diabetes Eed

[frosty69 0]

I have a question, I filed for a earlier effective date for my diabetes, and was denied, the VA reason is. (Your effective date would not change even if an earlier diagnosis of your diabetes had been made.) I think the VA is wrong is this ruling, but does anyone know for sure. then they say that Entitlement for compensation for a EED for compensation is denied because the evidence fails to establish that VA medical or educational services were the proximate cause of additional disability. I received a 20% rating for diabetes effective December 2002, but asked for a EED back to 1994, as it says in my medical forms, that I was diet-controlled with diabetes from 1994 until December 2002, but the trouble is, no one at the VA told me, that I had diet control diabetes, I was told in 2001, that I was borderline diabetic, but that was the first time I knew about the diabetes. I was approved for 10% for the right lower extremity, and 10% for the left lower extremity for peripheral Europa in the same letter that I was denied for the EED, that I received today, no more money, but this might help for my housebound/ A&A, that I filed a while back, and was denied and have appealed again. I am also service connected for panic attacks with agoraphobia, so you don't automatically make it easier to get housebound when you have this, like some have been saying on the forum.

[Berta 4,216]

If this was a agent orange claim- and you had diabetes and were denied in a claim prior to the DMII regs date (May 8, 2001) you certainly should push for more retro-

See Nehmer Retroactive awards for Agent Orange claims- at the NVLSP web site.

It appears you filed a Section 1151 however for not being diagnosed properly with diabetes.

My claim is quite similiar to yours.

"as it says in my medical forms, that I was diet-controlled with diabetes from 1994 until December 2002, but the trouble is, no one at the VA told me, that I had diet control diabetes"

Does the VA have those records? How did they address what the records revealed?

Diabetes is known to be undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. This is why the ADA criteria has changed for glucose readings.

In my case Dr. Bash found evidence that my husband had never been disagnosed properly by the VA and that it caused his misdiagnosed heart diease, and strokes, and contributed to his death. The VA examiner -who never saw his IMo or any of the veteran's med recs except for 3-4 blood reports, provided no rationale nor did she explain why the veteran, on a feeding tube, unable to eat or drink, had significant high glucose records and end organ disease consistent with diabetes.

I won a much more difficult Section 1151 claim without an IMO,in 1998, proving the heart and brain damage and my husband's death was due to their misdiagnoses.

Bit I strongly suggest that only a good Independent medical opinion can help resolve your claim.

I always suggest Dr. Bash for IMos unless you have a private doctor who can support your claim.

But it is quite possible that the VA did not give you negligent care-

what additional disability did their failure to diagnose you earlier cause you?

That is the key to Section 1151 claims.

If a failure to diagnose and treat a disability or disease causes additional disability this is what they are looking for.

Any IMO will want to see the complete med recs to include all blood chemistry reports and any OGTT and HBIAC test results.

And proof of the additional disability that their error caused.

Section 1151 claims:

Proof of medical error plus proof of additional disablity resulting from that error= Section 1151 award.

In my case-if this helps:

"Multiple" medical errors ,"all" of which "hastened the veteran's death" That is my Section 1151 statement from the VARO.The award letter statement is based on the two facets of Sec 1151 claims-

proof of misdiagnosis and proof of results of those misdiagnoses.

Edited September 23, 2006 by Berta

[john999 978]

What I found with my AO DMII claim is that until someone at the VA actually makes the DMII diagnosis nothing happens. The VA doctors kept saying pre-diabetes and so on which is not a diagnosis. Until I filed a claim for DMII and got the C&P exam the VA would have done nothing and I never would have been rated for DMII. The same was true of the PN in all four limbs. Until I filed for it I got nothing and then I had a battle to get it secondary to the DMII. You would think that you would have an implied claim but that is not the VA way. You have to tie everything together and file a claim before they act. The vet is left to connect the dots.

[frosty69 0]

Berta

Yes, it is Diabetes, related to Agent Orange, in my large extended family, I am the only one with diabetes, as I am the only Vietnam Veteran among them, so feel that Agent Orange has something to do with it. The trouble is I never filed a claim prior to 2001, didn't know I had diabetes until Dec., 2002, I was never told I had diet controlled diabetes since 1994. I just happen to read about it, when I got a copy of my medical records, to this day, no one has told me I had diet controlled diabetes until Dec 2002. The VA says in their denial that according to the American Diabetes Mellitus Association, (1999), criteria for a diagnose of diabetes mellitus is made following plasma glucose, 2 overnight fasting levels of 126 mg/dl, then it says review of the evidence does not that that I met the criteria previous to your diagnosis of diabetes. The exact wording in the medical records state that my diabetes was diagnosed per file in 1994, he was diet controlled until January 2003 he has been treated for elevated triglycerides back to 1992-93. so he has several fasting labs, documenting his glucose control, over the last 10 years, his most recent AIC was 5.2 in April 2004. His micro albumins have been negative. His creatinine is normal, I received this copy of my medical files in the fall of 2004. then the VA says that they haven't receive any evidence to support my claim that your diabetes should have been diagnosed and treated earlier, they don't to seem to take into account the copy I sent them of what I wrote above as evidence of any sort, I also claimed that my blood pressure problems have gotten worst on account of diabetes, I had some sort of a spell in 1992, where I collapsed, and to this day, they are not sure what cause it, and this was at a private hospital, where I had all the tests done, I was put on a blood pressure pill then, but ever since about 1995, my blood pressure problems have gotten worst, now on 4 different blood pressure pills, and still blood pressure is high, and the VA DOCTORS SAY THERE IS NOT anymore they can do to control my problems. I still get spells, where all of a sudden my back starts burning, I start sweating, feel nausea and weak feeling, these episodes last anywhere from a few seconds up to several minutes, and usually resolves themselves, as I have been hauled in my ambulance twice to the VA, but by the time I got there, everything was back to normal, so was sent home, they never try to find out may be causing these attacks. now my oldest daughter (35) has had one of these spells, and now this morning my youngest daughter (25) called and said she had one this morning, and was wondering if they are hereditary, I feel they might be from agent orange, but no way to prove one way or another. Yes I filed a 1151 claim, but when the VA seems to ignore the evidence not much a person can do to prove anything. Yes the VA has the records, as that is where I got them from.

they acknowledge they receive the medical records, but no comment was made about them,

With only Medicare for insurance, I can't really afford to get a Independent medical opinion, but might have to try anyway, if that is my only recourse.

[Berta 4,216]

Frosty- I know more about diabetes than I ever thought I would-but I am not an expert-and

I am not a doctor but based on your HBIAC, creatinine levels, negative albulmins-etc it appears to me that the VA might well have considered you as possible risk for diabetes based on the tryglyceride levels, a red flag which might and might not indicate diabetes.

It does not appear to me that you did have diabetes that far back- so I wonder why the med recs say you did.

But again I am basing this on the work I have done regarding diabetes and I am not a doctor.

The spell you had-----this is more concerning-

did they give you complete EKG work up and also an MRI?

Have you had any cardio work ups since?

I would sure get a second opinion from a real doc on the HBP-

The VA failed to give my husband adequate HBP medication and it was a contributing cause to his death.

Lisinopril -forget the dosage-

VA Central Office stated it was way too low of a dosage to have any affect at all on his HBP.

One other question- do you have allergies?

[frosty69 0]

Berta:

This was back in July of 1992, I was standing talking, and wham, was on the ground before I knew it, didn't pass out, or have chest pains or anything, my wife hauled me to the nearest Doctor 40 miles away at a nursing home, this was down in south Dakota, out in the boondocks, where we were working at the time, anyway got to doctor, my blood pressure was 220/110, this was a doctor at a nursing home, so they got on the phone, was going to fly me to Fargo, ND, which is close to my home, but both their air ambulances were on call somewhere else, so I got flown down to Sioux Valley general Hospital in Sioux Falls, SD, instead, had every test known to man, finally had a tilt table test, which I failed, as I just about passed out, so they figured I had something wrong with my central nervous system, they said it was really rare, spent 3 days in the hospital, put me on a blood pressure pill, cost my insurance 25,000 back then, that was when i was still working, went home for 2 weeks, rested up and back to work driving truck, had a couple of episodes, went to the VA, they switch blood pressure pills, but still had some problems, then never had any trouble for 8 years, then started up again, but not as bad, have been adding different blood pressure pills ever since. now on Atenolol,(50 mg tab) Diltiazem (120 mg tab), Lisinopril (40 mg tab), and Furosemide (20 mg tab), I was on 2 Lisinopril for 6 months, but didn't help the blood pressure problems, so got switch back to one a day plus 8 other pills for other ailments, yes have have had many cardo workups since, had one about 10 months ago, everything was ok then, they told me yes I was giving a complete EKG work up and also an MRI? I have a blood pressure machine, but if my blood pressure is up, then get all excited, which makes everything worst, so don't even checked it anymore, because even if it is up nothing I can do about it anyway. when I was out to the VA in Washington, DC, for the WRIISC program, they checked out everything, and they told me, everything was fine, with the pills I was getting now from the VA, being this was the

my allergies are Septra, Fluoxetine, Sertraline, Vioxx., plus I feel I am allergic to a lot of other things, but never have been tested, but trying to get the VA to do it, but have been doing a lot of other doctoring for other things, so they haven't set me up yet. went in for their weight management program they brag so much about, what a joke, all it is, they tell you to write down everything you eat, what is healthy, hell have been eating healthy for many years, and I don't have to write things down, to know I eat to much, I eat from stress and boredom mainly, not from being hungry.

Edited September 23, 2006 by frosty69

[Berta 4,216]

I hope your meds are not contraindicated by each other- what I mean is some meds have a bad reaction with other meds.

In my Sec 1151 claim I proved that the sudafed prescribed by VA for 6 years for Rod (who I discovered had NO sinus condition at all -in VA X rays etc) was contraindicated by the HBP meds they prescribed.

The lisinopril was a low and inaffective dosage and the sudafed they made him take made his HBP raise even more.

Sudafed was an additional VA med that they said contributed to his death.

I proved that a "sinus" attack he had -when he collapsed while working at VA was a "silent heart attack" which is possible in veterans with diabetes.

It was easy to prove once I could read his EKG and the med notations in the med recs.They covered up his heart disease again in 1992 ,while he was hospitalized with a major stroke, another chance to diagnose and treat it but they didnt and I found out recently how they covered up prior med errors that they thought no one would ever see.

When someone in their 40s drops dead suddenly -their spouse should really look into their care. It is still a shock to me because we thought he was getting better and all they were giving him was B12 for numbness (PN),aspirin for headaches,and the lisinopril and of course the sudafed-for a sinus condition that I found he never ever had.

It might pay to really go over your meds real good to see of something you are taking is conflicting with the HBP meds and making them inaffective. It can happen and it can be disasterous.

[john999 978]

Berta

You are talking about a subject where medical malpractice occurs at an alarming rate. My "real" Internist MD outside the VA system always asks me after the says hell-o "Tell me every medication you are taking". The VA never does this ,although I like my VA doctor ,I never feel that I am getting the professional care I receive from my private internist. There are many vets who take 10 to 20 different medications. You cannot tell me that all the multiple interactions and possible interactions are being recognized by the VA. I just don't believe it. When you go to the VA you need to be forearmed with medical information from a source you trust who has no reason to cut costs. I think when you go to the VA you are always risking your life to some extent. That may be harsh but that is the way I feel. I hear these guys from the VFW and AL and DAV praising the VA medical care and I have to laugh. No way would I go there for serious treatment unless I was destitute. Except for my AO exam I have never had what I would call a complete and comphrehensive exam at the VAMC in the last ten years. The AO exam identified my diabetes and PN and no other doctor ever pointed this out to me or even mentioned it as a possibility. My AO doctor is no longer at the VA.