autumn

no i did not get a VCAA letter or any reply. just a PO return cert reciept VARO got the first letter, and i have a fax confirmation delivery notice from second notice sent. claim was submitted first of Nov. letter and fax sent first of Dec. now i send 3rd req this week. if VSO sent cert mail i don't know. i got a letter from VSO, a copy of letter they sent to VARO a few months back. but not the VCAA letter that i normally get. oh well, i'll send off another letter this week, certified as usual. thx

they prob are behind with the wars winding down and more claims. but then again, i've heard they're busy/behind since 1987 so there ya go. ;-) i'll call that number also this week. thanks

would you have a link handy as to where this violation is stated so i can copy that to office in letter?

got 3rd request ready for mail on tues. faxed same to congressman's office. i didn't realize that is a violation of my rights. so why didn't the VSO mention that? fishy, real fishy

hey john, et. el., i sent first request via fax, i have that fax ackknowledgement. the second time was a simple letter and i got a signed delivery receipt from VARO that they got my letter. then i asked VSO about it. i have yet to get anything from VARO on this submitted claim a few months back, like oct. i'll write them again next week and send copy to congressman. thx

that is what i thought. in the past whether VSO or i sent in claim i would get a response in the mail. to make sure i understand, even if VSO sent the claim, i should still get something in mail they received it, yes? thank you

my VSO filed a new claim 2 months ago. i usually have received a notice from RO that they did receive such things and that claim was proceeding and/or they required more info. i've asked RO twice for such an acknowledgment, no response. VSO only says they filed it and mailed docs to RO, thats it. shouldn't i have something that states they received the docs and claim request?

does one have to sign such a contract? who does it protect, the veteran or VA?

great idea for VA to get out of the Rx business. that is bound to be a plus for veterans and maybe lessen influence on what VA docs prescribe. i vote they just issue VA med insurance cards so we don't have to go the VA. i too get extremely stressed going to a VA. used not to be that way. but over the years, the lies, mis-diagnosises, etc has taken a bit of a toll. way too many defense mechanisms go up when i have to go to VA. good you are getting some rest. so hard for the body/mind to heal a bit without good sound sleep. and chronic pain changes a person after so many years, no question

just adding my .02 worth ... it is odd that certain meds from VA are late or the ones that show up twice in a month and one Rx you didn't order. Pharm tells me doc ordered them. for my shots i have to take i'm glad they do. you never seem to have issues getting anti-depressants though. i mean, lets face it, the VA has a love affair with them. and as pete mentioned the kind of pain that wakes one up and/or doesn't let you sleep and once in awhile brings a tear or two. i have that, thanks to ms and spinal issues. pain meds help my quality of life. that probably doesn't make sense to some folks. i waited years before taking anything. > I have never signed a pain contract. That sounds like a legal avoid liability thing to me sounds like it to me. i don't think i signed one. > I get my record copy of it every so many months to keep up with my own file. ditto, almost mandatory if we want to protect ourselves from the VA >If they want to test for drugs should they not test the level and say the patient is prescribed this and the test is consistent to what they are prescribed? i agree. i had a jerk of a neuro here who would say this and that and not follow through. but he would do those odd pee tests. i thought they were to see how my liver was due to MS modifiying injections. but they never talked about results. records show they tested for street drugs and stuff too. it was like they were/are trying to find something neg to pin on you. they quit asking if i was getting meds from outside VA. i guessed they realized i was telling the truth when i said i wasn't. boy they sure were interested in that though. > single disc now either abutting the cord, herniated with stenosis, some just bulging, bone lesions, bone cysts, and of course they do nothing but give meds. i can fully relate, especially about the VA doing nothing to find the root cause and document it. took me years to get them to admit i had ms and i had to get a c&p to do that cuz no VA neuro would state i had ms. makes you feel secure doesn't it. > So today sep 13 I get this letter saying the ONLY vets now that can have pain meds are ones who have surgery or acute injury and only for 4-6 weeks. never heard of this, but i'm not surprized. >Had she went to a VA hospital, they would've doped her up, raised her dosages to mask the pain, NOT treat the root of the pain. My pain can be cured with operations (grind off the bone spur in my upper neck for starters). They're simply too overwhelmed to fool with such nonsense, give 'em pills, move 'em out i always thought they did this to reduce costs and avoid documenting a SC'd disability...maybe they are overwhelmed but they do their best to ensure a vet doesn't get a SC'd disability. i.e., most VA's i find are like that. some are way better as some VARO's are but they are few and who can afford to move to a "good VA state"? good luck to TiredSgt, hope all works out in your favor

you're right, i think R2D2 is there mass mailing boilerplate letters when a veteran writes them.

so true. i wrote all the committees/sub-committees in DC, local head of VA, local newspapers with VA beats...as most of you have done...and what changed? a few new smiles for a few visits at local VA. just superficial band-aids. honestly, nothing else changed from my perspective, but i could be wrong. i sent with those letters, links to many CSPAN, major cable news, major magazine stories concerning the VA and mis-treatment of veterans and their disability plights. most Senators and Congress people replied with boilerplate letters of all the work and bills they have initiated to help the veterans. you know the type. i take it most never really read my letters, just forwarded them to some unaccountable bit bucket. i do have a darn good Congressman and his veteran staff now. that was the only way i got the correct C&P exams. and he was the 3rd i contacted in this state. i'm sure it helps he wore a uniform and served overseas. i wouldn't advocate confrontations with VA police. for one, their training program wouldn't prepare them for peaceful protesting by veterans (IMHO) . but the Web is a very powerful tool for first line offense. bombard your local newspapers, national mags, major cable media, DoD, VA, Senate & Congress, etc. Someone, someday will take notice and hopefully see large scale changes are certainly in order. not just money and band-aids.

>> All of us are being mistreated if one of us is mistreated. John999 is so right. please veterans, no division, we'll only hurt ourselves as a group if we do that. its the buddy system, young or old, male or female, we wore those uniforms and got injured and/or with hit with illness(es) while serving. we need to stick together now, now more than ever. we'll be trampled under foot otherwise.

honestly, i'm not sure Carlie. my vocabulary decreases with age and illness so maybe i should look up a word that better describes my experiences and thoughts? corrupt in the sense that many times i've seen the VA minimize diagnoses and flat out ignore the medical evidence. i can only guess this is simply a money saving tactic on their part. yu see, i think that is deliberate, not a medical error. such practices i would say come from upper management/lawyers and not doctors. i can't fathom a doctor wanting to spend that much time and effort to become a doctor only to minimize veteran's medical concerns to ensure no compensation. There are lazy doctors for sure, but for the most part i think their hands are tied by upper management in DC. one basically has to fight just to get the medical truth inserted in the records -- may be that is them being a bit covert. the adversarial posture that we veterans run up against at many VA's and RO's is downright inexcusable. and i say that, as not being small isolated cases across the board. IMHO yet, i have no idea how to fix that system, but i always know when i get stung. my nervous system gets a little worse every year so i very well could be way off base, yet i believe there is some truth in my experiences and many others.

thanks all for the info. finished putting together the IBS/gastro folder in chronological order from 1986-present. it is quite a disturbing issue on/off so i'm gonna submit claim for it. they may say it is secondary to MS, i have no idea. folks, thanks much for your help.

>>attributed to Gulf Service I should be service connected, rated and receive compensation from the date that I first sought treatment from the VA for IBS type issues. that is outstanding! hang in there and get that. is this retro from first treatment time/dates just for Gulf Service vets? i ask for i am not a Guld Service vet. good luck and thanks

i see from old mil med records that my gastro issues started about the same time the inflammed spinal fluid started. i also see a history with VA of documented gastro problems where they diagnosed it as IBS. can IBS be a service connected issue and rated?

this is a very powerful website of information and help and camaraderie. Veterans have had to "protest" (for lack of a better word), before to wake up the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Congress and an apathetic civilian population. From sit-ins to marching on D.C. Seems to me, only "we" will be able to bring change to this "out-dated stonewalling health-care-rationing unaccountable system ". why not use the web's power to organize and seek much needed change? most all on this forum have been through the meat-grinder with the VA, starting from the front desk, to triage, to the doctor, then to claims, then to VARO, then onto appeals. if you have not, i bet you know someone who has. and how bout the veterans we know that have to move to different states just to get good VA medical care and decent RO's for disability compensation. for a federal organization, sure seems operating procedures vary widely amongst VA's. how many of us have had to deplete our savings in order to get non-VA medical care & opinions so we could correctly counter what the VA doctors failed to do in many cases? i bet many of you. I thought somewhere in the VA's rules/laws that the VA was "supposed to assist" in helping the veteran? If the VA is purposely mis-diagnosing & minimizing veterans medical conditions to save on disability claims, i don't see how they can accurately medically treat veterans. And that sure isn't assisting the veteran. it actually seems more like one big federal lab-rat test platform for big pharmaceuticals. i'm joking there but ...

for what its worth, i have empathy for you and your concerns. the medical care and disability rating system leaves me frustrated and angry most any time i have to deal with them. nothing gets done better or worse for the veteran whether they have a NSO or Congressional letters. so i feel for ya buddy, no question. just hang in there and keep plugging away, that's all i know to do with such a corrupt organization

i can't figure with the VA/RO, honestly, my whole mood changes when discussing them and not in a funny manner either. consequences of years of dealing with them and being ill at the same time. no need to scan it, i have a few like it. i've had to spend 1000's to get outside VA, honest/factual, doctor statements just to counter the VA doctors. too bad, but this is more widespread than not. so its not just a local VA issue. must be basically national. haven't had the temp thing done but did get emg type test done outside VA. test returned severe nerve damage. the VA neuro dept has canceled 4 appts since i was in the hospital last summer for foot drop/ms episode. do they do that so no one can say its spine or MS in my case? i wonder. had to get a patient advocate to get a foot brace as no one in neuro would write a Rx for it. PCP wrote the Rx for brace via advocate request. i only say this, just to put it out there for others to see they are not alone in dealing with the bizarro world of VA. it is simply facts. submitted the med evidence to RO like you, though a decision hasn't been returned yet. whew!!, boggles my mind you are going through this, really. i hope all the new vets coming back will Occupy VA/RO and bring these matters to the public once again. the VA process isn't getting better, its getting worse. i sure don't see anyone listening in DC. well, a few do in my case its that the VA doesn't listen to them. lol if you have not done so, and if you can, just a suggestion, get an outside VA medical opinion to give you some ammo to counter the VA -- so far, that has been the only thing that remotely has helped me get the VA to do the "right thing", and they fought that tooth and nail. and they have a long way to go still.

>>> seems to me that if you were not granted loss of use.. someone at the va may not have done their job.... I think You should be seeing a neurologist for the dropfoot not a foot or PCP doctor.t seems to me that if you were not granted loss of use.. someone at the va may not have done their job.... I think You should be seeing a neurologist for the dropfoot not a foot or PCP doctor. no question!!!

good info. going to a new VA hospital for in-stay 3day C&P at a SCI/D hospital clinic soon. hoping this is a good experience and get things correctly listed versus the past VA experiences that dodge things, if you know what i mean. thx

thanks, & sorry for taking so long to get back. i was hospitalized last summer with foot drop -- didn't realize that was ratable. glad you mentioned it. of course, no one seems to be able to tell me if it is my spine or ms that is causing the foot drop. LOL look like the codes are correct then for the current guidelines. i'm so skeptical of the va system

thanks Capt. as you see below to my reply to broncovet it was more to do with, i believe detrimental statements, a VSorg appeals lawyer presented to board for a past claim. i'm glad you mentioned what to do regarding incorrect statements by VA docs and making use of patient advocates. i have made much use of advocate here. i filed a "complaint/issues" note and she sent to head of va here back in may -- never heard back from them. LOL thanks, after i saw something on here about "truth wins", (i forget where, maybe ms berta?), giving up isn't on the horizon. those VA med errors caused many years of strange frustrations.

kinda expected that. no it wasn't a doc, it was a service org appeals rep who stated some things on record to board.