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Perfected Ftca


sweeper68

Question

I filed a letter of complaint to BVAMC after suffering a heart attack and residual damage due to their (BVAMC) not addressing the diagnosis and complaint (non treament of a known condition for 3 years ). Instead of filing a complaint claiming an amount certain the VSO told me I could write a letter of complaint to the hospital but not to enter an amount for damages ! Of course they never replied to my letter.And I filed an 1151 within the 2years of my heart attack. It was denied after 4 years in the merry go round called adjudication. But strangely enough they awarded a 100% rating for heart shortly after learning where I was going with my complaint.. I did not even submit a claim for the heart ! anyway I filed an sf 95 (registered mail )shortly afterward and it got lost after waiting for a reply for 2 years and was told to submit a new one !! Yes! the ride is just beginning! I submitted a new claim( copy of original ) ,this time time they admitted reciept of the claim.I know the FTCA law stating you must notify the offending agency for a claim to be valid, so the question IS. do I stand on solid ground as far as procedure goes? My POA is the American Legion and my opinion of them is lower than a snakes belly ! Anyone with knowledge that could assist me would appreciated.. Sweeper 68 Vietnam Vet 67-68 Central Highlands

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I plan on going Pro Se and presenting my case face to face with the federal judge, if I can wade thru the procedural requirements, which I feel I can do!

sweeper,

I was sure glad I had an an attorney do my FTC.

From what I know - when you finally get to a Federal Judge - the court will probably order pre-trial mediation.

I would even want an attorney in there with me for mediation.

From the time we filed suit in Federal Court until everything was finalized, it took five years total.

jmho.

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I am totally confused.

Berta, I am too..

I'll try to lay it so it might be a little clearer. I filed a 1151 and FTCA claim in 2002.. In 03 I was awarded SC for CAD .(No claim was submitted by me for this) The FTCA claim was mailed via registered mail and signed for. Time marches by and I inquire about the status, they say it was lost and to file another one which I did. They jiggled my disabilty designation around for a few years from CAD to CVD and back finally to Post coronary bypass. They closed my 1151 claim with no reason given. Just said it was closed, period .I filed an NOD and asked for a de novo review and sought to get it to BVA, which never happened. I found out recently in talking to a VSO that they awarded the 1151 back in 05. I was not notified of this.. At this time I await reciept of the 1151 award if indeed he was truthful in his statement. Now, on to the FTCA claim, it is being processed by the VAOIG in my region, this is according to the VA atty. assigned to my case..She said I should be hearing from them soon.(2 months ago) soon in VA lingo could be 20 years!! This is a somewhat condensed version of the events that have transpired. but to ascertain what is actually happening is this, Delay, Deny and Confuse . the merry go round they love to spin a vet around on.. Hope this is helpful Berta!

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sweeper,

I was sure glad I had an an attorney do my FTC.

From what I know - when you finally get to a Federal Judge - the court will probably order pre-trial mediation.

I would even want an attorney in there with me for mediation.

From the time we filed suit in Federal Court until everything was finalized, it took five years total.

jmho.

Thanks for your input Carlie. but as Berta said most attorneys will not get involved unless there are millions of bucks involved. I even had one state that he had rather be speaking to my widow than me!! He was a class act for sure.LOL! I will have an attorney present if it gets to that stage,but his speciality is in Gen Practice not FTCA.

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I wonder if the VARO felt that the award of direct SC trumped the 1151 issue and they didnt continue to see the need to process the 1151.

But if there is an 1151 award letter-that should be sent to the OGC for the FTCA case.

What disability did they actually cause?

A wrong diagnosis is not necessarily a ratable 1151 scenario.

As you know I had both successful 1151 and FTCA claims.

I won the FTCA claim first. It was a privilege to deal with very tough VA lawyers who actually knew the regs and understood to a degree enough medicine to know my claim was valid.I even had good dealing with the VA's top CArdiologist.

Long story there-she first denied the claim and then when I found what the RO had deliberately kept from her- she gave a scathing report to the OGC on multiple malpractices which caused the veterans death.

I could not get that report until they paid me off.about 6 month later I won the 1151 claim.

.

This is the point am making.

The Section 1151 award letter was a devastating rendition of the actual malpractice.They laid t out briefly but it was chilling to see in a VARO document- the VA 's admission of wrongful death.The award letter still gives me chills.

BUT even though I settled with the USA (you dont settle with the VA under FTCA but VA handles the payment)

the VA settlement papers always contain NO admisson of guilt.

My long point here is if there is a Section 1151 award letter you never got, and if it is anything like mine as to their admssion of malpractice, then that should speed up your FTCA case.

There is NO established procedure at all for a sharing of info between the VAROs and the OGC on 1151/FTCA matters.

All evidence for each case must be sent to the entity handling the case. What I mean is that a FTCA award does not mean a 1151 award is 'automatic' and vice versa.These are two separate issues but I do mean that the evidence can be used in both ways for an award.

This was when I realised that the VA would deliberately withhold evidence from another part of the VA.

We have to submit it to both VARO and the OGC ourselves if these 2 types of claims are filed on the same malpractice situation.

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I wonder if the VARO felt that the award of direct SC trumped the 1151 issue and they didnt continue to see the need to process the 1151.

But if there is an 1151 award letter-that should be sent to the OGC for the FTCA case.

What disability did they actually cause?

A wrong diagnosis is not necessarily a ratable 1151 scenario.

As you know I had both successful 1151 and FTCA claims.

I won the FTCA claim first. It was a privilege to deal with very tough VA lawyers who actually knew the regs and understood to a degree enough medicine to know my claim was valid.I even had good dealing with the VA's top CArdiologist.

Long story there-she first denied the claim and then when I found what the RO had deliberately kept from her- she gave a scathing report to the OGC on multiple malpractices which caused the veterans death.

I could not get that report until they paid me off.about 6 month later I won the 1151 claim.

.

This is the point am making.

The Section 1151 award letter was a devastating rendition of the actual malpractice.They laid t out briefly but it was chilling to see in a VARO document- the VA 's admission of wrongful death.The award letter still gives me chills.

BUT even though I settled with the USA (you dont settle with the VA under FTCA but VA handles the payment)

the VA settlement papers always contain NO admisson of guilt.

My long point here is if there is a Section 1151 award letter you never got, and if it is anything like mine as to their admssion of malpractice, then that should speed up your FTCA case.

There is NO established procedure at all for a sharing of info between the VAROs and the OGC on 1151/FTCA matters.

All evidence for each case must be sent to the entity handling the case. What I mean is that a FTCA award does not mean a 1151 award is 'automatic' and vice versa.These are two separate issues but I do mean that the evidence can be used in both ways for an award.

This was when I realised that the VA would deliberately withhold evidence from another part of the VA.

We have to submit it to both VARO and the OGC ourselves if these 2 types of claims are filed on the same malpractice situation.

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Berta.. My 1151 and FTCA are based on failure to treat.. I posted all these untreated conditions on an earlier post. I'm thinking like you that they felt the Direct SC for Coronary Bypass at 100% would negate their liabilty.. wrong! I have residual heart damage and am nowhere near the physically strong individual I was prior to my MI. I worked in the construction field most of my life and could outwork men half my age! Now, I get exhausted and tire very quickly and take several meds to keep going. But above all I'm a fighter and have the tenacity of a bulldog ! LOL. But back on the topic, I know the VA does not share info to or with other VA dept's. The VA atty. handling my claim told me as much.. That's OK I'll share.. Sweeper 68.......

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