Administrative Silence,

[Josh]

Administrative Silence,

Good Afternoon Hadit Members,

I have not posted messages to this board in a considerable amount of time BUT needed to come back here to get “you all’s” advise.

My claim goes back years but it seems the VARO in Texas has not forwarded my claim to the BVA for review as per a message from IRIS. They keep on overlooking the obvious errors that were made in diagnosis, which forced me to literally fly to Colombia, South America to get treatment and survive. The ORIGINAL MRI Films, which I submitted, have seemingly been mislaid, and even my contact at the VFW which is my POA does not answer my emails anymore. I have been filing appeals all the way along and still they do not look at what I send nor acknowledge t hey have received it. I have a copy of all that was submitted which is a 3- ring binder of information, PLUS the MRI’s in digital form and a receipt notification. How can I “bop” somebody and get their attention?

Does the VA have a process which moves a claim out of a seeming “Administrative Silence Zone “and gets it back in the path to finish. I have posted the claim several times here including the MRI Copy for others to see. Berta has been helpful in the past with her input but if there are others…..Carlie (Hi Carlie) or more who may be able to get me their secret to getting their stuck or frozen claim moving, please tell me what it is.

It seems there was the name of a process that can be initiated but the name escapes me at this point. If anybody knows the name please post it!

Also what to do about the “mislaid Evidence?”

Thanks all, Respectfully… Joseph (josh)

[carlie]

Hi Josh,

Good to see you around.

I think what you are looking for is a "Writ of Mandus",

Berta will probably chime on this, if not you have the term now,

to research.

Concerning the “mislaid Evidence”, the new term being associated with it

these days is "spoliation".

Are you saying that your VARO in Texas was supposed to certify your claim

to the BVA five years ago and has yet to do so ?

Have you ever recieved a docket number from BVA ?

I thought your claim had been at BVA a few years.

carlie

[LarryJ]

You might also contact your US Senator's Boulder, CO, office and ask for the Congressional VA Laison person that works out of the Senator's office.

Then contact them, and let them know what you've been going through. You'll have to sign a form that allows them to delve into your file and act as your rep, kinda like if you have a veteran's service officer. They'll mail or fax the form to you.

I've seen that type action work very well for a "stuck" claim.

They'll actually call and talk to the VA (they have all the "secret" numbers to call :) ).

[Hoppy]

“They keep on overlooking the obvious errors that were made in diagnosis, which forced me to literally fly to Colombia, South America to get treatment and survive. The ORIGINAL MRI Films, which I submitted, have seemingly been mislaid,”

I am in a fog. Hopefully if you explain your situation, a little more progress can be made.

Have you had a C&P or was it denied without a C&P?

If it were my claim I would look into the mandamus option. Also, I would do more to get a doctor to back up your claim. Medical evidence wins claims and moves claims through the process. . My claim involved a problem where doctors used different diagnostic terminology for the in-service condition and the post service condition. I wrote letters for years telling the RO about the problem. They did nothing until I got a letter from a doctor stating that my in-service condition was the same as my post service condition.

Who said that there were errors in the diagnosis? If it was not a doctor who backed up the diagnostic errors I do not see how they can even consider that there was an error. If you make unsubstantial claims of misdiagnosis and send them evidence they do not request and ignore something they do request then they might put your claim into limbo until you or your service officer figure out that they asked for something and you did not provide what they asked for.

I am rather suspicious of your submitting original MRI films. Who did you give original MRI films to? Did they request them? The RO would not know what to do with them. MRI’s are read and the interpretation is turned into a report. The reports would tell the RO more than the original films.

The big problem I see is that the VA asks for the name of the doctor who treated you they do not ask for the films. If you submitted films and forgot to fill out a standard form notifying them of the doctors who treated you or this information was not included with the films they might be waiting for you to provide this information.

[jbasser]

You may have to return to the US and find an attorney.

J

[broncovet]

Josh

I think you need to file a "Special Claims Handling" request before November of this year. It sounds like you are another victim of shredded documents. Yes, your VA Regional Office can shred this request as well, so send it certiifed mail, return receipt requested.

You are not alone on the VA shredding your evidence..it is very common. You can read about it here:

http://www.vawatchdog.org/VAshredderscandal.htm

For more information on what to do about the VA shredding your evidence, see this article:

http://www.vawatchdog.org/09/nf09/nfmar09/nf031509-3.htm

I would also file a complaint with your VAOIG, because Regional Offices just tend to ignore these requests, whenever possible.

[Pete53]

Writ of Mandamus as per Carlie. The VA has to do something as it gets the Court to look at them.

Good Luck

I guess that you are dealing with Houston VARO