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.

[Pete53]

In the 90's most of the C&P Docs were done by retired Docs. For the most part they were quacks or had not kept up. They also felt that the VA did not want them to confirm service connection

[carlie]

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.

Any "legal advice" from someone that not is accredited and sometimes licensed . . . is illegal.

I have something regarding that in my signature line here.

[Byte187]

I have a little different question regarding advice. My first claim for service-connection was made about four years ago. Knowing nothing about the process, I chose to use a state DVA rep to handle my claim. The rep was totally optimistic and helpful throughout the entire process and I ended up winning my claim. Now, four years later, I went back to the same rep to file a new claim and his attitude was polar opposite. From the moment I walked in his office and started speaking, he showed nothing but pessimism. I explained my current claim and it seemed like he was doing everything he could to talk me out of it. When I insisted that I wanted to file the claim anyway, his response was, "I'll file whatever you want, but you're not gonna get it." I should have walked out right then, but I didn't -- I let him file my claim. The following day, I asked my primary care doc for his professional opinion and he wrote a "more likely than not" nexus letter for me. That sorta blows the VSOs advice out of the water.

My question is this: considering the completely (and unnecessary) negative attitude of my rep, are VSOs possibly being compelled in some way to discourage new claims right now?

[Crist.esq]

In the 90's most of the C&P Docs were done by retired Docs. For the most part they were quacks or had not kept up. They also felt that the VA did not want them to confirm service connection

Very good point, Pete. This may have set the tone for the "culture" of VA docs that we see today.

[Crist.esq]

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/

Without a doubt there are lots of people who are hardworking. Absolutely without a doubt. I've seen them in action. But for each one of those, there is another person who is asleep at the reception desk... refuses to answer my questions... or just doesn't care anymore. Even those people are most likely good people - but the culture of the VA is so sour it is hard for the good people to rise up.

[Vync]

I have been in the VA system for 20 years, so I have a few tales to tell. I am not a lawyer, but have experienced numerous situations where VAMC personnel have been discouraging, lied, and potentially violated the law in some way, shape, or form. I am not sure if these fall into the same realm you need, but below are some brief, high-level instances of some of the problems I encountered.

Primary care clinic refusing care

They accept walk-ins until 3pm. I arrived at 1pm and was refused care by the attendant. I asked to speak to someone in charge and saw a nurse who refused care too. I went to the emergency room, sat for an hour, was triaged, then sent right back to the primary care clinic, where I was eventually seen by the nurse and doc. When I left, I asked the attendant for travel and they refused, saying I did not have an appointment in the system.

Primary care nurse practitioner berated me

After above visit, while waiting in NP's office with the door ajar, I overheard the NP proceed to berate me to other staff for not being considerate about her schedule, because she "had places to go and things to do". After that, I heard fingers snapping and giggles from others.

Primary care clinic refusing care, again

I arrived as a walk-in at mid-day with chest pains. Was told I didn't have a primary care doc and needed to make an appointment. I learned the doc had retired, a good thing. I told them I would go to emergency and they said I would just be sent back to primary care. The same nurse (from before) found me later waiting outside the patient representative's office and said I could be seen by the doc.

HIPPA violations (reported, never fixed)

- The VAMC blood draw lab patients sit next to each other. Techs ask them to say their SSN out loud for verification. I type mine into the calculator on my cell phone and show it.

- Some VAMC clinics triage patients sitting next to each other. The privacy screens on the computer monitors help slightly, but you can still see BP, weight, on other devices and hear their entire conversations.

- Some doctors do not close their door or tend to discuss medical issues in an open doorway or the hall. Everyone can hear what is going on.

- The new check in kiosks also present violations. After swiping the patient ID card, the patient's name and DOB appear large on the screen. The monitor's privacy screen does little to shield your info from the dude behind you who is 2 feet taller.

Innacurate records logged

Intake nurses are supposed to ask a series of questions. After two or three, they peck away at the keyboard for a moment. Record review shows they answered the questions for me, but incorrectly. Medical records are legal documents and this is fraud.

Patient Representative refused to act on my complaint

After suffering an injury from negligence by VAMC emergency room staff, the patient rep wanted me to mail her a letter explaining what happened, instead of listening, taking notes, and pursuing my complaint.

Primary care doc refusing to assess conditions

I requested imaging studies of two areas so pain management could administer pinpoint treatments. The doc refused to examine either area, but did submit a request for one of them. I had one imaging study done, but am in waiting mode again. I have to wait for an appointment with a new primary care doc, wait for them to schedule the imaging study, take a half day off work, wait for results, and then wait for my pain management appointment.

VA primary care doc lied

I asked my primary care doc to note the status of my worsening back problem, including range of motion. They wrote "back pain". I confronted him on the next visit and he refused to look at the printout or look it up in the computer, but just insisted it was "in there".

VA primary care doc discouraged SC increase

The same VA doc who lied said increasing my asthma rating would be a waste of my time. His justification was I still would get treatment and medications, but it would not increase my rating. I went from 10% to 60% rating with help from Hadit.

VA C&P doc discouraged SC increase

A dental doc said I had quite a few SC conditions. I told him I was only there for a TMJ increase exam. While my mouth was blocked open for the exam, in excruciating pain, he explained the TMJ rating percentages were so insignificant that my exam was a waste of time. I went from 10% to 30% rating with help from Hadit.

VA C&P doctors refusing to accept evidence

I went prepared by already having gone through a copy of all medical records and my C-file. I found some pivotal evidence they did not have and brought it with me. The doc refused to accept it and wrote in the exam that the evidence on record did not warrant SC. This could have been resolved instantly, but I spent years in the NOD/appeals process.

Bait and switch C&P exams

A letter in the mail showed an upcoming C&P exam. I only had a claim in for my back, so I was prepared and brought only those records. I arrived and found out it was for something else. Explaining the type of exams so you know what to bring is very important.

C&P exams & SC determination

Regarding what Pete wrote, my C&P exams in the 90's always had the docs determine service connection. In the few I had, I must have been lucky. On the new DBQ's, I seem to not see any checkbox to determine SC.

Administered incorrect injection dosage

Took allergy shots for years. This nurse filled the syringe with the maximum dose from the strongest vial. After treatment, I asked the head doc to change policies. Signs were added to ask if you had your epipen and inhaler. They check for it every time too. Nurses are now required to have the patient verify the vial is theirs, that it is the correct strength vial, verify the dosage in the syringe, and the correct arm. The VA learned from a careless mistake and strengthened their policies.

One VA doc actually did the right thing

I had one specialist doc say my condition obviously needed to be SC, noted the correct SC language in to my records, and recommended I file for a claim.