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Husband Murdered By Va Hospital Houston


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My Husband Became Very Ill And Was Transported To The Va Hospital In Houston Tx; Where He Contracted A Yeast Infection In His Blood; As Well As Several Injuries Done To Him By The Drs. Then To Make Things Worse They Decided Because He Needed A New Feeding Tube( Ruined By The Nurses ) They Stopped Feeding Him

I Watched Him Wither Away To Nothing Weighing 175 Pounds And In 21 Days Weighed 67.. He Would Lie In Bed Crying Because He Was So Hungry. His Heart Finally Failed On Him. There Were Several Discrepencies On Hid Autopsy Report . No One Seems To Care Have Been Unsuccessful At Finding An Attorney Who Is Willing To Take The Va On. I Hd One But I Found He Went And Put A Claim Iin To The Hospital But Of Course Was Denied!! They Need To Be Stopped! Mmy Husband Went To Korea And His Reward Was ; Starvation; A Hole In The Ground; A Flag And Headstone. I Still Hear My Husband Begging For Food And Scared Of The Thungs They Did To Him. No One Should Have To Go Through The Things They Did To Him. When He First Got There He Looked At Me And Said " You Know I'm Leaving In A Box, They Are Going To Kill Ne Here", He Was Right And I Felt So Helpless Watching Him Go Through The Tortures And Horrors. Does Anyone Know A Good Attorney I Cn Get To Help Or Are The Va Hospitals Going To Continue What They Are Doing To Our Vets?

The Estate Attorney Saw My Evedense Ans Said They Murdered Him!

Edited by Tbird
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I know how you feel.

VA killed my husband too with lousy medical care. Almost 20 years ago and I am still angry about it.

" HIS HEART FINALLY FAILED ON HIM. THERE WERE SEVERAL DISCREPENCIES ON HID AUTOPSY REPORT . NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE HAVE BEEN UNSUCCESSFUL AT FINDING AN ATTORNEY WHO IS WILLING TO TAKE THE VA ON. I HD ONE BUT I FOUND HE WENT AND PUT A CLAIM IIN TO THE HOSPITAL BUT OF COURSE WAS DENIED!! ."

There are plenty of malpractice lawyers on the net with VA experience.

Was the attorney who filed the claim, a malpractice attorney?

What type of claim was it? When was it denied?

Was it a FTCA SF 95 form that he filed? (the beginning form for potentially suing VA)Or a Section 1151, 38 USC claim?

In our FTCA forum here we have a wealth of into on VA malpractice.

You will need a strong Independent Medical Opinion from a non VA doctor,who has expertise in the disabilities your husband had, to succeed..

The doctor will need a copy of his entire medical records, from VA and private doctors and also any posthumous C & P exam results, and his autopsy.

Were any of his disabilities service connected?

I recommend Dr Craig Bash, I had no IMO for my wrongful death FTCA claims,but I sought his IMO for an additional claim I had to prove, on top of the wrongful death they awarded,that they had killed an Agent Orange vet with 2 malpracticed Agent Orange conditions.

If an IMO can support malpractice, and wrongful death by VA , then there would be no problem in getting a malpractice attorney.

"THEY NEED TO BE STOPPED!"

After the Phoenix incident, I started asking VA some questions that the VA lawyers I dealt with long ago never gave me good answers to.

I have been preparing evidence regarding the VA, as to how they cover up malpractice issues and have sent some of it already to the House VAC , to the IG,and the FBI.

Yes they must be stopped.

But VA does have many excellent and dedicated doctors, nurses , and other medical employees.And sometimes what appears to be outright negligence and malpractice, really isn't at all.

Why type of claim did the lawyer file? FTCA ( an SF 95 form) or a Section 1151 claim?

Can you scan the denial ( cover C file name, address first) and attach the denial to a post here?

What did the lawyer do ) and file) After they denied?

I got some denials too for my FTCA and 1151 claims but I just kept fighting them until I won.

If we can see the denial we can help more.


.





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  • HadIt.com Elder

My condolences and I am outraged that a Veteran can be treated like that. You should talk to your lawyers but may consider telling the Veterans Committee for the House and the Senate what happened to your family.

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These are some malpractice lawyers in Texas with experience with VA-FTCA claims.

http://www.texaslawfirm.com/CM/PersonalInjuryOverview/VA-Hospital-Malpractice.asp
http://www.dallastexaspersonalinjurylawyers.com/practice-areas/medical-malpractice/veterans-administration-medical-malpractice
http://www.wincklerharvey.com/Practice-Areas/Military-Medical-Malpractice/VA-Negligence.shtml

They all have contact info or consult forms on their webs sites

If you contact them briefly tell them what malpractice you feel had occurred and tell them you had an autopsy done.

I am sure they will all advise you to obtain an IMO.They might even have their own IMO doctors they use.

I wonder if the lawyer you had prepared an SF 95 form correctly.

The statement of the charges is critical.

I have a template here somewhere for how to fill this form out from my own SF 95.

General Counsel and I were discussing something about a year ago and I happened to ask Tim , the VA lawyer who settled with me,in 1997, what mistakes do vets make if they file the SF 95 themselves and his advise is here somewhere and in my template post.

Basically he said they need to be specific in the charges and the wording of that first charge question and they MUST fill out the amounts they want as damages correctly and add them up properly on the form.Otherwise , since they will argue the SOL from the gitgo they will also deny right away on the amount errors.

Often a vet ( like the PTSD vet who won millions in a Federal Court for VA negligence,) will make sure they ask for enough cash in damages on the SF 95 form.

Unless a FTCA negligence claim involves a minor additional disability,which would not really contribute down the road to one's death, I suggest to ask for MILLIONS. I sure did.

The actual settlement wont award anything like that unless you file in a federal court, if you don't like the settlement offer......
I got them up to what I wanted and state laws control settlements with caps these days.

Regional Counsel here in NY wanted to settle with me right away...my evidence was solid...but then not only did he disappear, a critical Peer Review report supporting my charges ,vanished as well.

Also the VA lost the autopsy 12 times.

I have a legal background and also a medical background in a few areas ( mainiy due to medical research for my FTCA case my claim)

and I found that, once I got to OGC in DC, although they fought me , I was dealing with experts in 38 USC , and actually it was the easiest claim I ever had because lawyers Love evidence and unlike ROs they are willing to read it.

Of course we argued and went round and round but that is their job and they are good at it.

But although any claimant has to right to file and proceed with FTCA themselves, unless they have a very strong IMO (which I didn't have, I had only my lay medical opinion, ) and unless they can stand up to the VA lawyers regarding FTCA regulations and nuances, they will probably fail.

If I had a lawyer, VA would have never pulled some BS on me by losing the autopsy and the Peer Review report ( which I found years later and used against them for a different claim) then again maybe they would have tried even with a lawyer.

FTCA and 1151 require 2 things:

1. Proof of medical malpractice within the VAmed recs ( which is often hidden or covered up)

2. Proof of additional disability or death which is directly due to the medical malpractice.

FTCA has a 2 year SOL as well. No time limit on filing 1151 claims.

Did you file a DIC claim?



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One more thing....

The yeast infection, was he a diabetic?

Even if not and if this is characterized as 'candidiasis' in his medical records, this can be a symptom of very high glucose and one of the
medical facts I proved for my DMII AO death claim, for which VA had never diagnosed or treated the veteran for DMII.

Poorly treated candidiasis ( often called thrush) can sometimes be fatal.

http://www.modernmedicine.com/modern-medicine/news/when-candida-turns-deadly?page=full

"HIS HEART FINALLY FAILED ON HIM. "

Has he ever been diagnosed with CAD or ischemic heart disease or DMII or any other AO presumptive illness?

You mentioned he served in Korea:

"Veterans who served in a unit in or near the Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ) anytime between April 1, 1968 and August 31, 1971 and who have a disease VA recognizes as associated with Agent Orange exposure are presumed to have been exposed to herbicides. These Veterans do not have to show they were exposed to Agent Orange to be eligible for disability compensation for these diseases. - See more at: http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/locations/korea.asp#sthash.iIRHkQbb.dpuf"

http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/locations/korea.asp

If he fits into that category you could file for both 1151 DIC and AO DIC. They only make one monthly DIC payment and SC death is better then 1151 for ancillary purposes.

The heart disease would have to be either the prime cause of death or a substantially contributing cause.

And for the honor in getting a service connected DIC award, because that gives proper honor to any veteran's service, when they die..

Death by VA is a travesty and not an honor.

The above 2 points...the candidiasis potential and the IHD are 2 things an IMO doctor would need to consider.

But I am not a doctor and I know that the autopsy might be the key piece of evidence, if they malpracticed on him.

The heart and brain autopsy slides and narrative in my case were quite revealing, supporting my FTCA , and 1151 as well as my DMII claim as much as the stack of VA med recs did too.

Time is of the essense for the FTCA SOL.

Also the DIC claim must be filed within one year after his death and noted for accrued as well, if he had any claims pending at death.

Filing within one year after death also will use the death date as the beginning of DIC , the EED, if that claim succeeds.

Edited by Berta (see edit history)
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Linda

Listen to Berta..she graduated H and K University of Veterans Claims Magna xxx Laude. (This means she has been through the ringer and came out victorious and she knows what she is talking about).

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  • 10 months later...

My heart is with you . Every veterans spouse worse nightmare . I am so sorry for your loss ... May you find a good lawyer and expose them for what has been done . I only wish it could bring your husband back . Stay strong . Never give up .

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I looked and this was the Op's only post. If she is reading, it would be great if she would give us an update. I would like to comment. First, I dont dispute ANYTHING this widow says, and take it all as facts. The only issue is the remedy. Nothing will bring her late husband back. As an attorney friend of mine (not a VA attorney) said, "The law cant fix all wrongs".

I dont know if the law can/will compensate you. I do know that the rest of us have been greatly blessed by a similar thing happing to Berta. She funneled her anger into something very productive...helping other Vets win. I think Rodney Simmons is looking down on this and is very proud of Berta. We are too.

I also think this was "healing" for Berta. She could have gotten bitter or better and she chose the later.

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Thank you Broncovet...yeah I forgave all the quacks who killed him, long ago.....

I have no forgiveness however for the idiots at our ROs who force vets or their survivors unto the hamster wheel.

You made a good point that has bothered me here for some time now.....

We get a story---every claim starts out that way, as a story, and some initial posts are very long,

then we try to help with our advice and then the poster never returns to the site.

I cancelled a long reply I typed here this AM for someone before I left for church...

and realized I had better hold that back for more info from them.

The problem sometimes is that initial posters are emotional and tell us more then we need to know, that has nothing to do with their VA issues.

We all need to rant. That's OK, but often we can be our worse enemy by not simplifying the VA issues.

And if someone is asked to attach their Decision ( the Evidence and R & B part) and they don't, we really cannot answer their questions because it is VA's words, not theirs, that matter, if they want viable help.

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