My success at battling a bogus Patient Record Flag

[Ginterkill]

Here is a link to a story that was years in the making. It is how I got "flagged" as violent. The VHA told my congressman and entered into my record a PRF letter that accused me of threatening murder, when in fact, the man involved with the incident was 21 years older than me, I did not know him, and I have never been accused of knowing anything about it! I did use profane language on a voicemail, and a very strong sentiment about what should be done with the writers of prescription drug laws, but in honesty the police investigated that message and concluded no threat had been made. closed.

 

PTSD patient and Marine veteran Dennis Parker battles for ...

Now let me tell you something I learned after many days of fighting a  bogus Cat One PRF, which in case you don't know classifies you as an Extreme Menace and has the definition that the likelyhood of the flagged person "...harming personel in the initial moments of the encounter..." are extreme. I will tell you how to start.

1) Appeal the decision in writing the day you learn of it. Send it by signed certified receipt to the Chief of Staff that sent it to you. State, if true, that you have no intention of harming anyone, and make your case. Stick to facts because the rest is just fluff. It will be ignored. As for me, I chose to send my appeals in both handwriting, typed text, graphics included (great word processor), and included copies poster board size in a shipping tube so that a committee could easily read the material set onto a display stand. Lay out the appeal with as much creativity as you can, and include hearts, symbols of peace, flowers, and so forth, if you wish to communicate that you are peaceful. Remember, there are no limits on the number of pages or the graphics you can use to illustrate your appeal.

2) Make a Privacy Act Request to the Freedom Of Information Officer (FOIA) at the facility that issued the flag. Call the front desk and ask for the fax number and mailing address of the office that handles Freedom Of Information Act requests. They will be glad to give it to you. I use an online FAX service which lets me send a free fax every day from my computer or iPad. You only pay if you want to send more. REMEMBER - they WILL accept faxes, but make sure an image of your signature accompanies every request. You should make three seperate requests;

    A) "I am requesting all Personal Record Flag letters be sent to me, that are contained in my permanent medical record." (Remember, sign it)

   B) "I am requesting all Personal Record Flag letters be sent to me, that are contained in any system of records, or any location electronic or otherwise, except for such letters  that have been entered into my permanent medical file." (Remember, sign it)

   C) "I am requesting a hard copy of my complete permanent medical record." (sign, sign, sign hehe)

You can label them all FOIA requests because even though the medical record can be requested as a Privacy Act request, MAKE SURE TO REQUEST IT UNDER FOIA. They must honor FOIA as Privacy Act requests if they are for medical records. 

The two request A) & B), if honored, are a horrible Catch-22 for the VHA. Either answer, can (and does) cause them a major HIPPA problem, and the proof is your own medical record. Trust me. The newspaper who covered my story about VHA abuse took two issues to catalog a huge string of abuses, and I am told a third story to document the dispensing of medications to the mentally ill vets outside of the mental health clinic (in order to save their lives) will run shortly. Yes, just by asking questions it became obvious, and has now been confessed to, that so many mentally ill vets were being flagged here in my town that the mental health clinic was handing out drugs to get them by (just like they did for me), when these nasty PRF flags are placed.

 

PRF flags kill veterans. make no mistake about it at all. this must stop.

The paper said that after years the VHA mysteriously called me out of the blue to "negotiate" removal of my PRF flag. I will tell you when they did that, after years of learning about HIPPA, Filing Civil Rights Complaints and learning about them, and contacting the OIG which seems kind of pointless; the call for negotiation came when I made the two simple requests above, in A) and B). My history with them put them on guard and when they realized why I was asking these two simple things they wanted to make it all better pronto. Any guesses why? HIPPA experts, can you see the problem they have?

 

NOTE: The PRF flag was removed from my file after I made the requests in A) and B), but the VHA will not respond to either of those FOIA reqeusts with either the documents or an explanation why no documents are returned. Yep, they are refusing to comply with a FOIA request....(remember what i said about Catch-22 and the HIPPA law - this is a hint hehehe). They have also refused to comply or respond to Privacy Act requests to amend my permanent medical record. Does this not concern others besides me?

No Fear.

No Shame.

Semper Fi.

Edited August 17, 2015 by Ginterkill

[Berta]

Good for you- I found that if one picks at a scab, it bleeds and can turn into a hemorrhage....

I am very aware of HIPPA and we had a vet here recently ,in social I think, whose vet rep violated the HIPPA law. I told him what I would do about that, but I feel he might choose to do nothing.

Serious business violating HIPPA.

I had many personal experiences picking at VA scabs....created in an attempt to get out of my wrongful death claim, VA at one point tried to say,in a SSOC ,that the veteran could have died from  a cocaine overdose.I did prove that the VA caused his death and it doesn't matter now what they said.But I went on the war path when I read that statement. My husband was drug and alcohol free, never had any money on him to buy drugs because his stroke prevented him from handling coins and bills, and was never anywhere without me, except at Day Treatment at the local VA..His 6 page autopsy contained a toxicology report because he was an organ donor, but the VA had failed to give the C & P opiner that critical evidence.

I called the doctor as well as the Director's office of my VARO and asked a question I don't think they ever got asked before....after rattling off what the C & P examiner said,and the fact that VA had received his autopsy (12 times per within my H VAC testimony-2008) I asked the director's secretary if Bath VAMC could possibly have cocaine on their premises.

After a pause she said, 'yes, they have liquid cocaine in their safe'.

More happened after that (my Congressman told them to get rid of it---I think they used it for dental work during the Civil War there, as this had been a farm hospital for Civil War veterans.)

But my point is it pays to ask ,in your case under FOIA, for anything you need and let them squirm....I have some Catch 22s FOIAS with VA myself presently....acknowledged within the 20 receipt letter but so far unanswered, yet another FOIA I sent to VA Central got me a call from Ms. Peake , FOIA Officer at VA Central and 3-4 days later the information I requested arrived.

"They have also refused to comply or respond to Privacy Act requests to amend my permanent medical record. Does this not concern others besides me?"

That should concern everyone here.

Have you reached the Sec yet ,robert.a.mcdonald@ va.gov .or the Under Secretary allison.hickey@ va.gov

When you stated the VHA, do you mean the VISN you are in or the specific VAMC this all started in?

 

[Ginterkill]

My dealings told in the story and by me are just with the Roseburg OR, known as VARHCS. The calls made to my home that I recorded, legally, were made from the Roseburg Hospital, and the Doctor claimed he was authorized to enter into "negotiations" by the current Chief of Staff of Roseburg, at the moment of this post. However, I have received back denials from Chiefs at VISN-20 regarding the appeals that got forwarded. From VISN-20 the reasoning for denying a removal of the bogus flag was "...even casual comments like the one you made are taken very seriously."

Remember, a Cat One PRF is reserved for the most violent among us that pose an immediate threat to the personal safety of those around them. A casual comment like the one you made......earned me an armed escort into every place, even the latrine (stall doors open). Even into the examining room, because of a ...casual comment like the one you made...

 

worried yet?

[Ginterkill]

The Veterans Administration response to the publishing of the story of horrific care as posted above in the link; copy and paste from my record, put in the day after the paper published my story

"Due to the history that patient has had difficulty with his interpretation of 
information provided during clinical encounters, it is advisable that clinicians see him with an additional provider. 
 /es/ KATHLEEN DALY, MD
Psychiatrist
Signed: 08/03/2015 11:17"

In all the years that VHA has treated me for illness, this is the first mention that I have cognitive problems interpreting information during clinical encounters. In fact, I always ask at the end of every session if I have been polite, compliant, and receptive of care, and to please note that in the record before I leave the room, please. Sure, they have removed the bogus flag so I don't need a Federal Armed agent in the room now, but they have implemented a lifetime now of a stranger in the room whenever I seek mental health care with my provider.

 

Can anyone tell me exactly what the phrase, "...difficulty with his interpretation of information..." means? Isn't my interpretation of information a First Amendment right? The Supreme Court, in Roe V. Wade, affirmed that patients have a supreme right to privacy with their provider, without government interference. I assert that having whatever cleaning staff is available or whatever guy is walking around cannot possibly be a theraputic measure and can only increase the anxiety they are treating me for.

I cannot fathom what they hope to accomplish with an off the books record flag that now can only serve to alarm future diagnostic techinicians, and portrays false information in response to public criticism of VHA. This is the Scarlet Letter.

 

 

Edited August 18, 2015 by Ginterkill

[USMC_VET]

I am not a legal eagle, but i assume it follows with what i read in your story.

Their contention is that they are telling you A and you are saying they said B.  Now it is interesting to note that they do not disagree with any contention you have that is on paper or recorded in some way only in the unrecorded conversations or interactions.

I know this is a particularly hurtful issue to you with the way you were treated and continue to be treated.  If It were me personally I would consent to someone being in the room if and only if they were also a mental health professional (I.e. doctor).  do that for six months then restart the appeal to be left alone again or work out some deal where a VA police could be outside the door and in six months back to being treated like a 'normal' patient there. 

If i were you I would also bring in a recorder every time you go to the VA.

 

Oregon Statue 165.540 (1)(d) states that...

(1) Except as otherwise provided in ORS 133.724 (Order for interception of communications) or 133.726 (Interception of oral communication without order) or subsections (2) to (7) of this section, a person may not:

(d) Obtain the whole or any part of a conversation, telecommunication or radio communication from any person, while knowing or having good reason to believe that the conversation, telecommunication or radio communication was initially obtained in a manner prohibited by this section.

 

So since Oregon is not a one party state in this regard (or i should say they are a one party state*).  you would have to let the people in the room know prior to recording that you are going to do so. 

If you decided to go down this route, I would talk to your mental health provider, talk to the chief and let them know that you wish for their to not be any more misunderstandings and that you want to make sure that "Later if i feel something was not correct or out of line i can re listen to the session and know if i was right or wrong and this will help reduce any misunderstandings in the future".  Once they give the ok, they have no reason not to...I would also insist on a written letter or email/fax to make sure they dont come back and use this against you. 

When the session starts, pull out the recorder so it is visible place it on a desk or table and state

"It is _(Date/time)___I am Dennis Parker and with me are _____ and _____ please state your names, title and consent to be recorded...."

 

This will keep them honest, and sure they will change hteir behavior and actions based on that they are now taped, but they will also have no way to further put entries into the record based on lies.

[Ginterkill]

They will not agree to be recorded. Without a doubt. What the newspaper didn't quote in the recorded phone conversations was my question, "Why do we have to meet face to face? Why can't you just send me the letter?" His response? "Because this is too sensitive for telephone communications, and (he went on) communication is 85% body language and 15% verbal. We want to make sure we communicate clearly..."

 

In other words, no paper trail, and no recordings. There was much the paper did not report that is sleezy here.All the morphine I was being prescribed? I never met the doc who did it. I asked, and they said, "you will get no medical advise from this clinic" and closed my secure messaging to her. She continued to prescribe life shortening doses of morphine for months, and to this date I have never met her.

There is a rat here.