Journalist Seeking Recent Examples 2012 Through 2015 Of Seroquel-Linked Deaths

[Berta]

I felt I gave you some tips.

here is one more:

Send a FOIA to VA Central Office and direct the FOIA to Mrs.Margaret Peake.

Mrs. Peake called me immediately to clarify exactly what I requested and I got the info very fast.

I asked for information from the BVA on all 1151 claims decided by the BVA over the past 20 Years.

I received 17 pages of BVA decisions, cited by VARO, Docket/Citation number and results: denied, or remanded, or awarded.

This is the only form of public knowledge on many Section 38 USC 1151 malpractice issues.
Any 1151s awarded directly through a VARO (like mine was) that never went to the BVA, are not documented at all by the VA for any access to them as public knowledge..

Only the claimants know who they are and the circumstances of the malpractice.

And of course, no names of the 1151 claimants are revealed.in the FOIA results I got.

I am only through page one of accessing these BVA decisions...it all takes considerable time.

Another tip' the Secretary and Under Secretary of the VA have received multiple emails in the last few months, regarding all sorts of problems veterans and their survivors have had with the VA.

In my case I complained about their inability at my RO to even know their own regulations in Title 38,USC, and their ability to ignore our most probative evidence.

Saints is right, if you could do a full expose on the VA claims process, maybe you would win the Pulitzer prize.

I am sure ,under FOIA to the Secretary, you could request and receive copies of all of the emails vets and survivors have been sending to them, with their names, c file #s etc deleted of course)

and you could prepare a good picture of what claimants, men and women whose sacrifices have justified the very existence of the VA,

have to go through to receive our nation's debt of gratitude in the form of proper service connected compensation.

I have contacted the CIR ., the Washington Post, and probably even the Huffington Post over the years, to no avail, but this was prior to Phoenix and I have lost interest in doing that.

My info instead went to the H VAC about a year ago as well as to the FBI, IG etc etc

I am only interested in seeing, in my lifetime, VA getting rid of the medical quacks that cannot even prepare a rationale C & P exam, and even worse then that , the quacks they hire who harm or kill veterans with lousy medical care., who do not get reported to the NPDB if the NPDB mandate applies to their case,so therefore they can just go on to harm or kill other veterans.

VA doctors do not even have to have malpractice insurance.

Although VA saves lives everyday and does have many many fabulous medical professionals, they work side by side with idiots, in many VAMCs., as FTCA NRDB info and BVA decisions show.

I wish you success in investigating this and I assume your PM thing in your profile is open for others to contact you.

Other FOIAs I recently sent out to other VA entities have not been so successful and I am appealing one or two of them.
Lots of spin.

Edited March 27, 2015 by Berta

[MarkInTexas]

Wish you could do one on claims, the continuing denials that lead to years of waiting. My old VAMC was great. I just moved to Texas and trying to find a good one near Dallas area!

Amen to that! I notice that none of the news media ever seems to address the big backlogs.....the one of veterans just trying to get into the door. I would have thought that the VA's unabashed denials and intentional delays to veterans just trying to get signed up for compensation and medical care would draw attention.

God only knows how many veterans have died, or become homeless, waiting to get into the system. Many have depleted their family savings, suffered from divorces and family breakups from financial, medical and psychological stressors, all while waiting just for some VARO or the BVA to acknowledge their existence and conditions.

The initial denial game, along with the low balling is a disgrace, and I wish there was a conclusive study out there on just how many millions of dollars veterans themselves have had to pay out of pocket over the years for medical examinations and opinions, along with legal assistance, just to rebut the VA's adversarial process.

I'm amazed that the VA and Congress knowingly continues this process, knowing full well that most of these veterans "swimming upstream" carry with them a DD Form 214 with an Honorable Discharge from serving to protect them and the rest of the people of the United States.

I guess in today's society, it's unpopular to speak about benefits and compensation since everybody has their stingers out about taxation and disabiliity. I argue that this is an entirely different matter, and that each of these veterans, along with their families, paid a price at some point in the protection of our nation, and carry with them marks, scars, illnesses, injuries and conditions that they get to keep for the rest of their lives.

Unfortunately, I would have to say that the VA, as well as Congress, would prefer that we veteras keep these disabilities quiet and locked away with our medals and our old folded up copy of our DD Form 214. It's fine to pat a veteran on the back on Memorial Day or Veterans Day. Dress them up in some semblance of a uniform and have them sit quiet with other veterans or stand for hours while some politician who has never served in the military eulogizes the lost, while basking in the political clout gained from standing and giving a speech to a crowd with a bunch of veterans standing or sitting behind him. Give them a free meal once or twice a year at a restaurant, but make sure you charge their spouse or family, and if they are good, let them hold a flag and waive it for that extra touch.

But don't talk about giving them compensation for their disabilities, or about giving them at least the benefit of the doubt in the claims process. Don't talk about how the compensation and pension budget side of the VA should have been tripled, no quadrupled, long ago. Don't mention that Washington DC already realizes what the problem is, and has known about it for decades, but doesn't want to spend the money to repair it.

Just keep sending our kids off to serve, promise them the world, and when they return, if they return, thank them for their service and make sure you give them that discount on their coffee and wink at them to let them know you appreciate them protecting you, just so long as they don't mention additional tax dollars going toward taking care of that veteran or his or her family. That kind of talk just makes people uncomfortable.

Ok....off my soapbox. Hope I didn't offend anybody, and if I did, I apologize, but I meant it.

Peace out!

Mark

Edited March 29, 2015 by MarkInTexas

[jeffperry1134]

This is a good start. Knowing that Seroquel can have negative effects and I am taking it does scare me a little. I do take a lot of medications, 18 different ones, about half physical and half for mental illness. I don't ever see much about how 22 Veterans commit suicide every day waiting on medical care or fighting the benefits fight and just give up. I feel that we have been deemed expendable in the eyes of our leaders.

[saints13]

Sorry but another source I have found out is the incredible amount of lies, stuff added, intentionally not added to VA medical records. I could spend the rest of my life filling out forms for all the inaccuracy in my VA files and I just have about 3 years worth of medical files with the VA.

This in turns makes the c@p examiners even more happy to do claims and exams. Cause they pull out the slightest little thing that corrupts the whole exam. The exam gives raters even more reason to deny your claim.

Also doctor visits that last about 20 mins but in the report it mentions they did a full exam on you. Also if you notice on your check in part before you see the doctor there are nurses notes as to why you are there for the visit if you are lucky enough to get a visit soon. I thought the nurses were just doing random VA stuff. Most all mine are they asked if I was interested in a colonoscopy, HIV testing, move program, high blood pressure monitoring, fall precautions, suicide precautions, list can go on and on but It says I denied or answers were answered for me.

I was NEVER asked that, I swear I have only been asked my name, dob, lay 4 of ssn and my pain scale at the moment. But if you really dig into your files there is a lot that is not right at all.

I can give one example. Had doctor visit was only in office for about 15 mins and it happend to be an annual exam time per VA guidelines they say you need to be seen every 6 months to stay active to receive VA treatment. My records indicated all the false information the nurse puts in while she is doing your vitals signs, then my doctor notes reflect almost a complete exam. Said dr even did a full rom test on knees with reflex tests. I just had surgery , no way in heck was I going to let him touch my knee at all. But thing is I was only in room for 15 mins but report looks like it was a full exam that easily would take over an hour to do. Sorry for rambling and thanks about info on seroquel, I'm throwing mine out now, So sorry if i offended anyone.

Just a heads up please look thru your notes via myhealth or ask for a copy of your health records you will be mad, amazed on what information is in there.

[saints13]

All my non-VA fee based civilian DR. Records almost seem to be accurate as can be. I personally haven't found an issue yet from those records.

I just did another inquiry just to be sure. Myhealth, VA blue button. Click on all records and look around.

One that just caught my eye it says Preventive health clinic, guess that is the part the nurse fills out before you see the actual doctor. On PTSD Screen it asks 4 questions. I know for a fact the nurse never asked me those questions but they were all answered no for me. But in doctors notes it says being followed by mental health for PTSD, etc, etc. and if you look thru all my records it shows all the mental health records, tests, evaluations, etc.

I need to stop looking, I'm getting more and more irritated and feel blood pressure rising by second. Wish I could afford not to use the VA for healthcare.

Wish everyone a happy, healthy and safe day. Think I'm done for awhile.

[jeffperry1134]

I do the same thing looking on myhealthevet when I go into the records and see a bunch of lies and omissions. I have the doctor saying I want to put you in the hospital and say in the notes that you are doing good and give you a gaf of 60. I call them out when I meet with them the next time. If it is bad enough I will print it off and write down notes. It is probably why they mess with me regarding getting my medication prescriptions. Thank God we have the patient advocate.