CUE

[Guest Pdiddy]

I received a determination letter stating that my husband's stomach issues and liver tenderness would not have been a symptom of HCV noting that these started prior to Viet Nam, where he was wounded.  He totally messed up the dates.  Injury occurred 05/70 symptoms started 07/70 - shown in his medical records.

One medical examiner stated that his medical records did not show he received a transfusion.  That's because there are no records from his time in the hospital in Saigon.  Maybe I should restate that-those records were requested beginning 1999, again 2001 by my husband and by me in 2016.  None were ever produced. 

Would either of these qualify for cue?

The VA made their decision, denial of course, after I had requested his c-file and again, the medical records from the dates he was in the hospital.   I requested and extension, 30 days after I receive the info.   Wouldn't they have to honor that request?

Thanks

Pat    

[FormerMember]

Credibility has to be demolished to ignore the Vet's testimony. We can testify to that which comes to us via our five senses ( Layno v. Brown). The acid test is the liver biopsy. No one can fake it. If you are stage 4 on the METAVIR scale, it happened 40 or more years ago. Period. I got hep from a GSW on Sept. 17, 70. I came down with hep 89 days later after the transfusion. They figured it was HBV. Turns out it was B and C together. I never had A. My METAVIR score in 2006 was Stage 4, 3/4 fibrosis. To add more, it was Genotype 3A-only found on the Indochinese peninsula back then(Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam). Oh, and Australia. Seems we took it there on R&R and left it behind.

[Guest Pdiddy]

He was Genotype 1a which is US and Europe. 

6 minutes ago, asknod said:

Credibility has to be demolished to ignore the Vet's testimony.

They couldn't trash the testimony but still didn't give it the weight it deserved.   He also had a buddy statement and gave them the names of the 2 guys next to him that had their heads blown off. 

So, do you feel as I do that the VA is backed into a corner with my claim?

[FormerMember]

VA must render a decision on a facts-found basis. However, in a case of combat, the Vet's testimony is unimpeachable.

Genotype 1A is distinctly American in nature. Geno 1B is European -or was- almost exclusively until we began moving around via air transport. Geno 2A and 2B were unique to Japan, Korea and Okinawa before 2000. Geno 4 is almost all of Egypt. Older service members are more prone to have geographical genotypes indigenous to their area of service-hence my Geno 3A. As for having 1A, who's to say the blood he came in contact with was not from another serviceman infected here in America-perhaps by a jetgun in basic? If the Vet in question had a tattoo in country, that would be a risk easily proven by no tattoo noted on item 39 on the Entrance Physical(SF 88) and noted in the same block on separation. Even so much as a urinary tract infection (UTI) or non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU) cite in the service medical records is a risk for HCV. If you had intercourse with a prostitute and came down with an STD, that is a well-proven path to service connection. The key word here is 'blood-to-blood' contamination. There are myriad ways that can occur as I pointed out above. Any single one can be exploited by a competent gastrodoc and an IMO constructed that will hold water on appeal.

[pwrslm]

How many years back would stage 2, lvl 2 biopsy indicate?

[FormerMember]

Each stage (0-4) in the METAVIR scale is 10 -14 years depending if you drink/drank a lot of booze. More booze means shorter stage. A very moderate drinker who has stage two probably got it anywhere from 20 to 30 years ago. Stage indicates age/ grade indicates how fast it is turning your liver into hamburger helper. Grade One is slow damage Grade four is balls to the wall. The good news is after you do the new Harvoni cure, your liver actually starts to regenerate somewhat over time. Studies suggest it may retreat one whole stage over 10-14 yrs. post-infection. One thing I can say is your energy level will go up afterwards.

Edited March 8, 2017 by asknod

[Guest Pdiddy]

1 hour ago, asknod said:

Each stage (0-4) in the METAVIR scale is 10 -14 years depending if you drink/drank a lot of booze

I just found the biopsy.  In 1998, he was Grade III, Stage IV.  He was wounded in 1970 so the time line is within the norm.   Again, thanks