[Ao Presumption, Brown & Blue Water]

chuck75 and berta, help me get straight on this ao presumption ship list.

any Lst. ship -?

Any LST ship that operated within the boundaries of RVN inland waterways.

any date - ?

Any date within the timeline of the Vietnam war.

any place - ?

Any place within the boundaries of the RVN

any amount of time limits on board the ship -?

Any amount of time on board the ship during it's actual time in country RVN 

where is the catch

No catch. They are compiling the list as new claims come in to assist all the VARO's with

development in Haas related disability claims based on herbicide exposure from Navy

Veterans.

 

thanks for any help

[Va Class Action Suit]

If class members get 100 dollars out of this case I would be surprised. At some point you may have to prove you were harmed to get extra benefits. The ones who benefit in class action suits are the lawyers and perhaps the first couple of guys who filed the suit. I was in a class action suit against the post office where I worked. It took 12 years to settle. The lawyers got a few million dollars. Two guys who first filed the EEOC case got about 70,000 bucks and the other class members got a few thousands dollars.

I remember a number years back I was sent something to opt in/out of a class action suit but I forget what it was for. Anyway I opted in and sent the form back. A year or two later I got a check in the mail and a statement saying the case was settled and that my portion of the settlement was inclosed. The check was for 25 cents. It cost more to send in the form.

[Poll]

I think that in some circles at the VA some of the raters look for any reason to deny a claim .Makes me wonder if they really do get a bonus based on claims denied.It would not surprise me if smokers are denied...---...SEMPER FI

Smoking as a risk factor for diseases or medical conditions has the count at about 61 different diseases or medical conditions. If the VA were to adopt a policy now to deny claims based on risk factors it would void the whole concept of presumption altogether. The new regs. might not come out exactly like we would all want them to but the process has to unfold before we jump to conclusions. 

[Poll]

How many of you think vets who file for IHD due to AO exposure will be denied because thay smoke.

As a presumptive, IHD is caused by AO exposure. Smoking is considered a risk factor and is not in and of itself the cause. Other high risk factors include age, family history, Diabetes Mellitus, Lack of exercise, Obesity, Heavy alcohol consumption, Personality and a multitude of other things. AO exposuse is the cause and risk factors only increase the chance of getting IHD.

[Philpott Article On New Ao]

I think this John Miterko guy's only accomplishment with his statement in that last paragragh is striking fear and anxiety into AO exposed vets that are Dx'd with IHD. 

Now that IHD is/will be a presupmtive condition added to the AO list I think it has to be considered the cause of the disease. Smoking is just a risk factor that increases the chances of someone developing the condition but is not in and of itself the cause.

Causes of IHD

The cause of IHD is multifactorial; not single; and a number of risk factors are factors that make the occurrence of the disease more probable. Some of the risk factors are modifiable i.e potentially changeable by life style modifications or medical treatment; but others are not. Presence of any one of these risk factors places an individual in a high risk category for developing IHD.

The greater the number of risk factors present, the more likely one is to develop IHD.

The important risk factors are:-

Fixed (not modifiable)

Age : Risk increases as the age advances

Sex : Man has more chances than pre menopausal women

Positive family history : In whom first degree relative has developed IHD before age of 50.

Genetic factors:

Modifiable (potentially changeable with treatment or life style modification)

Hyperlipidemia

Cigarette smoking

Hypertension

Diabetes Mellitus

Lack of exercise

Obesity 

Gout (increase uric acid)

Contraceptive pills

Heavy alcohol consumption

Personality

Homocystinemia

Blood coagulation factors; High fibrinogen, factor eight

High C reactive protein

So how could the VA conceivably pinpoint the cause as anything other than AO? 

[Advise Please]

I became disabled due to heart problems back in 1991 and my cardio Dr said I'll never be able to work again and his office filed all the SSDI paper work for me and while I was waiting for the SSDI I was collecting union disability for 6 months. As soon as the 6 months were up I got the check for 5 months retro and a few days after that I started getting the regular monthly SSDI checks. 

You will need a DR. to say you are totally disabled and can't work for at least one year or more because with SS it is 100% or nothing. Depending on how long the DR considers your disability will last will determine how long  before SS will rerate you. In my case they were supposed to rerate me in 7 yrs but actually it took them 10 yrs before they rated me. 

I don't know how SSDI reacts to just up and quitting your job. I really think it would go much better for you if you can get your DR to say you can't work anymore.

[Philpott Article On New Ao]

Would that be possible? Can IHD be solely attributed to cigarette smoking or to obesity and then denied even if the vet was exposed to AO?

I've heard of nam vets getting granted claims for lung cancer due to AO exposure and they were 3 and 4 pack a day smokers. If a nam vet is AO presumed and is Dx'd with IHD that is all the VA should be looking at.     N4XV

I heard you guys all had smokes in your C rats – as Gov issue in Vietnam.SO much for that etiology.

I started smoking while in the nam mainly because of the free smokes and and being bored when off duty. Every "C" rat had a minnie pack of 4 or 5 smokes depending on the brand LRPS came with a carton of smokes. It would be cool if one could claim smoking due service in nam.

T

[Philpott Article On New Ao]

John Miterko of the VVA reflects here the possibility that -as I feared-that VA could provide a limiting criteria for IHD claims.

http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,208380,00.html

Would that be possible? Can IHD be solely attributed to cigarette smoking or to obesity and then denied even if the vet was exposed to AO?

Does this mean vets will surely need to incur the expense of IMOs if the VA tries to deny AO IHD solely on these bases?

I heard you guys all had smokes in your C rats – as Gov issue in Vietnam.SO much for that etiology.

The FR still doesnt have the regs yet.

BTW-I was just sent email pdf from Gen Counsel of a letter I didn't get in mail yet from the OGC. It discusses how they contacted the RO regarding my AO claim and FTCA matter.On Dec 24^th.

Quite of bit of action has been taken since but I dont know exactly what as someone told me the wrong info from their PC screen.

When I asked the VARO to CUE their 2 inaccurate award letters- I was right-

I was also right in asking them to refund my FTCA offset money.

They ignored my letters on that but sure didnt ignore what they got from the OGC in DC.OGC agreed with my complaint.The RO is re-doing the award letters and figuring out the cash.

Not only might these proposed IHD regs be difficult for some AO vets to obtain award on but my situation goes to show how the ROs will still attempt to defy the Nehmer Court order.And string out these AO retro payments-when they have an established criteria in place for the proper handling of these retro payments.

Between the fact that some RO raters dont even comprehend Nehmer-even when the claimant does what I did -- I sent the court order to them myself-

and with this potential limit to some AO IHD claims- IHD will cost VA plenty but they might try to hold back plenty. The VVA guy mentioned in this article is just only personally opining on how the VA could potentially deny some AO IHD claims. This is not a fact in granite. But he raised a good issue-

because it all boils down to money-and VA will save every penny of AO comp they possibly can.

__,_._,___

[Need Copy Of Social Security Disability Records]

:D Hello Hadit.com veterans. I am new to this forum as far as posting but I've used much of the advise posted here. Thanks in advance for the opportunity to be a part of this! (I am a 40% SC veteran (w/ pending claim) and receiving SSDI.

My question is:

Can I request a statement or particular official document from Social Security that will state exactly which claimed disabilities I actually am receiving payment for? I am thinking that maybe I can receive such a document before VA does because they have requested my medical records and I've was told that this may take MONTHS to receive. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Trapper, Here's what I did - called the Social Security 800 number, told them I need my medical records relating to my SSDI disability, they said the would send me a form to request my records and that I should fill it out and take it to my local SS office (they provided the address). Took it the next working day and and had all my requested info in less than 1 1/2 hours. 

N4XV

[Diabetes Va Training]

Try it from my floppy -

If that doesnt work-it is at the VA web site- I forget where-

Thank you very much Berta.

I don't know why I couldn't download it from the other post  But I was able to download it now from your last post here. 

N4XV

[Diabetes Va Training]

Thanks but still no go. Tried it on both my browsers - IE and Opera

[Diabetes Va Training]

http://www.hadit.com/forums/index.php?show...d&pid=48555

Tried to download  DMII_VA_TRAINING_LETTER.doc ( 135K ) but get:

The error returned was:

Sorry, but you do not have permission to use this feature. If you are not logged in, you may do so using the form below if available.

I don,t understand why - I am registered and logged in. How do I get permission to use features?

[Ischemic Heart Disease]

I was diagnosed with CAD by the VA back in 1986 after an angiogram revealed two blockages, one 70% and the other 90%. The VA decided surgery or angioplasty was not warranted so they released me with meds. At the time I wasn’t SC and it was really hard getting the VA to treat me after that so I found a civilian cardio and he recommended angioplasty in 1987. The angioplasty went south on the table and I was rushed into open heart surgery for what turned out to be a triple bypass. Within 1 ½ yrs I suffered a heart attack as two of the three bypasses clogged up. A year after that the third one clogged causing another heart attack. My cardio said I’d never work again and he helped me apply for SSDI and it was approved at 100% disabled. So at age 44 I retired to FL. In 1993 I was diagnosed with DMII and treated with oral meds and restricted diet ever since. In 2001 I claimed to the VA for DMII by reason of AO and thru in CAD and CHF for good measure. They granted the DMII at 20% but denied the CAD and CHF because it developed before the DMII was diagnosed. Later I claimed tinnitus and it too was granted at 10%. 1. Now that IHD is AO related do I reopen my original claim for CAD or open a new one? 2. How will this affect any retro on the basis the original claim was filed in 2001? 3. If I am granted the CAD & CHF claim does the VA take into consideration that I’ve been 100% disabled for it in determining its’ rating? Here’s hoping someone out there has some answers to guide me in the right direction.