Coatsville Va Malpractice

[Berta]

COATESVILLE — Four veterans died due to medical malpractice at the Coatesville Veterans Affairs Medical Clinic, leading to more than $1 million in settlements with the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs, according to reports from The Center for Investigative Reporting.

According to the report, the government agency paid nearly $1.4 million to four families in wrongful death cases following treatment at the Coatesville facility.

Full story at:
http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140522/4-medical-malpractice-suits-against-coatesville-va-clinic-settled-for-1m

This story appeared yesterday.

It says:

"The lawsuits filed against the Coatesville facility are just four out of a reported 1,000 wrongful death cases filed against Veterans Affairs facilities nationwide and resulting in $200 million in settlements."

Unfortunately there are reporters jumping on the bandwagon, who,

if they looked into the situation more carefully, , would find more startling info than this....

[Pete53]

Makes me sick. If they do nothing else why can't they fix the VA

[Berta]

I am glad you jumped into this forum as the other posts you made,that I added to this AM , are not getting enough eyes on them.

They are in the pinned topic on top of Claims Research stuff:

I don't understand the acronym DFAS, regarding your issues.

Are you a retiree?

.

FTCA cases are filed against the VA but settled with the US of A. They are usually filed with the VA Regional Counsel who handles your VARO, and then often General Counsel handles many of those cases,

They have a SOL of 2 years after one is aware of the malpractice,one the SOL is the first thing they try to argue over.

Sometimes,it is better to file under Section1151,38 USC. No time limit for that. I have a 1151 pending , and they resolved one ,in part, in 2012

18 years after they killed my husband,

I filed the FTCA within 2 months after he died, so no problem there with the SOL.

I became aware of the malpractice based on what the coroner had said.

1151 claims are filed at the VAROs.

Plenty of info here. on those types of claims.

Do you receive any type of VA comp now?

Edited March 16, 2015 by Berta

[Berta]

159 BVA cases of brain damage under 1151.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Lawsuit+hematomas&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Statute of Limits (SOL) for FTCA was denied when this case was filed


http://ks.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.19931020_0000217.DKS.htm/qx

There have been FTCA/1151 matters involving hematomas, of different types and the VA.

You appear to have a valid 1151 issue (But I think you are beyond the Statute of Limits ... not sure..a lawyer could determine that...)

VA has no specific forms for 1151 claims.

Any VSO or vet rep should be able to help you file this type of claim.

Here is a template for a Section 1151 claim:


This type of claim rests on this information:

1.proof of malpractice/negligence by VA and

2. proof of a documented disability directly due to the malpractice, rated at 10% or greater.

All of that can come from a review of your entire VA medical records, by an independent medical professional,...in your case,preferably by a Neurologist.
Dr. Craig C. Bash ( a Neuro Radiologist) in my opinion, could certainly handle an IMO of this nature.

IMos can be expensive but are often the best investment many veterans can make.

I obtained 2 IMOs from him for what was technically an 1151 issue.

But I did not raise 1151 in this claim. I wanted direct service connected death award. It was a malpracticed issue I discovered (actually my daughter, a veteran discovered) after I had won FTCA wrongful death.

It was awarded as DMII due to AO exposure contributing to death. A direct SC death.

I did extensive research prior to obtaining the IMOs.And went over the medical records many many times to find evidence there of malpractice.
DMII was never diagnosed or treated but I found obviously more than enough to warrant paying for 2 that I knew would garner an award.

Sometimes what appears to be malpractice, often isn't.

In your case, they could have drained the hematomas and didn't. I dont know why.

But it would take a full reading of your medical records to determine that negligence occurred and then to determine what additional disabilities you suffer from directly due to the malpractice.

Dr. Bash and John Dorley his right hand man, have done MANY Radio shows with us.

There contact numbers are here at hadit ( I will post here later) and they are very user friendly.


We did a great radio show with them on October 22 2014 here and many more:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/haditcom

Just click on the blue arrow on the left and the show will pop up on your PC media player.

Their contact stuff is always in their shows as well as here under a search.

[Berta]

John Dorley's email is
benefitsagent@comcast.net

Dr. Bash is here:

Craig Nicolas Bash, M.D., M.B.A.
Neuroradiologist

7831 Woodmont Avenue Phone: 301.767.9525
Bethesda, MD 20814 Fax: 301.365.2589

myelinman@hotmail.com
drbash@doctor.com

Veterans Medical Advisor
Providing Independent Medical Evaluations
for Veterans

http://www.veteransmedadvisor.com/

[Berta]

I googled him and he has many affiliations with the VA, but as a private contractor, you would need a medical malpractice lawyer who deals with civil medical malpractice.

Unlike VA doctors he carries Medical Malpractice Insurance.

He can be googled at www.healthgrades.com.for his background.

There are plenty of malpractice lawyers on the net .

[Berta]

I am concerned that even a civil suit for malpractice would have a Statute of Limits that cant be applied here....a good malpractice lawyer would know.

Your profile says TBI.

Is a TBI what the hematoma surgery resulted from?

Do you have any SC rating now?

If so, what is it for and what are the percentages?

Do you have a claim pending with the Department of Veterans Affairs?

I understand DFAS but they are involved with established service connected ratings that could warrant CRDP or CRSC,

and their decisions depend on established VA service connected disabilities and time in service, etc.

Plenty here on these programs, available under a search.

But if you have a VA claim now pending for residuals of TBI and/or the surgery, hematomas, etc ( which I believe one of the links I posted mentioned hematomas can cause headaches,

every residual should be claimed as well.

VA has changed their forms recently for new claims filed, I believe after March 25, of this year.

The right form must be used and I still have not figured that out.

A lawyer I know who has helped many veterans , in email to a fwd to me, thinks this new form policy is already going to be messed up too. He mentioned something that I did here the other day.....as to those vets ,without PCS, etcwho have no way of knowing the forms have changed.

Geez, when VA messed up my daughter's very first claim ( veteran USAF) regarding her Chapter 35 benefits, she was furious, but that got fixed fast.

She was exasperated that they could be so stupid and cursed so much I thought she had re =upped, but into the Marine Corps, HA HA...

But I also said to her, Welcome to my World.

It seems whatever can be snafued or fubared, by VA, as likely as not, will be.

.