Frustrations Of An Arkansas Gulf War Veteran Widow

[kimmig]

My husband died on 29 October 2011. A few days after his death i received in the mail an answer to his upgrade request which was "we have denied your request for upgrade on your back" . I had my son take me into the local veteran service officer and i requested to file an appeal of the decision. The service officer went ahead and filed the appeal HOWEVER when the regional office got it the service officer called me to tell me that "the claim died upon death of the veteran". He told me that he would send me the paperwork to file for DIC...He never not one time mentioned anything about substitiing myself for my husband. Could i have substited myself for my husband to go ahead with the appeal? Also not one time did anyone mention filing an 1151 claim.

Now i am sitting here with a denied DIC because of this:

1. Husbands death due to mixed drug intoxication complicating recent lumbar surgery-

service connected back surgery 26 october 2011

2.released to home on 27 october 2011 va pharmacy filled and va doctors prescribed oxy,valium,sleeping pills filled on same release day. also va doctors had him on hydrocodiene ,tramadol,flexeral among others. all active prescriptions.

3. died in his sleep on 29 october 2011

4. filed in early november appeal to VA on denial for back upgrade. filed at the county veteran service office.

5. November 2011- Regional office called me sent me documents to file for DIC telling me the claim died when husband died

6. 23 november 2011-filed DIC with DAV mobile van

7. jan 23 2012- receive in mail letter requesting additional information. due date one month from 23 jan 2012.

8. feburary 2012-call to regional office. feburary 17, 2012-sent to wisconsin documents such as updated death certificate,autopsy report, medical records, and pharmacy records. sent by certified mail. documents picked up by va rep on 21 feb 2012, timely.

10. march 2012-call to regional office-still cant tell me anything POA not in system

11. april 11 2012-call to local county service office-spoke to service officer-told me he would check into it-spoke to him again on 18 april 2012-he forgot about me, forgot to do what he said he would do.

12. april 18 2012-call to regional office-poa stil not uploaded-cant tell me anything-but she says she will check on it

13 april 23 2012-receive letter from regional office requesting wisconsin upload POA

14. april 27 2012-receive in mail letter denying me DIC with a deniel date of 19 April (day after regional office contacted them)

The DAV has totally dissapointed me. Any suggestions anyone?

[kimmig]

update

call to dav- poa is finally uploaded....they can "now" see whats there. had to leave message for call back. my case has been assigned to the director....whhhhhhhhhhhyyyyyy?? am i trouble????? i am not trouble, i am just asking them to do what anyone else would expect them to do for them as a veteran myself and as a widow of a service connected Veteran.

my husband served his country for 23 years, he utilized his well earned VA medical benefits and he is now dead, druged to death among other things....my Gulf War Veteran whom was healthy when he was deployed to the Gulf, whom six months after returning had elevated liver enzymes, which was unexplanable and upon death at the age of 43, had an enlarged heart,enlarged liver, enlarged spleen,carotoid arteries,30% blockage,lung congestion and 14 ACTIVE prescriptions to include oxy,valium,flexiral,zoloft,hydro,tramadol,gabatroipim for nerve damage,sleeping pills ....need i say more...??

[kimmig]

i will NOT be silent about any of this. My husband doesnt have a voice therefore I am his voice. I want to see that this over drugging of our Veterans Stops AND that there IS accountability for these physicians actions. Prescribing sleeping pills,valium,tramadol,oxy,hydrocodoine, to my husband was nothing but a death sentence. This is happening more and more and this has to STOP!

[Pete53]

I pray that you get the benefits that your husband earned for you. It is shameful that the VA is so obstinate when it comes to paying just claims.

Good Luck

[hawkfire27]

Hi Kimmig,

Thank you for your post. It is good NOT to be silent about these things.

I met my Vietnam Vet husband in 2006 and married him in 2009. During this period of time I sat down and looked at his medications with him. 25 different prescriptions!!!!!!! Since we married he is now only on 6 medications daily and is currently weaning himself of his last painkiller hydrocodone. It has been hell but phsycially and mentally he is doing much better than when I married him.

I found an excellent pharmacist to go through medication interactions etc. And had to figure out what medicines he could take together and which ones he couldn't. It was discovered he was on a dangerous cocktail and his liver would have been shot if he kept going like he was for much longer.

He now has fatty infiltration of the liver (his liver is 5 times the normal size) due to his extended history of taking cholestrol lowering medication with diabetes and associated medications. It is just crazy, and now that he isn't taking some of the more dangerous medications it is a fight to get them to do liver blood tests regularly to monitor his liver condition(so bad we are now seeking medical care outaide the VA)......

VA drives me crazy!!!!!!!!!!

I am sorry for your loss, but I am proud that you have the courage to continue the good fight and are getting your husbands story out there. Too many vets say "oh no not another pill" and just add it to their daily pill taking regime, when they really need to be making sure that it is safe for them to be taking with their other medications, what exactally the new drug is for, and paying attention to the results after taking the drug. If the drug isn't doing anyhting then STOP taking it!!!!!!

So thank you Kimmig, I hope you manage to find someone willing to help with a 1151 claim, who is knowledgable on the subject. You might want to think about ringing the Yale Law School. They have a free veterans law program there and someone might be able to help you.

Edited May 4, 2012 by hawkfire27

[kimmig]

Here is my dilemma. please help me out there. i am slowly sinking....the VA enrolled my husband into a pilot program called Project Hero, This program was established to take care of veteran medical needs and get them to a care provider if the va couldnt provide the services. the doctors are federal contracters apparently contracted thru Humana. They have to meet the same regulations as a federal employee and they are "supposed" to provide the same standards of care. So a federal tort claim can not be pursued apparently because they are contractors. i am just about broken. how can this be.

now i am sooo afraid that the VA is going to come back on my DIC claim and say well, it was a federal contracter whom prescribed the drugs that killed my husband and deny it....

[Berta]

Humana can be sued for malpractice:

http://www.pnhp.org/news/2005/july/jury_awards_74_mil.php

This is the Veteran's Administration's contract under Project Heroes with Humana:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41065.pdf

While a fairly new program, Project Hero offers medical needs, as I understand the contract, under “Fee Basis”.

I assume your husband was getting this fee basis care directly due to his service injuries and that is why VA referred him to a Humana HMO.

The law office which won the above case against Humana is identified in the article.

“Jury Awards $7.4 Million in Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Humana HMO”

--------------------------------------------------------

Also Section 1151, 38 USC , part 11701 (b) it states:

under 3 b:

“3) The term “facilities of the Department” means—

(A) facilities over which the Secretary has direct jurisdiction;

<a name="3_B">(B) Government facilities for which the Secretary contracts; and

1. 
   public or private facilities at which the Secretary provides recreational activities for patients receiving care under section 1710 of this title. “
   

In your case it appeared to me your husband was sent via a fee basis arrangement to a Humana HMO.

That does not alleviate,in my opinion, the VA's 'responsibility ' here, but I have no idea whether VA itself properly treated him and then the real medication problem was caused by this HMO.

I again suggest getting a vet rep for the Section 1151 claim. But again, I do not know (and it would take a complete review of his entire medical records) who actually caused his death-VA or the HMO.

You might have to seek a lawyer with malpractice experience against Humana- such as the law firm in the article.

This certainly might need a strong independent medical opinion too.

Someone has to pay for this, if your husband was malpracticed on.

The Humana contract might well have a loophole in it but it also should have information in the event of an unforeseen death or injury.

If medical care is changed,to another provider by fee basis arrangement with VA which is not unusual at all, and malpractice occurs as a result of that fee basis arrangement , then

someone has to pay for the malpractice.

Have you spoken to anyone familiar with the FTCA laws as well as the Project Heroes contract with VA?

This has become beyond the realm of the types of FTCA matters here at hadit.

Also please keep in mind that 20 lawyers years ago told me I didnt have a case against the VA.They were all wrong.

But these days there are plenty of malpractice lawyers on the internet, many who have dealt with (and won) cases against VA.

I have no idea at this point who really caused your husband's death-

was it really VA medication error, or an error of the HMO?

The answer to that is who actually can be sued . I dont know -based on the info you posted here.

I referred you to Bergmann and Moore and here is a long list of malpractice lawyers in your state:

http://www.hg.org/law-firms/Medical-Malpractice/USA-Arkansas.html

And certainly the law firm who won the big Humana settlement as referred to in the article link.

1151 claims are different than FTCA cases so that claim needs to be filed and pursued too,in my opinion,in case the VA was negligent and not the HMO.