Berta And Morgan

[jlshand]

I would like to thank you for the help you provided as I "assembled" my additional claim package.

It appears to be a literal work of ART, with everything except Christmas tree ornaments adorning its glittering text!!!!!

There are multicolored stickums connecting references to attachments, italics, underlining and bold lettering and sometimes all THREE at once to highlight key points!

There are pertinent references to specific BOVA citations relating DM11 and CAD and AFIB as well as the Framingham studies.!

There are specific references to three court decisons and at least five more references to sections and subsections of 38 C.F.R !

There are highlighted copies of stress EKG's, echocardiogram and a fine ,tho not technicolor, representation of my heart catheterization.

There is even a specific reference to an alternative to METS measurement from the VA's own Cardiovascular Systems training manual (THANKS AGAIN MORGAN)

Finally there are two physician reports supporting the connection between DM11 and cardio problems. Both are board certified, one my internist, the other a cadriologist. BOTH SPECIFICALLY USE THE TERM " it is as likely as not" to connect causally the diseases.

I think the rater will have to be an out and out JIHADIST to screw this one up!!!

Still in a very perverse way it will be fascinating to see the potential creativity of the blessed folks who have established a record of having 46% of their decisons remanded by the BOVA!!!!!

And I have very few illusions that despite the meticulousness of the presentation I am in for a long protracted battle.

I intend to hand carry the package to the Houston VARO sometime next week.

Thanks again

[Guest Berta]

This sounds GREAT!!!!

The Framingham study- YES- I have used that for a claim too----

This was a lot of work you did--- and even with good IMOs I believe in taking the additional steps you have taken to support them further with more evidence-

I am sure that your hard work will pay off-

I wish disabled vets did not have to do all this-but it can often be the only way to succeed.

The color copy of an autopsied heart I used in my claim was pretty gruesome but I see that you used similiar referenece specific to your catherization. Great !

I also think that highlighters, colored labels, anything at all that makes a claim stand out can be very effective. I made a colored brain diagram denoting the actual places of my husband's brain injuries due to VA misdiagnosis of his strokes-

they only properly diagnosed one stroke-he had about 7. I attached the MRI stuff to it.It was quite an eye catching diagram supported by VA medical evidence.

If I get one more decision that again overlooks my IMOS (sent in Nov 2004)I have chartreuse and hot pink PC paper to submit them on again. As it is now they are copied onto the back of all correspondence I send to the VA.(I have sent them about 12 times)

I just hope you do not go through what I am going through-

My vet rep cannot understand it because my claim is so solid-twice he was told by the DRO and VSM that they would consider my IMOs- but they didnt-

when I contacted the IG, I think they learned how to read real quick-because alot has suddenly happened -I just dont know what yet-it is with an authorization guy.

but I DO understand it- been thru this before for 3 years with them-

as long as they can ignore probative medical evidence -they dont have to pay any money-

You have made their job easy for them-

I feel the more evidence a vet sends,in a good order like yours is, then the more evidence some GS employee has to support a good claim decision.

I think they are actually afraid to make awards sometimes.

[jlshand]

This sounds GREAT!!!!BERTA

What you are going thru is unconscienable!!!! Also very scary in what it tells me about the unbridled power of this agency!!! It is hard, real hard not to be conspiratorial when you see stuff like what you are going thru with them!!Hard not to believe its just all laziness/ incompetence or even overwork! If they are relly so backlogged, why not act immediately on a claim as well grounded as yours and take another step towards reducing the backlog?

Is there a subtle direction in the atmosphere at the VARO's to deny delay, die??? Really makes you have to ask yourself even if you are not paranoid leaning, like I AM

I hired a lawyer first thing with my ss disability claim and it sailed thru first time. AMAZING! No further med check ups or anything. If it was allowed with VA I'd consider it money well spent.

I know you prefer keeping things at the VARO stage and you probably have answered this a million times, but, have you considered appealing all the way to where you can be represented by legal counsel?

It'll take understood a long long time but undoubtedly be called in your favor. HOW, HOW can they possibly get away with overlooking IMOs????? My G_D!!!!!!

Not sure how I will go after the inevitable first denial in Houston (of the service connections, not the DM11)

The Framingham study- YES- I have used that for a claim too----

This was a lot of work you did--- and even with good IMOs I believe in taking the additional steps you have taken to support them further with more evidence-

I am sure that your hard work will pay off-

I wish disabled vets did not have to do all this-but it can often be the only way to succeed.

The color copy of an autopsied heart I used in my claim was pretty gruesome but I see that you used similiar referenece specific to your catherization. Great !

I also think that highlighters, colored labels, anything at all that makes a claim stand out can be very effective. I made a colored brain diagram denoting the actual places of my husband's brain injuries due to VA misdiagnosis of his strokes-

they only properly diagnosed one stroke-he had about 7. I attached the MRI stuff to it.It was quite an eye catching diagram supported by VA medical evidence.

If I get one more decision that again overlooks my IMOS (sent in Nov 2004)I have chartreuse and hot pink PC paper to submit them on again. As it is now they are copied onto the back of all correspondence I send to the VA.(I have sent them about 12 times)

I just hope you do not go through what I am going through-

My vet rep cannot understand it because my claim is so solid-twice he was told by the DRO and VSM that they would consider my IMOs- but they didnt-

when I contacted the IG, I think they learned how to read real quick-because alot has suddenly happened -I just dont know what yet-it is with an authorization guy.

but I DO understand it- been thru this before for 3 years with them-

as long as they can ignore probative medical evidence -they dont have to pay any money-

You have made their job easy for them-

I feel the more evidence a vet sends,in a good order like yours is, then the more evidence some GS employee has to support a good claim decision.

I think they are actually afraid to make awards sometimes.

Edited March 5, 2006 by jlshand

[Guest Morgan]

You are so welcome, glad I could help. I think you have done a great job, and I believe you will be posting a success story on hadit.

I wasn't paranoid at all until this past year. Now I'm sure a jihadist is lurking somewhere. You're right, the VA can be very creative in denying claims, even with bells, stickers, or foghorns to get their attention about the facts! I did much the same with my husband's last claims, then said to him, "They will have to walk over reams of law and regulations to deny these claims." They did.

They have built-in clauses that essentially say, "These are the regulations, but the final decision is at the rater's discretion." For instance, they are not to ask a C&P examiner to comment about whether a veteran has functional loss of use of a limb. That decision it up to the rater! How crazy is that? The only reasonable explanation for that is if the examiner writes that the veteran has functional loss of use, then the rater would have less discretion to deny on some petty point.

It seems that "reasonable doubt" is too big a concept for them, and "preponderance" goes way past their in-house dictionary. Certainly, if a claim is too complex, then without question, deny is the action of choice. If they were a computer, they would need a new motherboard and processor, and for sure, more RAM. (I think Berta's claim totally blew the computer!)

Still, a well-documented claim eventually will prevail. Sounds as if you have done a great job pulling this together. After you submit the claim, treat yourself to something nice as you wait. Do all you can to push it out of your mind until you get the rating decision. Anxiety about claims can suck the life out of life. Expect good news.