ptsd At War Again

[Guest Berta]

The DRO just sent me a 32 page SOC- to deny my claims!

HE only mentioned two of them -there were 6-

There are NO REASONS or BASES at all-

just pages of all the regs and persumptives!

Check this- they said under Evidence I had wriitten them letters-

I had sent them letters referring to specific medical evidence-right-

I sent them plenty of medical evidence from the med recs.

this is how I won my Sec 1151 and my lawsuit! Letters explaining the evidence I had enclosed with the letters-

AND CHECK this out- NOT ANY acknowlegement of Dr. BAsh's IMO or Dr. Rabiees IMO!!!!! whatsoever as evidence- there is no Reason or Basis so it isnt there either-

I was told by VARO they got this IMO in Nov 2004.

Then I emailed me vet rep to make sure they didnt lose it yet-a few months ago- and he did chech the c file as far as I know as it all left the DRO and went back in a day or two later-

If my vet rep didnt put it in back in the C file- I will see Monday if I can sue him-

Can you believe it- I am livid because I had an awful feeling something would go wrong- it did for many years in the past-they refused to even look at evidence and then if it was real good, they would lose it (but it all appeared in my c file)

I emailed the State of NY DVA and asked them point blank where is my IMO-

how could my vet rep in Buffalo VARO allow this to happen,with the email I had sent him-and even the local vet rep knew I had a good IMO.

Oh well- I sued the DAV but went into the wrong court-

If I need to sue NYSDVA or this SO by Monday I will know what is the right court -

That $2,000 IMO must be somewhere-

I have the VAROs email addy and guess the director is going to get a piece of my mind too!

I swear that billboard across from the VARO with my name on it has to come down

It is actually almost hilarious to see a decision based on NO facts at all-

Nothing- they gave NO reasons and No Bases for the denial!!!

This is absolutely ridiculous.

BUT the good part is- I am sending a copy of the whole damn thing to the Commission as well as the IMO they lost - now the commission can see what crap we claimants have to put up with-

I knew they could have argued that I am not a doctor -like they did before - on this- that is why I got the IMO-

but I sued them and won Sec 1151 without a doctor-and also the lawsuit.

yet this is, as I recall, the sameo sameo crapola they put me and the veteran through for many years.

I am really not worried about succeeding on my claims-but the VA PTSD sure came back-

I think not only the DRO messed up but

that SO messed up too-he has a boss- it is Gov. Pataki.

I will get this straightened out . Good thing I go to a war college-

these people need some civilian command presense to start kicking their asses.

Berta

[Hoppy]

Yep -and I believe they pick certain claimants to try to work over.

The DAV NSO who consistently told me I would never succeed on my two claims with them and the FTCA Tort against VA- well he did send support letters to the VARO on the claims but then he would call me and tell me I would never succeed and his letters were only what his job required.

If was WONDERFUL at our deposition to whip out my 2 award letters on those claims and also my financial settlement with the US 0f A for the VA causing Rod's death.

The DAV's attorney turned green and the SO excused himself quickly and some other lawyer told me he ran into the men's room and threw up. He came back into that deposition and had aged 20 years.

The VA query emailed me that my complaint was sent to VACO and I could add more to it and they gave me the link-

so I sang like a bird-

told them the DRO's job description which I have here calls for a review that does not depend or rely on the prior decision.

This SOC had the prior decision typed verbatim as the so=called de novo review. Nothing new in it at all. I also mentioned 3 specific ways she (the DRO) had violated not only 38 USC 5107 (a) but also had prevented my basic right to respond to the SOC. told them how she did that- wont go into the whole thing here though-legalize- VACO holds  the VA lawyers-

My kid said Mom how new is she- (DRO for about a month) and then my kid said mom -maybe she was the adjudicator who had made the March 2004 decision and then she was supposed to give me a de novo review as a DRO. So she couldnt reverse herself and copied what she already wrote before.

That is interesting- a conflict of interest perhaps to add to the firelines.

My kid is smart =the VARO already tried to screw her too.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Berta,

I always suspected that they did not like me. My previous explanation about the adjudicators not being used to a person with the severity of the symptoms was something I wrote without thinking it through. This is the real problem. I like telling this story. When I told it to people on the angioedema board I got swamped with emails from other people with this disease.

This disease I keep referring to as Angioedema has an interesting history. Since the 1800's the medical profession called the disease "angioneurotic edema". It is the only disease that I have heard of the has the word "neurotic" right in the middle. Until the 1980's the disease was considered a mental condition. It had a diagnostic code in the DSM III. With the development of modern medicine and the understanding of blood compliments and allergy testing the medical profession changed it's mind. It was dropped from the DSM IV and most doctors call it angioedema.

Low and behold when you look in the VA rating schedule they still call it "angioneurotic edema". When I was in the service (1968-1970) the doctors kept telling me I was crazy because I had this disease. They even told me they did not want to make references to it in my SMR because it could effect my chances for promotion. Eventually, one doctor decided I was not doing enough to change my mental state as to make the disease go away and he told my CO. There is actually a notation in the SMR when the doctor called the CO.

As a result of this I received significant non judicial punishment. I went from being a highly trained jet mechanic to a potato peeler. I went from 4 section duty to 2 section duty. I went from working 8 hours a day and 1 weekend a month to working 13 hours a day and no weekends off for 3 months.

When the adjudicators read my SMR all they see is some non combat nut case with a mental condition (personality disorder) who was punished and discharged for being a psycho. There was a VA employee who used to post to the board. I kept a post he made for years on the old board. He actually said "the VA HATES to service connect veterans who were discharged for "personality disorders or immuturity". Now when the adjudicators look at their rating schedule it hits them again they see NEUROTIC. It is real simple, in my case, this is a vascular disease caused by repetitious exposure to aromatic organic chemicals. It has no known cure. I have piles of medical evidence written by doctors who have specifically researched this disease. The information was very hard to find. Thanks to google, I found it. The VA got tired of me slamming them every time they turned around. They were successful in delayin the claim for 8.5 years.

[Pete53]

Berta:

When I went to my last Hearing the Review Officer had to recuse himself. It appears that he was the actual person who had written up my case the last time.

Anyway, the new Review Officer actually took the time to review the record and when the Hearing was over he told me that I had been mistreated and he would fix it. He promised an answer within 5 days and he did that.

So it does not surprise me that there are conflicts that turn up. To bad a Service Organization does not have the "balls" to audit a VARO to see what they are doing?

[Guest Berta]

Pete- sorry -I just got to this post- you are ALWAYS RIGHT!

And you defined the biggest problem vets seem to have- NO ONE has the balls to take them to task.

The DRO has my complaint as well as the Director of my vet rep org - I see the PO tracking email response shows they have received it at PO in Albany.

Tuesday my VARO vet rep did something for me (I had to email him what to do) and yesterday my local vet rep wrote down what he had to do next to resolve my problem and then he called back and said that was done-

(I cant believe how ridiculous that sounds) and yesterday via email and today via my complaint of discrimination, the Director of this state vets division knows what he has to do next.

The VA sent my VBA complaint to both the DRO and my RO vet rep.

In my complaint to Albany I mentioned that since the state funds my vet reps, and since they actually help vets (I enclosed copies of their report that includes figures of their claims new, re-opened, etc and the amount of money they told the Governer they say they got for vets in their report-)

they have to explain to me why I was treated differently then all other claimants whose POA they hold.

I am sending an FOIA letter to them today to 'audit' that report myself.

What is odd about it is that they listed

by category the types of awards they got last year totally 3,935

Comp 2941

Pension, vets 605

Survivors pension 144

DIC 104

Burial 140

Then :

Other 1

I am the "other" -this is further proof of the bizarre way they had discriminated against me-

no one even remembers or can find what the "other" means.

I havent told them it is me yet-an award letter- let them try to figure it out.

I have a parallel warfare situation-

VA and my vet reps-

The only way the vet reps can get out of this is to pressure the DRO to CUE my decision and then do this:

follow the DRO insructions page 2 and page three of what I posted at hadit the other day from M21-1.

And then they have to oversee her work and the back and forth "partnership" in the DRO job descriptions among the vet rep, the DRO, and me, the claimant begins.

I have not lost my claim- it is still awaiting a decision based on the evidence.

I am waiting for a real De Novo review.

I told them all I need something done by Friday because if I have the weekend to stew over this- my responses and tactics to resolve this will get worse.I dont care who gets on the hot seat.Or what I have to do to resolve this.

Why do we have to go through this crap- I started school on Monday and have not even prepared my work there yet-because of this-

Just like for my claims, I have prepared a new War Plan and will follow it through.

You have been supportive of me Peter for - DECADES- dear friend-

your support to vets here at hadit has always been unconditional and you sure give them the feeling right away that someone will help them and that they aren't alone.

They did check right away for me- this was not the same decision maker on my last decision- it was their newby DRO- three weeks on the job.

The DRO who had my claim in July took a vacation and then he retired promising to help her with my claim.

Obviously he never did.

I am stuck here to await their call or email and have homework and there is a BIG yard sale down the road from the VAMC-which they also have prevented me from going to- now that has really ticked me off-

As you know,Peter, I love you beyond what words could ever say . Berta

Edited September 22, 2005 by Berta

[john999]

Berta:

When I went to my last Hearing the Review Officer had to recuse himself. It appears that he was the actual person who had written up my case the last time.

Anyway, the new Review Officer actually took the time to review the record and when the Hearing was over he told me that I had been mistreated and he would fix it. He promised an answer within 5 days and he did that.

So it does not surprise me that there are conflicts that turn up. To bad a Service Organization does not have the "balls" to audit a VARO to see what they are doing?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My last De Novo review was just a rehash of the original decision. I put in an NOD on the origianl claim and, Lo an behold, two months later I had my De Novo Reviewna and a denial and an SOC. It was almost word for word of the orignial dedcision but even more scanty and incomplete. If I don't get a decsion in my favor in October I will send it up to the BVA and forget about it for a few years.

[Pete53]

Berta:

I am sorry that you have to miss things you want to do toaccomodate people who may or may not call. Maybe you should look into call forwarding to your cell phone not to miss the call.

Right now we are running around filling up our car as gas is tight and making arrangements in case we lose power. Fortunately I have family spread out all over North Texas and we can move to where there is power. We have been alerted to expect tornados Sunday.

In 1900 a hurricane hit Galveston and killed 8,000 to 12,000 people of a population of 36,000 at that time the largest City in Texas. There is a good possibility that there will be no more Galveston if this hurricane hits directly. I am very sad as my Family is from Galveston and we were planning a Family reunion the weekend after thanksgiving.

I am very worried about friends and family and my 2 Uncles and Aunt who have decided to stay in Houston and ride out the storm. We are going to keep several people in our house in Dallas as noone can find a hotel room.

[Guest Berta]

Peter- this is terrible -I will pray for you all- it makes my problems seem very insignificant- I better turn on the TV-

I thought I was looking at Katrina video on Fox -this AM- and now realise it was Rita.