Question To Vets: Have You Had A Va Doc Give You Legal Advice? Discourage Your Claim? Lie To You? Please Post Here And Tell Me About It.

[Crist.esq]

Hello everyone!

I am attempting to do some research on a topic that I think is far more pernicious and harmful to us than the entire recent VA scandal. I am a vet and I have represented several vets who have had several similar complaints to my own. Doctors and other VA medical staff have given out legal advice, discouraged disability claims, and are generally acting inappropriately (and arguably, illegally).

I am trying to determine if this is a widespread enough issue to warrant further investigation.

Specifically:

Have you had a VA Doc give you legal advice?

By this, I have heard reports of VA Doctors and medical staff say things along the lines of "You shouldn't add <insert new disability> to your claim because it will take longer to get your decision!" or "You already have 50%, if you get <another disability> rated at 30%, it will not increase your total disability rating!"

This is, arguably, illegal conduct (unauthorized practice of law) or at the very least, harmful to us vets. So please tell me if you have had a VA medical personnel tell you what to do or what not to do with your claim or give you any other advice that you believe may be legal advice.

Discourage your claim?

Have you had VA medical center personnel discourage you from making a claim, appealing your claim, or anything else that is discouraging? Perhaps something along the lines of "You already have a 50% disability rating... why do you need more?"

Lie to you?

I have heard stories of doctors directly stating lies or misinformation ranging from: "You cannot sue the government." to: "You're at 50%, if you get another disability rated at 30% it will not increase your total rating..."

Please tell me your stories!

Thank you in advance.

[john999]

I had a senior VA psychiatrist who was treating me say I would never get more than 30% and I am TDIU P&T with Housebound SMC for the last 13 years. I did have a doctor who did my Agent Orange Exam tell me to file for the conditions he listed. I did file for those conditions and got them service connected eventually. The thing is that the VA ignored the AO exam and gave me a effective date of about five years later. Why bother to get the exam if you have to file for it using more medical evidence and go for a C&P exam? Back in 1997 I had a C&P doctor write that I was faking my symptoms because I had a college degree in psychology.

John

[Crist.esq]

I had a senior VA psychiatrist who was treating me say I would never get more than 30% and I am TDIU P&T with Housebound SMC for the last 13 years. I did have a doctor who did my Agent Orange Exam tell me to file for the conditions he listed. I did file for those conditions and got them service connected eventually. The thing is that the VA ignored the AO exam and gave me a effective date of about five years later. Why bother to get the exam if you have to file for it using more medical evidence and go for a C&P exam? Back in 1997 I had a C&P doctor write that I was faking my symptoms because I had a college degree in psychology.

John

Hey John, thank you for your responses. You bring up a very important point. I'm concerned about both good legal advice and bad legal advice - both are illegal.

[Navy04]

I was medically retired last year at 80% VA. My local VSO said that I would not get higher than 80% because I was 31 and well built and good looking, no joke. Less than 7 months later I was 100% VA, SSDI approved in less than 10 weeks, and VA pays my wife to be my Care Giver. My last Psych C&P exam a few months back, my PTSD was upped from 30 to 70%, and the Examiner actually wrote in the exam notes that she did not know why I was not already 100% for PTSD alone. There are just too many Variables in the VA, as there are Opinions in this Drowning World. Good luck and sorry to hear of your stressors bud.

[Berta]

The biggest gripe I have had with C & P doctors is the fact that strong IMOs can often overcome their findings in a negative C & P and then
Benefit of Doubt should kick in.

IMOs can be very expensive and yet are often the only way many claims will ever succeed.

Faulty and speculative C & P exams can add years to a claim, and the documented remands at the BVA web site reveal that fact.

What bothers me the most is that C & P doctors also provide medical care to veterans. If they don't do a C & P properly, which an independent doctor could overcome with a full medical rationale, how the heck can they give proper and adequate VA health care ?

But when I read your post I realized.I had heard all the stuff you mentioned, not from C & P doctors but from my former vet reps...except this:


"have heard stories of doctors directly stating lies or misinformation ranging from: "You cannot sue the government."

I heard that one from multiple lawyers in NY state many years ago. I sued VA under (FTCA) for wrongful death of my husband without a lawyer ,
and I won.

These days there are plenty of malpractice lawyers on the internet,with experience in suing the VA.

"I am attempting to do some research on a topic that I think is far more pernicious and harmful to us than the entire recent VA scandal."

Me too, but a very different type of research.

But I am not seeking info directly from vets, or their survivors , I am seeking it from the VA itself to follow up something I wrote to the H VAC about (and to the IG and the FBI) with some initial evidence of my charges. I already have had a very fast VA FOIA response with exactly what I asked for, but that info is only part of the puzzle.

If you use FOIA to VA in your research ,I suggest you add this statement at the end of the FOIA:


"I also request expedited handling of this FOIA request due to the public's right to know this information, in light of the recent House Veterans Affairs Committee hearings that have been prompted by the Phoenix VA death incidents."

That statement sure worked for me, so far, with VA Central.

The worst C & P experience I had ( I did get IMos to overcome some negative C & Ps , and also knocked a few down myself)

was that the RO deliberately withheld my most critical evidence, not only from the C & P doctor, but from the Strategic Health Team-VA. in DC, and the OGC , as they attempted to deny my FTCA issues.

In the SSOC they parsed the exam results and left out the doctors last 7 or 8 words of the actual exam.

I called up the C & P doctor raising hell only to find he was unaware of the evidence they had withheld from him and he was very angry over it because his medical rationale in the SOC was false, but yet not his fault.

He read the actual C & P exam results to me over the phone ( far different from the SSOC) and sent me a copy.....

and that claim took a few more months but was awarded,

As long as the decades of a standing conflict of interest continues with VA C &P docs opining on our claims (because VA signs their paychecks),

veterans and their survivors need to be prepared ,in many cases, to get an independent medical opinion from a Real doctor with full expertise in the field of disability.

I think veterans who have legitimate complaints about C & P examiners should contact the Director of the VAMC involved, because C & P doctors have no right to make the comments you stated here.

But a claimant who has the right medical evidence to succeed, will succeed regardless of what they say.

And hopefully without needing a costly IMO.

.

.

Edited August 6, 2014 by Berta

[Crist.esq]

Hi Berta! Thank you for your responses. That was very illuminating and helpful. One point I want to respond to:

I think veterans who have legitimate complaints about C & P examiners should contact the Director of the VAMC involved, because C & P doctors have no right to make the comments you stated here.

Unfortunately, I have very little faith that the director of a VAMC will do much, if anything, to assist a vet in this circumstance. Perhaps that has changed since the recent VA scandals - we can only hope.

You hit it on the head when you said that there is a conflict of interest between C&P Docs and the Veteran they are supposed to be serving. The DVA has an affirmative duty to assist the vet - the C&P Docs are the agents who should be carrying out that duty...

In any event - I get a feeling that there is a presumption of incompetence when considering these situations. The VA and the courts seem to assume that VA personnel are incompetent rather than actually malicious... I'm not sure I agree with that all the time.

[Berta]

I agree ...incompetent, malicious and downright illiterate in some cases.

But I sure believe there are plenty of dedicated hard working VA employees at every level ,but they work side by side with along with too many rotten apples in the barrel.

VA is trying to can 2 more supervisors.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/07/30/va-wants-to-fire-2-supervisors-accused-manipulating-data-in-colorado-wyoming/