Va Supervisor Threatens Me

[Cruinthe]

So I pass out cards and generally BS with my fellow veterans when I am in the VARO waiting area. I spoke to one young man about his case. After the conversation, a VA supervisor walked up to him and loudly warned him to not listen to my advice, and not to talk to me at all.

Fast forward to today, I went in to the VARO to clarify an issue about my DRO hearing. I asked the same VA supervisor about the conversation he had with the young man, and I was warned again that I may not speak with anyone while waiting at the VARO.

Anyone have any feedback on this?

[john999]

Hey, we goyum resent that!

[Hoppy]

This topic becomes more interesting as we go. Now I have a lot to say. I will start off real slow then run right off the deep end.

Here is the big issue that I am addressing in this response. Can veterans service officers and advocates work together on a single claim?

As a result of my many varied experiences with service officers and any other individual who wants to offer advice on VA claims I do not put any weight onto a person credentials or lack of credentials. I personally was thrown out of the offices of the DAV by the office supervisor. He screamed and yelled at me over the desk red-faced with spit flying out of his mouth that I was wasting his time and to get out of his office. I guess the DAV supervisor thought he was an expert on systemic diseases. I walked down the hallway and got a new service officer from the California Department of Veterans Affairs who knew a little more about systemic diseases than the DAV supervisor. The new service officer listened to what I had to say for about two minutes then looked at one page for my service medical records and told me he would fight my claim all away to federal court. A couple years later he got me 100% from a DRO. So basically it really depends on who you're talking to more than what their credentials say.

In the present case we are confronted with an individual who calls himself an advocate yet is lacking specific service officer credentials. I really do not find a problem with this. It did not sound like the individual who calls himself an advocate was actually telling the veteran not to get a service officer. It sounds like he was trying to work in conjunction with the service officer. As a matter of fact this is exactly the situation I find myself in. There is a slight difference. Most of my efforts involve development of medical issues and rather than go to the RO I actually go to the medical center and talk to the doctors and the patient advocates in the hospital system for the purpose of developing evidence. There is a large problem in the VA system with bogus C&P exams and raters playing doctor. Only recently have I found myself going to the RO. I am not certified by NVLSP. However, I am a certified fraud investigator. During my certification I was taught how to develop and present evidence for civil litigation, Worker's Compensation and Social Security claims. Additionally, I have worked with board-certified clinicians in developing evidence for all of the disputes that I was trained for and specifically I have worked with VA clinicians in writing reports for VA claims. I took an undergraduate pre-med program while in college. I completed all the core classes for a Bachelor of Science in psychology. What I learned working worker's compensation claims is that only a incompetent attorney would allow a case to go to court with one report developed by a doctor chosen at random. They work with a doctor of their choice.

In the past I have gone with the veterans to VA clinics and actually talked with the doctors for the purpose of generating medical reports. This has been a hit and miss situation. Some of the clinicians will talk to me and some will not. There have been cases where they initially talked to me and write reports and then later refused to continue their involvement. I also work with non-VA clinician on a fee basis. These clinician listen to everything I have to say and do their best to write reports the way I request.

Most of you know me from my posts on hadit. However, I also receive referrals from VA clinicians and a Social Security attorney . In all cases I tell the veteran to obtain a service officer. I then try to work from the sidelines developing the evidence. I recently ran into a case where I felt it was necessary to talk directly with a service officer and explained to him how to develop the evidence for a claim. The veterans claim was denied and the service officer sent the veteran a letter explaining that he felt the claim was resolved in the best interest of the veteran. There were three letters from treating clinicians which were ignored by the raters.

The VFW office had four employees. There was a secretary, two service officers who worked on initial claims and one service officer who specialized on appeals. When I went into the office there was one service officer who respected what I said. The other service officer thought he knew something about the medical issues. We had several disagreements. This service officer refused to submit evidence I brought him or appeal based on the adjudicational errors that I identified. Eventually, I brought the guy a report from one of my doctors and he agreed to submit it . The report I brought him resulted in the veteran being service connected. However, the claim was not properly rated because of the evidence the service officer previously refused to submit. The report that I talked him into submitting only addressed the issue of initial service connection. After the veteran was service connected both I and the veteran went to talk to the service officer to thank him for working on the claim. We also wanted to talk to him about the low rating. The veterans service officer was very rude to me the minute we sat down. We had a very short discussion during which the service officer reminded me of my lack of medical credentials. At which time I had to remind him that I was the guy who knew the medical issues and got a clinician to write and IMO that was a slamdunk report for service connection. The meeting went sour real quick. It became obvious to the veteran that the reason he had been given a low rating was because the service officer did not submit all of the evidence requested by the duty to assist letter. The veteran asked me to type up a letter explaining his dissatisfaction with the service officer. The veteran took the letter I gave him and gave it to the office supervisor and fired the service organization.

So now I'm going off the deep end. The entire VA system involving service officers, veterans benefits counselors and compensation and pension examinations was a mistake from the beginning and continues to make veterans second-class citizens in the world of disability compensation. The problems identified in my claim and the claim of the veteran who I had helped were the result POA's and advocates who do not work closely with medical examiners. I was lucky that the service officer I found at the California Department of Veterans Affairs took undergraduate premed classes and understood the medical issues in my claim. In my opinion POA's, service officers, advocates and credentialed service officers should be limited to file cases where medical evidence is not an issue. If the case requires a C&P exam or new material medical evidence the case should be handled by a private attorney . This is because private attorneys only get paid when you win. Relying on a medical examination performed by a clinician chosen at random results in too many bogus or inaccurate reports. I would recommend to any veteran who has a medical issue that they obtain the services of an attorney who has decided to represent VA cases and who will refer you to a clinician of the attorney's choice for the purpose of developing the medical evidence. If you talk to an attorney who does not work with reports from clinicians of his choice then keep looking until you find an attorney who does. If this fails then I would recommend you go back to the good old screwed up VA system of service officers and compensation and pension exams.

Edited August 13, 2010 by Hoppy

[Cruinthe]

"Can veterans service officers and advocates work together on a single claim?" Awesome question

Its unreal how NSOs fight over veterans like a pack of vultures on a carcass. If the well being of the veteran was truly at the heart of the matter, then anyone that could assist in that regard would be given a chance to toss in his two cents.

Anyone remember the stories of the dark ages where only the priests could actually read, so the content of the Bible was only understood by a small number of self-appointed elite?

But, now that many can read, the secrets of the Bible are laid out for anyone that wants to find them.

In the end it is a battle between those that want to enhance and spread knowledge and hope, and those that want to corner the market for their own petty gain.

[Hoppy]

One last after thought. It became obvious to me after filing my own claim and seeing how messed up the VA system was compared to other disability systems that I could not let my education go to waste. The doctors and lawyers who were in charge of my vocational rehabilitation decided that I could not work under labor law. There logic was that someone with stage IV angioedema caused by a colorless gaseous hydrocarbon that is found around any construction or building maintenance project should just stay home.

This one claim for one veteran I met while fishing on a pier has required at least 200 hours of my time. The claim was a slam dunk. Unfortunately, the veteran did not have any financial resources and I tried to involve his VAMC treating clinicians and service officers. The VAMC clinicians and the service officer ran me and this veteran around in circles for almost two years. I got in arguments with every treating doctor the guy had except his primary care doctor. Unfortunately, the raters did not think the primary care doctors opinion counted because he was not a specialist.

The claim went on for five years and was denied four times. The veteran had two different service organizations give up on the claim. When it was awarded the DRO indicated that the IMO I obtained justified service connection with full supporting logic.

Edited August 14, 2010 by Hoppy

[johnjjr]

Cruinthe,

A very wise man once said, "Walk softly and carry a big stick". However,in your case, this old redneck would suggest that you walk softly, but bury that stick and then forget where you buried it. In other words, forget that big national news story and all your hoopla. The only thing you will accomplish is your 15 minutes of fame and then a lifetime behind the 8 ball for you and any vet you attempt to help. It is far better to work in the background and accomplish much than to stand in front yelling and accomplish nothing. For every lousy VSO. there are many exellent ones who work tirelessly to help vets with their claims. And granted, the system is far from perfect. If it was, we wouldn't need VSOs, now would we? You and your news flash won't change a thing. A year down the road, everything will be status quo except for the fact that the VA will be watching you like a hawk.

JMHO

[retiredat44]

I get the feeling I may annoy my vdo a little bit, maybe because I try to get to much time with him, also sometimes I question what his methods are.. I really, really respect him and the organization. I do fully understand that he knows what he is doing, and works hard.

My questions and pushing is because my case is very, very complicated with many, many overlapping issues. Also, since many years have gone by and feel cheated by not getting more when I needed it.. I wish I knew a lot more about the process. I wish I knew more about what I should have done.. and how to do it.. I have a feeling I may have not stated al my issues properly.. it's just I am so sick I am unable to think straight..

I alwasy stick up for VSO's as they must have a very ddifuclt job and can only listen and read what a veteran is going through.. unless I can state my case properly.. and sho him documents backing up my claim, he cannot do his job tot he fullest. Since the doctors do not always give us a clear diagnosis, we can only give the vso what we get from doctors, and everything else we feel, is only our say, our opinion. Which stinks because sometimes what we feel is not what is documented..

As far as some Veteran's office, or VSO get's upset at us for talking,, there better be a damned good reason.. if soemone actually cuases harm by telling soemone to do something wrong.. then the vso should be calm and rational and explcain why he is not happy with someone.. no one is a mind reader.. I did have some doctor yel at me once, and I let it go,, I have no idea what his problem was,, he was my primay care many years ago.. I never reported him..

I think I have had only two rude people in 15 years. the other was when an x-ray office at the VA was scheduling me an appointment, and they told me to shut-up when I was trying to figure out an appointment.. I wish I could put my disease in a needle and give it to some people.. they would really be shocked about the suffering... I really think some people have never suffered.. and they have no clue the feeling they pass on to soemone that is really, really sick.. somone's bad attitude who is there working for us, and is suppose ot help, could trigget somone to kill themself.. if they screw with someone that is on the edge,, and all it takes is for one crazed employee to trigger a bad result..

Having to navigate the VA and trying to get medical help and go through legal hoops is to much for a sick person to endure by themselves..

Myself, when I go I get all cleaned up, and glue myself together, and go there for a couple hours, and it's like acting and putting on a show.. in reality I am suffering, sick, in pain, and just have enough energy to go to an appointment, get back home and rest until I h ave ot show my face again..

Where a health sane person can go to those offices work and stay 40 hours a week ... if they see me for 15 minutes, they only see me for for the best 15 minutes I have out of the week or month.. and if someone screws it up by being nasty to me, it's devastaing..

Of course if they did have access to my medical records, the 'progress notes' show my daily life when I was living in the ward for six months.. if they don't know they might think I hobble off, go home and have fun.. not back to laying in bed sick until the next visit..