Two Weeks Before Statute Runs Out

[Steppenwolf]

I was doing a Google search on filing a form 95 and came upon this:

Standard Form 95 - hadit.com Veterans Forum

Jun 18, 2007 ... He wrote to me constantly, and called me about his case but I had to keep reminding him to send in the SF 95 that I had worded for him. ...

www.hadit.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=11087 - 61k - Cached - Similar pages

It seems that I was discussing this subject with Berta over a year ago. I don't recall.

I was reminded that the statute is about to run out and I am not sure if there was anything that was told to me that I need to do.

Tomorrow I am meeting with an attorney who's office has a plan or a program to help veterans. He is not familiar with form 95 but said that if we get it in on time we can amend it later on.

Does that sound right?

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks

Step

[Wings]

Standard Form 95

http://www.psc.gov/forms/sf/SF-95.pdf

If you are unable to retrieve this form, you may obtain a printed copy by writing to:

Federal Tort Claims Act Staff

Civil Division

U.S. Department of Justice

P.O. Box 888 Benjamin Franklin Station

Washington, DC 20044

Standard Form 95 is used to present claims against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act for property damage, personal injury, or death allegedly caused by a federal employee's negligence or wrongful act or omission occurring within the scope of the employee's Federal employment. These claims must be presented to the federal agency whose employee's conduct gave rise to the injury. The Form 95 need not be used to present a claim, but is a convenient format for supplying the necessary information. The Form 95 must be completed and state a claim for money damages in a sum certain amount claimed for injury to or loss of property, personal injury, or death. If a sum certain is not specified in block 12d on the Form 95 or in accompanying information, a submission cannot be considered to be a valid claim. The completed Form 95 must be presented to the appropriate federal agency within two years after the claim accrues.

[Berta]

Here it is- that was my older post-

the veteran I mentioned called me relentlessly when he realised he himself had allowed 2 years to pass and the RC told him it wasn't filed on time-

I know the regional counsel attorney and the vet even wanted me to call him and ask him to change his mind- no way-

I reminded this vet after the VA Chapel services many times during those 2 years -to file this on time-

one reason I never give out my phone number anymore-

Ask for Millions-

Make sure you put the amount in the appropriate box and then total it-at the bottom -

The amount must appear two times- on this form-

in my case it had to appear 3 times (wrongful death)

One big problem with many FTCA claims is that the amount isnt totalled properly and then the OGC just kicks it out-

I forget your case -

but since this lawyer didnt have a SF 95, I strongly suggest that once this gets filled out by him or by you- that you seek a real malpractice attorney who has sued VA before.

sf95.pdf

[Steppenwolf]

Edited October 14, 2008 by Steppenwolf

[Steppenwolf]

Standard Form 95

http://www.psc.gov/forms/sf/SF-95.pdf

If you are unable to retrieve this form, you may obtain a printed copy by writing to:

Federal Tort Claims Act Staff

Civil Division

U.S. Department of Justice

P.O. Box 888 Benjamin Franklin Station

Washington, DC 20044

Standard Form 95 is used to present claims against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act for property damage, personal injury, or death allegedly caused by a federal employee's negligence or wrongful act or omission occurring within the scope of the employee's Federal employment. These claims must be presented to the federal agency whose employee's conduct gave rise to the injury. The Form 95 need not be used to present a claim, but is a convenient format for supplying the necessary information. The Form 95 must be completed and state a claim for money damages in a sum certain amount claimed for injury to or loss of property, personal injury, or death. If a sum certain is not specified in block 12d on the Form 95 or in accompanying information, a submission cannot be considered to be a valid claim. The completed Form 95 must be presented to the appropriate federal agency within two years after the claim accrues.

Wings,

In responding to Berta, Jim and you, i am hoping that i am asking the right questions to get this form in on time.

In the reply to Jim i mention the sum certain amount of $3,000,000 that the attorny came up with based on a particular case. Since he mentioned the case by name over the phone and i did not write it down i'm going to call him in a half hour or so and ask him the exact name to see if it is indeed similar to mine and if it can be argued if and when my case goes to ?court?

For now what seems to be the best advice so far is to GET IT IN. So to THAT end i'd like to know if you can answer these questions: 1 How and where do i ask for a right to amend? and is "revise" a similar word or should i ask for a right to amend and revise?

2 The next question is: where do i submit it? ( been told that it doesn't matter where the incident occured that i can submit the SF95 at any VA facility ) It seems to make the most sense to submit it at the facility where the incident occured.

3 Do i ask for a receipt? If so does it come on VA stationary signed by a particular person? Regional counsel? Is there a form number for a receipt of SF95?

Lastly i was told by a friend of mine who works at the regional counsel in another VA facility that there is at times some leeway based on the fact that something may have occured on Oct 14 2008 for instance but it was not realized until Oct 30th that X occured. In other words "when one realizes that the incident occured rather than the date it occured". Is she right about that?

In my case the incident occured on Oct 20th 2006 but it wasn't until sometime later that i realized 1 that it caused all of the conditions that still exist and 2 that there was recourse in the form of SF95.

i do not want more time to prepare a case before i submit the SF 95 however i think it is a good point to understand if indeed there is truth to support it.

[Berta]

You can attach additional pages to the SF 95-

the wording of the first question is critial- I posted a template here on that

Under Witnesses- of course this is usually filled out if someone slips in food from the VA kitchen or the VA bus hits them-

however I referred under Witnesses- to a separate page with a list of all of the doctors who malpracticed.As some of them also witnessed the cover up.

The amount claimed MUST be totaled-on the bottom part- you would be surprised how many vets forget that part-

the OGC will reject it-

The SF 95 form isnt for the whole story-

there is never enough room on it-

Once it is filed in timely order then you can continue to expand on the case.

I sent them evidence from the medical records-using copies of the records with magic marker highlights. I also testified (just by adding an oath to my submissions) as to what I had first hand knowledge of.

MY FTCA , per the regional counsel, was set for settlement award a few months after he got it- he had obtained a critical Peer Review right away that agreed with my charges and evidence.

But as I mentioned here the other day- that report was 'lost' and the VA managed to string out my FTCA for 3 more years.

It was in the bottom of my C file all that time and that is where I found it.

Also long as the SF 95 clearly states the charges and all of the applicable areas on the SF 95 form are filled out- there will be time to send them additional information and evidence.

I did not trust them to study the medical records- I sent them ,right after I filed the SF 95-the exact records that showed how the malpractice occurred.

I sort of used the Watergate mantra-what did they know and when did they know it and what steps they should have taken when they knew the veteran's acual condition-

Today is the anniversary of my husband's death-

it is always a difficult day-

over a decade has passed and I am still fighting for Peace with Honor-

and wont stop until I get this from the VA for him.

In 2003 I discovered that their settlement was only a down payment-

they owe more under direct SC death for the actual AO disability that contributed to his death.

It was their ultimate deception and caused the 6 years of malpractice and I didnt know enough about endocrinology in 1995 to even raise that issue in the FTCA claim.

I do now.

[Steppenwolf]

Here it is- that was my older post-

the veteran I mentioned called me relentlessly when he realised he himself had allowed 2 years to pass and the RC told him it wasn't filed on time-

I know the regional counsel attorney and the vet even wanted me to call him and ask him to change his mind- no way-

I reminded this vet after the VA Chapel services many times during those 2 years -to file this on time-

one reason I never give out my phone number anymore-

Ask for Millions-

Make sure you put the amount in the appropriate box and then total it-at the bottom -

The amount must appear two times- on this form-

in my case it had to appear 3 times (wrongful death)

One big problem with many FTCA claims is that the amount isnt totalled properly and then the OGC just kicks it out-

I forget your case -

but since this lawyer didnt have a SF 95, I strongly suggest that once this gets filled out by him or by you- that you seek a real malpractice attorney who has sued VA before.

Berta,

A couple questions: You say: " The amount must appear two times- on this form...." Wings mentioned 12D in her post. Are you saying that i need to have at least 12B and 12 D filled in? Property damage doesn't seem applicable and wrongful death only applies if one could argue death of ones persona: the aspect(s) of "self" that are now no longer here. i am no longer the person that existed before the trauma and have lost friends, family, and long time girl friend who claimed that it is too much to ask of her to deal with my new personality. A common question is where did my "son, boyfriend, friend..." go? i know the answer to that question: He's dead!

Of course i realize that a case for that claim would set a precedent that could bankrupt the country since every service person who has ever had to accept the reality that it is okay to kill other human beings; becomes a different person. So as true as it maybe that at least some of us die do to trauma's of war and other things i'm not sure it would help my case to put an amount in that box.

As far as hiring a malpractice attorney i will restate what i said to Jim: most attornies that are familiar with suing the VA are not interested in taking on a case unless it is so absolutely clear that the case is going to be a slam dunk they always decline; most with formal letters. i will not stop looking for one however the one firm that took my case probono early on seemed to move me to the bottom of the pile. In fact i started saying: does pro bono mean "bottom of the pile" in latin? Anyway, when the intern asigned to my case finally got back to me ( over 6 months of calling, emailing, sending regular mail, and asking to speak with the attorney who actually spoke with me initally and decided to take me case; at best i'd speak with his secretary who of course would not give me any information) he asked me for ALL of my military and VA records. i couldn't imagine ordering, finding, gathering, every record that the US gov had on me and "sending them" to his office. Asking why he wanted to see all of everything; he would say " don't ask why let us decide ". i managed to send them a couple boxes of files but he kept asking " is that all of them? " i would say no that i was trying to find them and inquire where they were, then one day i got an email from him saying they would no longer be representing me because " You have been uncooperative ". It floored me! He wouldn't respond to any of my calls or emails and when i asked for all of my records back he told me that they had nothing except my retainer agreement! That period of time consumed about one year.

So here i am with 6 days left to get it in.

If you can read my posts to Wings and Jim, if there are any questions you can answer in any of those posts as well as this one i would appreciate it.

Thanks