed under their name. I also found that yelp ratings were extremely poor. So yesterday, 9 June 2022, I called VES back to inquire and learn a bit more about them and ask why I was possibly going to have to have a 2nd C&P. Imagine my frustration when I learn they still do not have any information on me and still have not assigned a scheduler. But more than that, I would have been better off talking to a wall. She could not provide me any useful information; including where I may have to go for said C&P, only that they would pay for my travel or provide transportation. Mind you, out of the listed 25 locations, the closest is Cleveland OH and I live in Lexington KY which I seriously doubt they are going to transport me to. With that said, has anyone had to deal with this fiasco? My claim is finite. I submitted a fully developed claim with indesputable VA records to back it up. Per my LHI NP who did my C&P 1 June, my military medical records support my claim. (she would not give me any more information than that). While supposedly VES is in good standing with VA, they don't seem very transparent or above board to me and I spent 17 years working on surgical teams as a surgical technician and surgical assistant (independent provider) with a pretty good working knowledge of history and physicals. I am interested with anyone's experiences with VES, for one. And can anyone explain the need for a 2nd exam on a defined case. I mean really, other than opening me up again to look and see that the kidney is no longer there, what could they possibly be looking for? The real proble lies in the fact that now, I am dealing with some issues with the remaining kidney that my VA doctors tell me has diminshed function. Thanks to cancer lung damage, I am not a candidate for transplant. This makes no sense to me.

I filed my claim 22 July 2021. I submitted a fully developed claim needing the VA to only retrieve my military medical records and review my current VA records. The claim has sat for 8 months plus in evidence gathering and decision that whole time. Per NPRC, they had been shut down 2020 -2021 and at only 25% workforce in October 2021. At Last check, they just recently returned to full workforce on 7 March 2022. With all of that backlog, the VA is going to point fingered at everyone but themselves. Remember, mine is a fully developed claim.