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FTCA Reconsideration


rod

Question

My FTCA claim is into its 5th month. The VA paralegal investigating the claim said that she's only waiting for the peer review to be completed. She said it's supposed to be completed in the next couple weeks.

I have additional medical information. Should I try to send it in now or should I wait? If it's not denied and negotiations begin I see no reason to send it. If it's denied, should I have the claim sent to the Office of the General counsel for reconsideration with the additional medical information?

Berta I settled a wrongful death claim for my father's death.  My user name back then was otey217. I'm fairly comfortable with the FTCA claim but not beyond the Regional Counsel level.

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I sent ,along with my SF 95 , considerable medical evidence in around late December 1994. By March 1995 I had also sent in more. The autopsy took a few months to get.

I never dealt with any VA paralegal....they were probably from OMLA- (Office of Medical-Legal VA)

I cant remember ( have the review here somewhere) if the initial peer review was done on March 25th or May 25th and I got a call a day or so later  from the RC to begin negotiations... The crap my VARO pulled after that , unfortunately for them, got me the door opened to the GC. I already have rattled off that story here before.

I have a legal background and had no problems at all dealing with the General Counsel. I do not advise anyone these days to file FTCA without a lawyer unless you are a lawyer yourself or have been a successful pro se lawyer, like me.

I feel that if you have more probative evidence, evidence that is documented and supports malpractice, send it to the RC with Proof of mailing.ASAP.

The OMLA claimed I had 4 peer reviews in all. they were apparently including a C & P review for my 1151 claim.

As I mentioned here before the RO withheld from this C & P doctor (and then from General Counsel as well) my most critical evidence, even telling me the initial peer review never existed. That peer review doctor had supported every charge I had made.

The VA would have never pulled this crap on me if I had a lawyer but,after many attempts to find a malpractice lawyer I just said Hell, I can do this myself.I never lost a case as a pro se.

These days one can find a malpractice lawyer in a heartbeat and,if they have a solid IMO of malpractice the lawyer will be happy to help them.

The C & P doctor told me he would have definitely changed his medical opinion, if the VA had given him the 6 page autopsy,that as my testimony to the H VAC revealed, I had sent to them 12 times, with proof of mailing.That error caused an initial denial at the GC that was reversed when I sent them the autopsy and even more evidence that the RO had, but I feared had also removed from the C file and med rec files.

"I'm fairly comfortable with the FTCA claim but not beyond the Regional Counsel level."

The attorneys at the General Counsel are brilliant and know VA case law and Title 38 better than the ROs do.

I liked dealing with them as well as the RC. The main OGC one who negotiated with me ,in DC, said I was pretty tough to deal with...

You bet I was. I had the goods on the VA big time and I was 100% confident in what the medical evidence revealed.I also had to overcome the missing initial Peer Review with more evidence.

But if you feel uncomfortable with dealing with them,then  by all means get a lawyer..

And send anything probative you have to them ASAP.

Probative evidence is evidence that could stand alone on it's own merits, or co-oborates other established evidence.

Often probative evidence requires a timeline with references to specific medical entries of blood chem test etc etc,or proof that VA has requested a follow up, that never occurred, or any other lack of appropriate treatment, or any "omission of an act" that should have medically occurred..

Every VA claimant has the right to pursue FTCA themselves.But the VA will stoop as low as they can go sometimes and that is when it pays to have a lawyer.

Yet lawyer or not, it is solely probative medical evidence that wins FTCA cases. Just like most regular claims.

 

 

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GRADUATE ! Nov 2nd 2007 American Military University !

When thousands of Americans faced annihilation in the 1800s Chief

Osceola's response to his people, the Seminoles, was

simply "They(the US Army)have guns, but so do we."

Sameo to us -They (VA) have 38 CFR ,38 USC, and M21-1- but so do we.

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