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Hep C From Vamc Laziness

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Bigred122

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I hope I'm doing this right. back in 1997 I had a colonoscopy done at Boise VA Medical center. Two days later I had to go to ER due to excessive bleeding. I was losing approxiamately 1 cup per hour.Surgeon wanted to leave early that day (11 am) and discounted how much I was bleeding out.He ordered an IV be installed, but failed to order any fluids for the IV. If either of these would have been done, I wouldn't have needed 4 units of blood the next day. Eight months later, I was notified by State health dept. (not VA) that I had tested positive for Hep C. I was told at that time period that I had no recourse for any compensation.Last summer, I noticed that the Vets from Florida who contracted Hep C from colonoscopies had received free medical, 100% disability and were being determined individually if more disability would be warranted. I had the unusual P&C physical last month and haven't received any red flags to date.Part of me expects floor to drop out from beneath me by past experiences with VA. Then part of me says that it is a new VA and things are different.I am glad this new generation of Vets are being treated differently than what us VN vets dealt with. Which side of me is more correct? I did a search before I got courage to write this.Thank you in advance for any and all advice!! Mike

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Bigred- I certainly didnt mean you in a post I made here this AM on 1151/FTCA issues.

I commend you for using the internet to research your conditions.I did extensive medical research for my FTCA and 1151 claims and sure wish I had the internet then as it is now.

The net made my last claim in 2003 much easier- and that claim involved a malpracticed condition that I did not see in the original claims.It never appears at all in the med recs so you can imagine I needed a lot of research on that one and I ended up getting 3 IMOs to make sure I would get the award I sought.AO diabetes causing death. The diabetes was the additional malpracticed condition.Per NVLSP they had never seen a claim like mine.

Leg work pays off.

Based on your posts it even looks to me that they might have inappropriately treated your diabetes.But I am not a doctor and a good IMO doc would be able to tell if they did from your clinical VA records.

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Bigred- I certainly didnt mean you in a post I made here this AM on 1151/FTCA issues.

I commend you for using the internet to research your conditions.I did extensive medical research for my FTCA and 1151 claims and sure wish I had the internet then as it is now.

The net made my last claim in 2003 much easier- and that claim involved a malpracticed condition that I did not see in the original claims.It never appears at all in the med recs so you can imagine I needed a lot of research on that one and I ended up getting 3 IMOs to make sure I would get the award I sought.AO diabetes causing death. The diabetes was the additional malpracticed condition.Per NVLSP they had never seen a claim like mine.

Leg work pays off.

Based on your posts it even looks to me that they might have inappropriately treated your diabetes.But I am not a doctor and a good IMO doc would be able to tell if they did from your clinical VA records.

You folks have been such great help to me, feel free to use me as a good/bad example. I yesterday I ordered every note taken during the time period I was in the hospital in 1997. Hoping to get serial numbers of blood so that I can trace them. I was specific yet fague enough as to hopefully not draw any attention to what I was doing. Who do I contact to get medical records of when I was in the service. I know that they aren't with my regular medical records. I thought they would be combined, but they never have been. Since my claim on Ebenefits says AO claim is closed, yet I haven't received any denial letter on it, I want to gather all my additional evidence on it when I get denial letter. I plan on giving the records dept a couple of weeks before I have them gather everything on my graves disease, thyroidpectomy,diabetes and all the other cyst that they have removed from head to toe.I'd like to be able to gather as much info without drawing any attention to myself.Since I have now contacted about 6 lawyers about my claim and not 1 has answered me. I guess they only want the easy ones.lol I even contacted Mike Sheppard, the attorney representing the Florida Vets on their Hep C cases.Been a week no response yet. So I might be on my own . When you say IMO in the thread, what are you meaning? I thought it was InMyOpinion,but that doesn't look right in this post.lol Any way Thank you again for everything!! Mike

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sorry-by IMO I meant an independent medical opinion.

Sometimes we say IME Independent Medical Exam.

We have an IMO forum for advise on these types of opinions.

If you had proven exposure to AO and type 2 Adult onset diabetes mellitus -I am surprised they denied the DMII claim.Astonished!

Can you scan and attach the denial as to the part where they put their medical rationale and Reason and Bases?(cover personal info)

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sorry-by IMO I meant an independent medical opinion.

Sometimes we say IME Independent Medical Exam.

We have an IMO forum for advise on these types of opinions.

If you had proven exposure to AO and type 2 Adult onset diabetes mellitus -I am surprised they denied the DMII claim.Astonished!

Can you scan and attach the denial as to the part where they put their medical rationale and Reason and Bases?(cover personal info)

Sorry if I confused you. On the Ebenefits site under status of my claim, the section for AO only has a closed date of 12/22/10. I have never received a denial letter as of this date. I figured they will send that when they reach a determination on the rest of it. The only letters I have received was inital acknowledgement letter of claim and a letter notifying me of an up coming physical exam. Any suggestion on how to track down people I served with? I've spent all morning to track down platoon to see if anyone else has had any AO related medical problems. Us old Vets hide in plain site pretty good.lol Now to just play the wait and see game.Waiting for records, lawyer to respond, VA to determine main claim.Even found a place in Alaska where I use to fish while in High school that is a potential AO site( Fort Greely,AK) That stuff has seemed to have followed all around the world.lol Thank you again!! Mike

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Finally got a response from a lawyer and I was somewhat right.They only want to do tort claims and of course mine has expired. And there is not enough money in 1151 claims for them to mess with. So looks like I'm on my own with the 1151 claim. I went ahead and gave them some more documentation on my AO claim and asked them to take another look at it before they send me a denial letter on it.Ordered some more info from record dept. Trying to find my old primary DR and see if he will support me since they(VA) forced him into early retirement and he wasn't happy about it from letter I got stating his retirement.Hoping to track down members of my platoon to see if any of them have had any similiar health problems. If I give VA their name and Last 4#'s of SSA , will they give me an address or can I get the info from SSA? I am sure glad I found you folks online and I Thank you again for all the useful info you have given me. Hopefully I will see the day that the VA gives up and approves one of my claims if not all of them. If not I'll just be another vet living on the streets that they will have to deal with me that way! Thanks for everything! Mike

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Where were you exposed to Agent Orange?

You need to have a documented disability that is on the Agent Orange list.

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