diabetes Roanoke- Disgraceful

[Berta]

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/01/mili...stakes_012010w/

Rick Maze -of Army Times summarized the IG report here- I have had problems finding the right report at VA Watchdog-

will check later-

I think this deficient work is becoming the status quo at many ROs and I wonder what-if anything- could result from these findings- are the vet's informed their claim can be re opened due to errors?

The DM II CAD vet who was initially denied because they didn't "properly consider" his IMO- does the IG realize that too is SOP for MANY MANY vets and widows.

I am outraged by this stuff and I know you all are. We are literally being victimized by incompetents.I also wonder what follow up the IG will do as to their findings and recommendations to Roanoke.This is one big reason that vets should never give up their claims as there could have been many errors that -if they had not occurred- would have possibly generated an award.

I get livid over AO vets denied due to errors-I told NVLSP 2 weeks ago I fully believed that VA was still starting to deliberately manipulate AO claims in order not to pay them as they got caught doing in the late 1990s.They know how this was done in my case recently but I sure cant be the only one-But what motivation could they have? or are they just plain dumb.

With medical proof of a documented AO disability and proof of exposure- an AO claim could take mere seconds to be decided and then follow through with the award paperwork.

AO is one sole chemical entity that has disabled and caused the deaths of thousands and thousands of vets.For Decades-since the war. The VA has no other single disability I know of except may for PTSD that has caused so much damage (as well as serious additional complications and medical issues) as AO has caused to exposed veterans.What motivates the VA to award AO comp to a vet who wasn't exposed to AO at all and then try to steal comp from a real AO vet.

Steal is a strong word-

but if you deliberately take something that legally belongs to someone- that is theft in my book.

It almost sounds like they made a deal with a SO on this situation- as hard as that would be to believe.(yeah right-some of these errors have got to stem from collusion -as an SSOC I have- revealed in my opiniopn and I made a stink with OGC on that.

I wonder if these IG reports actually get results on the specific claims they find have been done wrong.I guess I should ask the IG directly about that (and ask when they are coming to inspect the Buffalo VARO)

In part the article from Rick reads:

"Investigators looking at claims processing at the VA regional office in Roanoke, Va., found that 25 percent of the case files they closely studied had serious mistakes. Some veterans were denied benefits they deserved, and disability compensation was given to others who were not eligible"

"In one case, a veteran was underpaid $21,857 because the claims staff did not properly consider a physician’s opinion that coronary artery disease was a complication of service-connected diabetes.

In another, a veteran was overpaid $15,640 for a diabetes-related amputation below the knee that he said was related to exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. His claims folder contained no evidence that he had served in Vietnam, the IG report says."

"The report, released late last week, found similar problems with claims involving traumatic brain injuries."

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<a href="http://" target="_blank"></a> "Thirty percent of the desks inspected contained information that should not have been left unsecured. Investigators found six boxes of unsecured returned mail, about 4,200 pieces in all, containing personal information on veterans"

Edited January 21, 2010 by Berta

[broncovet]

Jerrbilly

There is an entire website of Veterans who are seeking benefits because they were infected with Hep B and C with improper military vaccinations, tho I am very glad they used a clean needle on you. Fortunately, it does not happen to all veterans, or even most of them. But, even if it happens to one, isnt that too many?

http://hcvets.com/AskNOD/index.html

I cant get the above link to work..shucks. Try http://hcvets.com

A quote from the hcvets website:

The VA Testimony before the Subcommittee on Benefits Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives, April 13, 2000, Gary A. Roselle, M. D., Program Director for Infectious Diseases, Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, state, "One in 10 US Veterans are infected with HCV", a rate 5 times greater than the 1.8% infection rate of the general population."

A study conducted in 1999, by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), and involving 26,000 veterans shows that up to 10% of all veterans in the VHA system tested positive for hepatitis C.

Edited January 24, 2010 by broncovet

[jerrbilly]

Yes, once is too many but we have to remember that the VA Healthcare System is the largest of its kind. I believe these to be isolated incidents that are media driven to make people believe this is happening all the time or happening across the board when it isn't. Also, this stuff happens in the private sector too, not just the VA system.

Jerr

Jerrbilly

There is an entire website of Veterans who are seeking benefits because they were infected with Hep B and C with improper military vaccinations, tho I am very glad they used a clean needle on you. Fortunately, it does not happen to all veterans, or even most of them. But, even if it happens to one, isnt that too many?

http://hcvets.com/AskNOD/index.html

I cant get the above link to work..shucks. Try http://hcvets.com

A quote from the hcvets website:

The VA Testimony before the Subcommittee on Benefits Committee on Veterans' Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives, April 13, 2000, Gary A. Roselle, M. D., Program Director for Infectious Diseases, Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, state, "One in 10 US Veterans are infected with HCV", a rate 5 times greater than the 1.8% infection rate of the general population."

A study conducted in 1999, by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), and involving 26,000 veterans shows that up to 10% of all veterans in the VHA system tested positive for hepatitis C.