Hello Again Help Needed Va Claim

[littlejuniata]

Hello: I was here before conderning a VA malpractice claim where they did a valve replacement and cut my cartoid artery resulting in significant blood loss before they noticed it. I have been in contact with the VA attorney and they are reviewing the case, (couple months) Saturday I received a letter from that attorney saying that the doctor who made the error is not a VA employee! What should I do?? Thanks in advance

[littlejuniata]

PLEASE GET AN ATTORNEY! The VA has attorney's who deal with this all the time, it is their job. You've seen some of their handy work by the letter saying the doc is not a federal employee. Find an attorney, they will take your case on a continent fee basis meaning they get nothing if you don't. Since this is a tort against the USA, the attorney can only take 25% instead of 40 on a regular malpractice claim. As to whether you can add this doc, I guess it depends on how you filled out form 95 and many legal issues that I don't know about, but an attorney will. There are many wittnesses in an operating room and an attorney can get to those people for statements. Make sure your attorney knows about 1151 benefits and tort claims. You sound like a very intelligent person, as we all are, and many of the husband's in our supper club have had vasectomy's and us women think we could do the next one ourselves, but we are intelligent enough to know we need a trained professional to do that job. Get an attorney and have him or her be your dog in this fight, because believe me, the VA will fight and I to thought the VA would treat a Vet right. I was wrong. It is disgraceful the lengths the VA will go to not own up to mistakes and money is no object. The VA will spend a large amount of money to try and get out of doing the right thing and they'll make it so difficult on you that you'll want to give up, they hope. Hang in there.

Thanks Speakingout, I did include the doctors name in the original tort claim to the VA. Are their attorneys availabe here who could help? Thanks again

[littlejuniata]

The advise here is correct- get an attorney ASAP-

The doctor who signed the Discharge Certificate was surely a VA doctor and others who assisted at the surgery must have been too-

I was a little worried about this when I filed my FTCA because I knew some interns from the University Hospital had been coming into Rod's room at the VAMC.

One doctor even told me he was from "Upstate" -meaning what they called the University medical center in Syracuse-next to the VAMC.But I did confirm he was employed by the VA itself (I wonder sometimes if he said that just to throw me off -he was part of the prior malpractice cover up)

I took no chances and under Witnesses on the SF 95 I named every single VA doctor who I believed messed Rod up-(a long list)and supported that with their own handwritten notes in the clinical record.

Someone here is liable for these medical errors in your case-

Only a lawyer would know who and how to deal with all this.

Thans Berta, it makes me angry that the VA attorney just now brought this to my attention, they have had the claim since July. If the doctors name was in the original filing would that fulfill the two year time limit or does that matter? Thanks again

[Berta]

In June 2007 I suggested:

"As witnesses I named all doctors I found guilty of malpractice=I suggest you do the same-

The property damage part-just put N/A-not applicable-"

Did you name any other doctors?

A surgical procedure at a VAMC certainly involves more than one doctor-

based on what you told us- there had to be more doctors involved in all this-

Was the Discharge Certificate signed by a VA doctor?

Did you obtain an IMO?

Edited November 6, 2007 by Berta

[littlejuniata]

Berta: Yes it was signed by a VA doctor to the best of my knowledge, but not sure. There were other doctors involved, since it was a teaching procedure I amcertain there was more than one.. No IMO as of now, I told the VA doctor they knew my condition both before and after the procdure and my condition today. They were VERY worried about brain damage immediately after I finally woke up.

[Berta]

"If the doctors name was in the original filing would that fulfill the two year time limit or does that matter"

This can only be answered by a malpractice attorney-

they advertise on the net and one firm just popped up here under the google thing-

What VAMC was this at?