retiredat44

The Board made a decision on your appeal The Board of Veterans’ Appeals sent you a decision on your appeal. Here’s an overview: Granted The judge granted the following issues: Service connection, Major depressive disorder Benefits as a result of VA error (Section 1151)

I am already service connected for chemicals, and got sick from them on active duty (in my medical records, many times...plus hospitalizations on active duty). only problems is I got much sicker and have along list of issues.. plus, I got sick from other chemicals such as trico, and they recognized it already.... so, yes, in a way you are right, but I already had a track record for being sick on active duty, plus more chemicals are linked to presumptive.... then there are damages I suffered in the 1151, where the hospital wrote me an IMO stating they caused injuries... and it goes on and on...

btw,,, I may have forgot to mention, when I submitted new evidence to one of the remands last year, not only did I submit an IMO from the VA/GI Clinic stating the pancreatic disease complications were their fault, I also filled out and submitted "waiver of regional office consideration" paperwork. My BVA appeals specialist POA said that would stop the VARO from sticking their nose into my files any more. And only the BVA judge would work the case and make decisions. I Also sent that documentation to the judge in that windows of 60 days for a replay with the information about my Pancreas and liver doctor (San Diego) in the big scandal in the VA GI, and Liver clinic, where is was taking liver pieces without authorization for a study they told him not to do. So I did two waivers, one was to waive the 60 days of wait time and go directly to my case without any more delays and the others was "waiver of regional office consideration". So, as usual The BVA status page for my appeals says issues/remands, and says expect 1-2 months the judge review at BVA. This last one of the status review pages has not changed since June 2019. I already looked up ad read, and asked about 1-2 months for decisions and as usual, that is b.s. and means nothing. appeals files 2009. BVA live hearing with BVA judge was 2016.

I agree.... I would choose private if we could truly choose.... not those bogus choice we have now..

Thank you for letting me vent... I am sorry, as people look for help and advise,, and don't need more rants to read.... I hope someday to tell people my experiences of what not to do, and what mistakes not to make..... but until I get an outcome, I can't give advices....... but I learned a lot of what will and will not help those filing claims..... it usually comes down to you are your own best activist.. and the roads you take early have a bigpart of the outcome.... some are catch-22 , dilemma... dates are very important,, first date filed is extremely important, even if you can't find help or someone refuses, it is up to you to get the ball rolling,, even if you don't have your info and documents ready, don't worry.... by the time they look at them you will get many bits at the apple, giving you more times. Try to get help, go research writing, notes. Usually they reps have 20,000 cases and you are a number. Find and keep every papers.... order all documents asap..... don't wait.... an example: by law some states can legally dispose of medical records are 7 years... I don't know about all states, and overseas places. Anyways...... I think this is already in these forums..... just wish I could get an outcome and eventually give any advice I think might be useful, but here are extremely smart people in here in this website.

add another year of the 1-2 months for decision...... 4 years of this,,,, yes, sometimes it used to go to remand, but not very often and been a long time since that one.... how they get away with blatant lies especially to people with deadly permanent diseases and injuries with no cures.... is there anyone watching these people to make sure they don't screw vets? It's a huge scandal heads need to roll! these dirtbags have no conscious, no care for other people.... original filing 1990's re-opened with new evidence 2008/2009. Scandals with doctors running from the USA substandard care, phony IMO saying they surgeries they bungled were typical and nothing bad.... the news organizations are either full of crap, scared of running the stories or think we are trash and don't care..... how many lives, suicides... scum running the organizations who decide our fates.... they expect us to just let it go and hope our families get something after we die... dirty rotten,, wish I could sya how I feel, but I don't want o to make this wonder site and people look bad from my words of what I would like to say about these scum.....

I am another TCE victim,,,, the va gave me b.s. about several other chemicals that made me sick, but they got to TCE which got me sick on active duty and they seem to not ignore this chemicals like they do many other chems.. they linked it to my neurological issues, and said Parkinsons... and the Pancreas and liver still have not been given the decisions... the BVA at least recognized TCE... but mine was more of a cocktail of al the chemicals... I know of El. Toro because I grew up in So Cal. The I-5/405 Split traffic jam nightmare. I have family nearby there. I don't miss So. Cal. Love the pacific Northwest. hate the VA in Portland. San Diego has a better VA. My father and mother are buried at the Wilshire VA Cemetery by UCLA.

well too far along... it's in decision phase supposedly,, again.... and I am not sure what to submit, as it would be the job of someone that know what to submit, plus it would slow down what it already a mountain... too many different ways to think of this,, maybe waiting had one benefit... that I submitted more documents showing wrongdoing by my doctors... but decades of my life destroyed and gone forever... I cannot take any more delays... I feel I already had enough evidence before.... but they are so corrupt enough may not be enough... for all I know I still have years to go,,, I don't know they are to flaky.... and i am guilty until proven innocent... like all I have been through I am not going to submit copies of stuff I find on the internet... only thing I submitted was the info that directly related to me because it was my doctor and near the same years, and same symptoms.... same injuries... I had more first hand knowledge.. I am not even sure if what I submitted was understood , read, or if they cared,,, already knew... who know? did I do it right..... I am done...... they are suppose to make decisions.. I gave them info they needed. Now to find out if they really are going to do it 10 years late, or if they even read it,,,, or maybe I was clear.... or? or? Time to sit back and shut up and no more posting babble....... more info may come about the corruption of my doctors, but my claims need settled while I am alive.. I can't delay them, as they have for decades... so,, this is it... next info should be good news or screw it, stick a fork in me... more info is coming about more clarity on the corruption, but I am not waiting for more... it says it is in decision phase,, please, please,, decide before I die,, get sicker... so sick and tired, thanx all. bye... next things are my eyes, glaucoma taking my left eyes and cataracts too.... life needs money to keep thinks from falling apart,, daughter has huge college bills.... life goes on and I get closer to the end.... byt till later... next news, in the coming months or years,,,, win or lose....

Unfortunately (I hate this word!), my main concern is getting my decisions,, I just am not sure if the BVA will look up more info, already knew about the scandal, or just the small bit i sent them was enough... I feel that I could have sent more info, if I kept digging, but then I would be doing a job, like digging into places where i have no access.. just what I find that has been published as true and reliable, plus what I know to be true. it is too much for me,, I am too sick... to go through this crazy insane fight with the va, and then finding out my doctor was cutting us up for samples.. Event though I talked to him for at least 30 hours over the time I lived there and as an out patient also. No one told me if They could get away with it! But, maybe the other patients who had him work on them also filed, before during after. They might have already known and not told me. I will probably never know and they could deny me even knowing what the doctor did. I may never know .they already knew of the scandal when I did the bva hearing for the claims and denials. They do not tell us anything, they just abuse us in the claims and appeals process. Imagine they find out a doctor does things to patients and do not give the veteran who files any info, or still denies them, and the veteran never finds out.... Or when we find out, are we suppose to give them tons of info on the investigation, or just some links to the stories and info about the type of care you received from the doctor? What are we suppose to do? What happens if we make a big effort to get the tv news to listen to your story? Will it hurt your case? will it help? I have had some smaller veteran new organizations publish pieces of my dilemma with getting sick on active duty the nightmare ten years of appeals. I tried to get them to do an update with what I have learned but so far nothing. No response. maybe the nightmares with VA for sick veterans has become so common they no longer seem outrageous, scary and crazy just at that thought..

I know this situation I became part of through no fault of my own, it must be extraordinary (I don't see how it can be seen as ordinary and even expected, and only possible through crazy and bad decisions made by people at the highest levels of our medical care), and even though the VA is a scandal in itself what it does to many vets. I have a, let me just call it a question, instead of calling it a call out for an opinion on how I could have handled this better, since I am not a lawyer and only have a VSO. I would have gladly taken a lawyer, but none would help (me in my case for claims for disability for my injuries an illness from working my jobs in the USAF on active duty and already rated at 60% for chemical and a bad knee) in all of the years of asking for help, in person, by phone, email, and referral, they all basically told me no, they all want their money fast, and a sure bet, so they all told me to pound sand. Even though I had already won some of my claims for the chemical exposure. because the USAF doctors on active duty had already made a case for my illness from chemicals for causing extreme welling, headaches,, and more. So, in the 1990's I got the 50% for the headaches, but the va claims denied the initial intestinal problems, even though I was hospitalized for gastritis on active duty.. Then it turned out the suffering that caused me to stop working in my early 30's turned out to be at the very least gastritis and this lead to pancreatic disease, and then the failed procedures to help relieve, remove, work on a huge cyst on the head of my pancreas. The procedure failed, a second procedure failed within a couple day, and more time in the ICU fighting for my life, the doctors/surgeons were suppose to use a needle and rain that cyst, but instead cut into part of my pancreas and liver. Needless to go on six months in the a hospital fighting for my life, and permanent inoperable pancreas and liver disease. I also had a lot of unexplained internal bleeding and many, many issues, that left me on feeding tube and unable to eat, and no muscles left to walk and Parkinsons took over my body. Plus, much, much more. all permanent. I will never get better. To bring this to the crux of this entry, it turns out my main doctor who cared for me before during and after, who specializes in the pancreas and liver, was doing some unauthorized medical procedures, and I just found out when I attempted to contact the VA GI clinic that cared for me for a couple decades and also while I was an inpatient for six months. The clinic wrote me an IMO stating that 'it is more likely than not the fault of the VA procedures that caused me health problems in regards tot he pancreas. Also through more research, it turns out the doctor that worked on me for so very long, with a very close doctor patient relationship, well this doctor because the subject of a congressional investigation or causing veterans great harm for doing things to their livers and such while employed with the va (in the GI clinic) at the same time he care and worked on me. I also had unexplained internal bleeding and injuries under his care. I submitted a little information about this to my BVA appeal case, with references tot he story about this doctor, and the IMO from the GI clinic too. But, I am not sure if I should have gotten more references about this investigation, the congressional investigation for his wrongdoing while I was his patient, and much, much more. I do not know anyone personally, I only see what it published for al to see through the typical news sources, Internet, news papers,, forums. Should I have gotten more of these stories and printed them out whole, I only took out an excerpt with some references about the doctor. I do not know if the BVA will actually dig into this, look at only my info, etc. I don't know if the BVA is aware of this through their legal channels when a VA doctor goes bad, and the leave it to the patient to explain, or they use resources, or if they even care. I am just a sick patient, And it turns out that a doctor that worked on my for along time was doing bad things at the va to veterans, with my condition and a possibility I was a victim in different ways. Wil the BVA look at it this way, or say I didn't provide enough information about a doctor who went bad at the va, who was my doctor. Also (along with several more claims), I filed an 1151 claim (see differences between 1151 and a federal Tort) before I even found out about the doctor doing bad things, because they cut me up, when they were not suppose to and tried to call it a foreseeable accident when doing the procedure they do on the pancreas like mine was done. So, they just denied it at a lower level before it went up in the VA courts to the judge. Now it is at the top of the appeals, with judges. And also with more proof that the doctors who worked on me (for a very long time, months and years) were doing bad things, and the IMO from the VA clinic, is a medical opinion in my favor. Plus many other issues, including the Parkinsons that left me unable to care for myself, for along while. Plus, much more. As I see full benefits, at 60% going to 100% plus special compensation for extraordinary health issues which often mean you need at least part time care with help from others, including nurses at home. Or, at the least another person helping you with life. Seeing as to how they are dragging my appeals out for more than ten years. With a high possibility of dying before the VA makes a decision on my benefits. The doctors who kept me alive and help me get better told me many times, most people with necrotizing pancreatitis do not live more than a few years, and the next step in the disease is pancreatic cancer. Yet, they drag their feet, the years go by, waiting for the final decisions. The decisions on my veteran disability claims by the lower levels were done by people who don't care are overworks, have no medical training, and have a bad record, as far as getting their decisions right in a very small percentage of the claims they decide. Note, I saw the BVA judge in person in a hearing, but a Veteran's Law Judge. As I wanted to now risk a video hearing or such and not get my case across. Time is wasting, my health is horrific. I cheated death. I had this hearing almost four years ago. The VA/BVA does not communicate, they only communicate if there is a deadline for some document, in fact during the whole va disability claim filing process they do not communicate, there is not person to communicate with, you just send document to them. There is very little proof they read anything or understand anything submitted. They give the veteran strict time limit to be met, but they have no time limits at al to the extreme. The VA only has to explain a ruling, after a decision, and it usually written in stone, but if you have either the legal ability and know how, or legal help, lawyer, etc, they system can be navigated, not always, but sometimes. And, or course to make it even harder, a lawyer will not help unless they are absolutely they are sure you will win and in a short period of time. And they make good money, one way or the others. The VA has service officers to help with filing claims, free, but you know what free gets you. The doctor who was my pancreas and liver doctor at the va in this investigation and Scandal (San Diego LaJolla, V.A. California ). https://timesofsandiego.com/military/2019/02/26/inewsource-san-diego-va-liver-study/?fbclid=IwAR0Dosm8cI7ZMMFiAOhcurVDKYZT-WGcsVWOefTBdfWER79Qo5HGKO4bk3o https://inewsource.org/2019/10/01/veterans-affairs-investigation-san-diego/?fbclid=IwAR3dIVQi4xECowjvEJpaaJYKBdq7M-hK9_mCCgw-6wWLrs7xkzTAl8-KjKg This doctor left the USA and will not answer to anyone about this case. This is also to posterity, no matter how this turns out. Plus my question(s) should I have done more research on this doctor and the congressional inquiry and the damage I suffered. I hope that the VA/BVA looks into this and take this care into account of me being a possible victim. Should I have dome more than an excerpt and link, and more names and tries t get more medical opinions, as I tried very hard, as the BVA gets medical opinions against you. They have deep pockets and resources. It has been forever, years, since BVA hearing, and decade plus since filing VA disability claims. Actually, my first claims were from the 1990's. Yes this is scandal section, but I am part of this being this doctors patient for a long time. I read about a Writ of Mandamas , but no one said do it, or at least pushed, as usual it is scary filling out forms and wondering if you might hurt your case in some way. I have no way of knowing if I am weeks or years away from these decisions. I have a VSO here in Oregon, She specializes in the VA claims, in the appeals process, that at the BVA. I have no spoken to her for about 3 months. She helped me send in the info about my doctor in the scandal and much more. But, I have had my claims going for so many years, I have had problems 10 VSO's on and off my case, from people leaving, moving, retiring, and more. So, each on had to told my case from scratch and has been hell, being so sick and having so many documents they fill large boxes. To move them it take a wheeled dolly.

it actually went from seeking info, to making a decision, back to seeking info... and 4 years later..... and I gave them an IMO during this wait and also found out my doctor was doing bad things and under congressional investigation, they said about 6 months about I had 60 days, but I signed a do not wait 60 days and make the decision... but again,,, it only says looking for info... 'again'... bva hearing, in person hearing, was March 2016. if anyone wants to know why am so damned angry with the va...

4 years since the bva hearing with the judge.... and this is where it stays 'The judge is seeking more information before making a decision'' it takes 4 years? they are shopping for the decision they want, not the answers they received... crooks..

not to beat a dead horse but my diseases are permanent with no cure ever... but I know what you mean, and thank you...

I sent this info (investigations for wrongdoing and congressional hearings) about my dr., the center of this scandal and what happened to me to back my claim.... with the bva.. not sure if he cares,, the 60 day waiver window on my decisions by the bva judge is closing very fast now... and I got this info in just in time, I Have the new IMO from the clinic that did the work on me,, and the same clinic with the scandal and doctor who did the work on me... all rebutting the phony cookie cutter IMO the bvs got that said about my 1151 pancreas surgery gone wrong, as I a paraphrase their IMO against me, shit happens... so this Dr. Ho with the scandal that did the unauthorized liver studies on me (most likely) But the article admits they don't know when he started cutting the parts. They said mine was cut by accident causing the necrotizing pancreatitis, liver disease, internal bleeding from unknown sources, sepsis and the loss the ability to eat and walk and blow up of Parkinsons, six months in a bed with several more months bed ridden with home care... never fully recovered, never will. You would think I would get help from al this in my case!!!!!! Dr. Ho was my doctor for years and the 6 months as an in patient !! https://inewsource.org/2019/10/01/veterans-affairs-investigation-san-diego/?fbclid=IwAR3dIVQi4xECowjvEJpaaJYKBdq7M-hK9_mCCgw-6wWLrs7xkzTAl8-KjKg https://timesofsandiego.com/military/2019/02/26/inewsource-san-diego-va-liver-study/?fbclid=IwAR0Dosm8cI7ZMMFiAOhcurVDKYZT-WGcsVWOefTBdfWER79Qo5HGKO4bk3o

I sent this info (investigations for wrongdoing and congressional hearings) about my dr., the center of this scandal and what happened to me to back my claim.... with the bva.. not sure if he cares,, the 60 day waiver window on my decisions by the bva judge is closing very fast now... and I got this info in just in time, I Have the new IMO from the clinic that did the work on me,, and the same clinic with the scandal and doctor who did the work on me... all rebutting the phony cookie cutter IMO the bvs got that said about my 1151 pancreas surgery gone wrong, as I a paraphrase their IMO against me, shit happens... so this Dr. Ho with the scandal that did the unauthorized liver studies on me (most likely) But the article admits they don't know when he started cutting the parts. They said mine was cut by accident causing the necrotizing pancreatitis, liver disease, internal bleeding from unknown sources, sepsis and the loss the ability to eat and walk and blow up of Parkinsons, six months in a bed with several more months bed ridden with home care... never fully recovered, never will. You would think I would get help from al this in my case!!!!!!

in the articles it says they do not know how long he did what he was doing. I had him do several procedures on me, and I had a lot of unexplained internal bleeding.. he was asking me a lot of questions for months about how my pancreas and liver got sick. Every time I try to bring this to people attention, no one that is more professional and experience seems to be concerned with the problems us vets that were in this scandal... I would have though they would jump at the chance to talk to someone who experienced this firsthand....

I had a nock down drag out,,,, the vso says to me I didn't have to list all the chemicals, the va would,, but it turned out when I told them that it was several chemicals not just jet fuel the dro refused to listen,,, so after several years the judge at the bva made sure it listed al the chemicals, and everything was already reported to the doctors on active duty of the different chemicals I worked with (in my service records, plus I had to get more job descriptions and submit those explaining more about jobs that were already self explanatory to those people with brains.)... not just jet fuel, but al the petro chems plus TCE. so, I am still angry at the vso, for letting the va decide on their own what they thought i worked with by the job descriptions. Example fuels doesn't not mean fuel. But TCE was what we used to clean machinery of all types that had grease, even though the jobs was reprographics. The va will purposely twist facts and say there is no noise with a gun. And they will get away with it because of the corruption. Every step of the way they lied, misled and tried to screw me. And everyone else that files a claim will have someone at the va try to screw them. It can't be by accident.

why did they contact you? or how? did they somehow find out you had a claim, do they can appeals and cherry pick? Just curious... really,,, nothing malicious. Thanx.

More about where I lives an inpatient for 6 months for pancreas and liver diseases. Dr. Ho was my doctor, I would see him everyday. He made many decisions on what they were doing. Long chats. https://timesofsandiego.com/military/2019/02/26/inewsource-san-diego-va-liver-study/?fbclid=IwAR0Dosm8cI7ZMMFiAOhcurVDKYZT-WGcsVWOefTBdfWER79Qo5HGKO4bk3o

According to these Federal tort claim procedures,, mine match the requirements.. https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/suing-government-negligence-FTCA-29705.html I filed within two years and he was an employee of the federal government. As usual, only a lawyer who works these understands them

10-06-19 VA and my doctor when I lived in the VA: note: I suffered greatly and I had unexplained internal bleeding and six months of fighting fo rmy life. the doctors cut into a part of my body, that connects the liver and pancreas, when I signed a paper giving permission to drain a large cyst onthe head of my pancreas. The internal bleeding lasted along time and went sepsis. I now see this doctor did un approved studies and I was one off the victims at the VA. I had many, many conversations and exams done with Dr.Ho. I wrote along letter this past Summer, to the VA and Dr. Ho. about my disease and care, and the VA may have known about this criminal case, but kept it from me. The VA in San Diego knew me, and sided with me and wrote me aletter I submitted to the BVA Judge shwoing that the health problems I suffer from the surgeries and care 'More than Likely' were from the the procedures from that VA Hospital. The BVA, who is suppose to make decsions on my disability claim ahs been draggin their feet and at decade hass passed while they drag their feet. The BVA also has other letter, (Independant Medical Opinions) that are used by legal arguements showing professional opinions on whter some it either less like and more than likd=ely caused by this or that. The VA has al the time and deep pockets to get al the professional opinions paid for by the government and a Veteran much seek and search out, pay for these out of their own pocket, and can cost into the tens of thousands of dollars, so the deck is stacked against cveterans who file disability claims. The VA , BVA Board of Veterans Appeals (sort of like a high court) for Veterans, which has almost the final word, with another court which can be apepaled at great expense if you can provide more evidence. Evidence is used like evidence to prove soemthing, sort of liie cycincally guilty uhntil proven innocent. So, I now find this exculpatory evidence that a big doctor who worked on me (for a long time) is in trouble for unauthorized medical work and studies on sick veterans. Me being one of those very sick veterans that has liver and pancreas disease and has procedures done by this very same doctor for along period of time as botu an inpatient and outpaitent. The short of it, if the VA/BVA knew and didn't tel me while I fight for my case, it is evil and wrong, if they didn't know they should have known. As I suiffered greatly over al these years and the same symptoms as described in the investigation. ===== https://inewsource.org/2019/10/01/veterans-affairs-investigation-san-diego/?fbclid=IwAR3dIVQi4xECowjvEJpaaJYKBdq7M-hK9_mCCgw-6wWLrs7xkzTAl8-KjKg ===== said. Seven years of whistleblowing After learning the latest on the congressional hearing, Buck told her story for what seemed like the hundredth time. She was a liver researcher at the San Diego VA in 2013 — and a member of the VA’s research safety review board — when Dr. Samuel Ho proposed a study on veterans with alcoholic liver disease that would examine leftover biopsy tissue from the ill patients. As Buck read the research proposal, she grew concerned that Ho planned to perform medically unnecessary liver biopsies for the sake of research, putting the patients at risk of internal bleeding and other complications. Buck contacted her supervisors, warning them not to approve the study. It was approved anyway. “I was hopeful for like, I guess 15 minutes,” Buck said. “But when I started talking to the people that could have stopped this, they just kept patting me on the head pretty much and telling me, ‘It’s okay. You convinced us. We’re not going to do it that way now. But now we’re going to do it this way.’” Over the next five years, she and Chojkier reported their allegations to at least three federal agencies, were interviewed twice by the Office of the Medical Inspector and sent complaints to other research institutions involved in the study. Months after the medical inspector’s office issued a report on her allegations in early 2018, Ho retired from the VA and took a job at a university in Dubai. He and the VA researcher who took over the project, Dr. Bernd Schnabl, would not comment for this story, nor would a San Diego VA spokeswoman. The OMI’s investigation concluded that “no substantial danger to public health” occurred at the San Diego VA. But when the special counsel’s office reviewed that investigation, it said the OMI hadn’t fully addressed the whistleblowers’ allegations. The OMI had already issued two reports, but the special counsel’s office told the OMI reinvestigate and produce a third report, which is not publicly available yet. “These reports focus in so narrowly on small questions and miss the big questions, and it’s seriously concerning,” said C.K. Gunsalus, director of the National Center for Professional & Research Ethics, after reviewing the OMI’s investigation into the liver study. “They all have most of the hallmarks of really bad investigative reports that miss the mark.” An internal report from the San Diego VA obtained by inewsource in February verified Buck and Chojkier’s main complaint: medically unnecessary liver samples were taken from sick veterans without their permission. The report said “serious noncompliance occurred” during the research, which put patients at risk — contrary to what the medical inspector’s report had said. “It wasn’t professional,” Buck said about the OMI’s investigation. “It wasn’t what the veterans deserve. It wasn’t what the whistleblowers deserve. It wasn’t what the country deserves. I can’t imagine what they were thinking.”