Sf 95 - Johnbeckham87

[johnbeckham87]

Berta

Can you give some advice if I have a SF 95 claim.

I was found to have spina bifida in July but the va diagnosed a back sprain to fit the 10% they gave me in august. I was not aware of the spina bifida but complained of symptoms ( uti's, loss of feeling in legs and neck pain which caused a secondary disability . The non treatment of the symptoms affected my work performance and caused me to miss work which caused me to be fired. Since the va was aware of this but did not treat me because they assumed it was a back sprain would this miss diagnosis be considered mal practice?

[Berta]

“Since the va was aware of this but did not treat me because they assumed it was a back sprain would this miss diagnosis be considered mal practice? “

You quite possibly would have a 1151 claim and also could file a FTCA claim as well. However FTCA settlements are offset by any 1151 comp awarded.

FTCA and 1151 claims both require the same evidence:

1. documented proof of malpractice /negligence, and then

2. proof of an additional ratable disability resulting directly from the malpractice/negligence.

Who finally diagnosed the Spinal bifida? The VA?

This is a very important point:

“The non treatment of the symptoms affected my work performance and caused me to miss work which caused me to be fired.”

Documented proof of that would be evidence of a favorable 1151 potential 100% award (or potential FTCA settlement)

My husband had a stroke in 1992 that VA finally rated under 1151 last year at 100% P & T.It had stopped him from being able to work as well as VA Voc Rehab could not allow him to continue college.

He also had 100% PTSD SC and they have to pay 1151 comp separately and in addition to SC comp.

The best thing any vet can do, who believes they have been malpracticed on by VA, is to get a copy of their entire VA med recs and then get an IMO ...Independent Medical Opinion.

An IMO might be costly and might not support any finding of negligence....but if not, you would have piece of mind,knowing the care was proper.

In your case,however, a strong IMO might well support a 100% rating under 1151 because it has caused you to become unemployable.

There is a lot of info here on FTCA and 1151 and also I advise getting a lawyer for FTCA claims and also to prepare the SF 95.

I filed both ways and used my wording on the SF 95 for both the 1151 and the FTCA case.

I think there is a template for some of the proper wording here at hadit.

You need to prove that the standard medical community would have diagnosed the spinal bifida sooner and treated it based on the same medical principles the VA medical professionals should have known.

That was the easiest part of my FTCA and1151 issues.

I sure wasn't a doctor but after doing a lot of medical research I knew I could prove that the VA didn't come even close to the standard medical community in properly assessing my husband's symptoms and then properly treating his stroke.That was over 20 years ago and the are still paying for their negligence and their admission that they caused his untimely death.

A lack of proper diagnosis can also mean a veteran has been improperly medicated if not medicated at all. Part of my claims involved proving that due to VA's lack of proper diagnosis of his IHD, (they diagnosed a heart attack as a sinus infection) they prescribed a med he didn't even need, and that med compromised his undiagnosed heart disease and also his HBP.

Malpractice ,over time, undetected, can also have a snowball affect. If the VA buggers one disabling problem, chances are they could be seriously messing up something else too, medically, and their screw ups can be fatal.

.

[carlie]

johnbeckham87,

I moved your post and set it as a new topic.

This way it does not intrude on the original poster.

[jbasser]

California does have TORT guidelines.

You should read up on these laws.

J

[Berta]

YES! Jbasser is right.

Tort reform laws in the past years has limited the proceeds from FTCA cases in many,if not all states ,by now.

You are still within the FTCA Statute of Limits for filing FTCA,based on what I see here, but often a vet is better off with filing just under Section 1151.

I mentioned here many times of a vet friend I helped get 100% P & T under 1151 but advised him of the FTCA as well.

He felt he would not be able to hold onto the FTCA cash well and preferred the monthly 1151 comp check instead.

The claim went fast and I knew there would be little BS from the RO. Actually there was no BS at all.

Malpractice ,obvious from the med recs, and so bad that it potentially shortened his life and would have killed him.A VA doctor properly diagnosed him after many years, and that VA doctor saved his life, after many VA doctors failed to treat him properly

Years after that, he finally claimed PTSD and got a nice retro and spent practically all of it in one weekend,buying a new car and then taking a n trip.

His case shows that a SC disability cannot impact on a 1151 award, as I mentioned here when I won 1151 a little over a year ago.

However, in cases of an FTCA offset, (as I explained in this forum sometime ago) for what VA deems as a NSC disability , "as if" service connected" under 1151,is that

if a claimant can prove that the 1151 should be in fact a SC disability too, they can get refund of any offset VA might have made to their 1151 comp or (in my case ) 1151 DIC award.

Although I have the only documented VA case like that, which I am aware of, I am sure others might have succeeded that way too.

FTCA....the SF 95 must be filed within 2 years of knowledge of the negligence.

That is explained in more detail in this forum.

Section 1151....no time limit at all.

In 2012, I filed an additional 1151 claim for additional malpractice on my husband, by VA, that occurred beginning in 1988.

[johnbeckham87]

Where exactly did you move it to I can't find it lol?

And I have an update I file the sf95 on Jan 3 2014 with stating the medical negligence of the named dr. Not telling me I had spina bifida (if they say the spina bifida is something your born with than it was aggravated by service and should have been caught at MEPS or while in service when i got x rayed) which affected me at work caused a secondary neck condition and resulted in me being fired (not being consistent at work due to my sc disability and having to go to therapy, my small company job didn't like me missing work even saying no one told you to join the military and made my life hell eventually telling me to go be treated on a Wednesday and had my termination papers and last 2 paychecks delivered in the mail the day I returned.) I contacted the VA and was found entitled to vocational rehabilitation, during vocational rehab it was found my disabilities prevent me from completing the program and maintaining full time work. Therefore proving my point that my service connected disability regardless of name or what it is found to be caused me to lose my job.

[johnbeckham87]

Is this sufficient and sorry for posting here I couldn't find the other post