How Would You Handle This?

[jlshand]

An MD convinced me I was mistaken in failing to ask for service connection of Atrial Fib and Coronary Artery Disease to my ongoing claim for AO DM11. I was scheduled for C&P's so formally requested postponement awaiting new information.

Also formally requested my military med records from the Houston VARO and NARA. This was 13 December 2005. Failing to receive the records from the VARO within the 10-15 day period they indicated (what a joke)

I called and called getting different answers each time. Then I contacted my congressman, the VFW, the director of the VARO, the VA General Counsel in D.C and the Va counsel for Freedom of Info issues also in D.C. I heard back from the VFW advising me to appoint them as my 'rep'. No other suggestions despite my paid up membership. All I asked of them was how to get the ball rolling from where I stopped the process. I told them ,the VFW , I was just giving up on getting the records and jsut wanted to get the claim back ontrack based on the info already with the VARO. I think the guy was getting annoyed with me for bothering him via email more than once with the simple request. Given this circumstance, I am giving up, how do i get back to square one?

Nobody else bothered to respond and I never even got a signed receipt acknowledging the registered letter I sent to the VA General Counsel!!!!!

Last week around the 25 of February I got a letter from NARA saying my records had been loaned to the VARO!!!! Imagine, NARA responded BEFORE the VA!!!!

Two days later I got a letter from the VARO in a hand addressed envelope, it included my returned request form and the explanation that they didnt have the records, suggesting I contact the Department of Defense!!!!

How does anyone deal with this kind of bureacracy? :)

[Guest Jim S.]

I guess you could send a complaint to the U.S. Post Master General for their lousy delivery service, since that is what the VARO is trying to tell you. They don't have them and neither does the NARA, so they must be lost in the Postal Mail Service. Now if you believe that, I have this bridge I can sell you made of Gold, that's why it is called the Golden Gate Bridge, and is a very good income property to have, everyone wants to go over it. I'm not trying to be funny, just a bit facisious. Ha Ha.

Your now deep in the VA twilight zone of lost records. I doubt they are lost, just somewhere shredded on some recycle heap, waiting to become some other paper product, maybe toilet paper and when you use the John, your probably using your precious records.

When you requested your records from the NARA the same time the VARO knew about it, it left them with a great opportunity to dump anything that showed that your records had ever arrived. Now, depending on what your claim is for and about, you are going to see just how hard it is going to be, to get service connected, trying to do so with lost records. Not impossible, but darn near it. If your frustrated now, just wait, it's going to get much worse.

Do your best to see if you can track these record from the NARA, find out how and when they were sent, try to put the blame squarely on the VARO if you can, then it will be helpfull, since they will have an added burden to help you reconstruct what they can of your lost records.

As far as getting things on track, a letter making that request, sent with return signature should be enough, and your frustration with the VFW seemed a bit misplaced, since they could not do anything to help you, without your POA on file. So I might rethink that and see it they can help you any further, because at this point, you are going to need all you can get. Talk about a can of worms.

Jim S. :)

Edited March 3, 2006 by Jim S.

[jlshand]

I juess you could send a complaint to the U.S. Post Master General for their lousy delivery service, since that is what the VARO is trying to tell you. They don't have them and neither does the NARA, so they must be lost in the Postal Mail Service. Now if you believe that, I have this bridge I can sell you made of Gold, that's why it is called the Golden Gate Bridge, and is a very good income property to have, everyone wants to go over it. I'm not trying to be funny, just a bit facisious. Ha Ha.

Your now deep in the VA twilight zone of lost records. I doubt they are lost, just somewhere shredded on some recycle heap, waiting to become some other paper product, maybe toilet paper and when you use the John, your probably using your precious records.

When you requested your records from the NARA the same time the VARO new about it, it left them with a great opportunity to dump anything that showed that your records had ever arrived. Now, depending on what your claim is for and about, you are going to see just how hard it is going to be, to get service connected, trying to do so with lost records. Not impossible, but darn near it. If your frustrated now, just wait, it's going to get much worse.

Do your best to see if you can track these record from the NARA, find out how and when they were sent, try to put the blame squarely on the VARO if you can, then it will be helpfull, since they will have an added burden to help you reconstruct what they can of your lost records.

As far as getting things on track, a letter making that request, sent with return signature should be enough, and your frustration with the VFW seemed a bit misplaced, since they could not do anything to help you, without your POA on file. So I might rethink that and see it they can help you any further, because at this point, you are going to need all you can get. Talk about a can of worms.

Jim S. :)

[Guest Berta]

Did you possibly apply for Social Security Disability during this time frame?

If so the SMRs might well be at the SSA office.

Yes- by all means- add the heart condition to your claim---

"An MD convinced me I was mistaken in failing to ask for service connection of Atrial Fib and Coronary Artery Disease to my ongoing claim for AO DM11. I was scheduled for C&P's so formally requested postponement awaiting new information."

Has the VA formally acnowledged the postponement request?

Is this a private doctor and did he put this statement in writing?

This is excellent evidence to support the secondary service connected claim.

[jlshand]

Did you possibly apply for Social Security Disability during this time frame?

If so the SMRs might well be at the SSA office.

Yes- by all means- add the heart condition to your claim---

"An MD convinced me I was mistaken in failing to ask for service connection of Atrial Fib and Coronary Artery Disease to my ongoing claim for AO DM11. I was scheduled for C&P's so formally requested postponement awaiting new information."

Has the VA formally acnowledged the postponement request?

Is this a private doctor and did he put this statement in writing?

HI BERTA,

Didn't notice you had replied to this post before I posted again to you specifically this AM.

Yes I did apply to SSA and with the terrific help of a lawyer received disability. Since I had not been yet diagnosed with Diabetes, no mention of this was made in the SSA claim. The award was determined strictly on the heart problems and sailed through on first application! Amazing considering all the "crap" most go thru dealing with SSA (gee, does this sound like another federal agency we all know and love?) I figure it went thru because of the professional help of the lawyer and to me he was money well spent.

So...... don't suppose SSA had any rason to research my military records. Anyway I think that avenue which would have involved the hope that blood pressure /cholesterol readings then considered normal could now be considered pre-heart disease and used to build a case upon, is a dead issue in light of the records dissappearance.

My new cardio says he is willing, after reviewing the cardio info in my post military history , to OK a letter connecting the heart problems "as likel as not" to the then undetected DM11. I plan on writing the letter using as much of the accepted terminology and references as is advisable. (see my post directed to you please}

UH OH Despite my calling the intermediary who arranged the C&P's as well as the offices of the practitioners involved and of course the VARO in writing, I HAVE NEVER RECEIVED ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FROM VARO!!!!

PROBLEM????????

By the way the cardio willing at least at this point to sign on is a different Doc than the one who wanted to build a case on my old MF military med records. I thought that was a much longer shot anyway. One of the biggest hurdles is the fact that my heart problems were diagnosed prior to the DM diagnosis. Thats why I wanted to relate a couple of remands that appear to fit my situation.

On another board from which I have been banned for too much specifically attributed bad mouthing of the VA, a guy who was a rater told me that the sequence of diagnosis was not important in light of medical evidence conecting DM11 with my heart problems (CAD and 24/7 AFIB}

Sorry for endless speil ,thanks again for the advice and for any forthcoming. I know I still have a tough road to hoe