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PatW53

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PatW53

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I cannot figure out where to post this question! My husband is 100% iu since 2003. He is now in end stage kidney failure.

He is at 20% function. He is refusing dialysis. He probably only has a month or 2 left. We had chocked it up to uncontrolled

high BP. I recently read an article stating that the stomach meds he has been on for years can cause kidney failure. If we

can get an IMO and file a claim, he will most certainly be dead before they even look at it. Can I persue a claim after his

death? He's permanent and total. As his wife, will I receive funds from the Va? I am also 100% permanent and total IU and

have been since 2003. I was successful getting both of our claims approved with the knowledge I learned at hadit.com

I am in uncharted waters here.

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If he will and can, he can start a claim in EBenefits. This will reserve the claim date and if he passes before its completed, it will be a powerful statement. Putting in the intent to file while he is alive will also get you back pay from the date that he submits it (if any).

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We have plenty of info in our DIC forum on deaths of veterans and what their survivors need to know.

If he dies you can substitute yourself as the claimant.

I am a widow of a vet and also continued his claims after he died.

Congrats on your SC award......as far as I know your comp is completely separate from anything they might owe him.

Do you use CHAMPVA or the VA for your care?

DIC depends on a SC death. Does he have any ratings now from VA? (or an "if SC death") under 1151 info here

Why does he refuse dialysis?

I am so sorry for what you are both going through.

Does he have DMII and did he serve in Vietnam?

 

 

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Thank you for your replies! He is service connected for lower back and depression. 80% for the two. He has IU. He was in Vietnam but doesn't have DMII. He has PTSD, but at the time he was denied because he wasn't in a combat area.He walked the perimiters, was shot at and saw others killed. We decided not to pursue it at the time, he 

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Sorry, I hit wrong button. He had 100% IU and we didn't want to rock the boat when he later was diagnosed PTSD. He is not SC for high blood pressure. My concern is if this medication caused the kidney failure and I can get it approved, will it make any difference.

 We both use champva and our primary at the va hospital.

He doesn't want dialysis because he doesn't want to put his family through that. He has been miserable physically for years and said he is ready to go.

 

 

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I can totally understand that regarding the dialysis.

 "My concern is if this medication caused the kidney failure and I can get it approved, will it make any difference."

There are medications that could cause kidney failure, but DMII and HBP are the main causes.

I assume for the lower back condition ( can you give us the diagnosis VA rates that for)

he had CT scans and/or MRIs that probably showed any possible kidney problem,at an early stage, and also his Blood chem reports would reveal that as well as full cytology tests.

Is his health care solely from the VA?

If there is a very strong medical opinion ( an IMO/IME) in which a doctor with expertise in kidney disease ( a Nephrologist) states with full medical rationale that any VA med caused this fatal condition, than there is possibility that VA would SC his death under Section 1151 ,38 USC. There is plenty of info on 1151 here ( FTCA forum) The doctor would have to follow the IMO format to the letter , give current medical excerpts and treatise info, and his/her Curriculum Vitae to over rule any negative VA opinion based on a denial.

The IMO doc should also rule out any other etiology ( cause) but for the med or meds ,for the kidney disease.

What has any doctor opined so far on the cause of it?

Dont overlook his depression meds either.They can have major side affects to body organ systems.

My husband was severely malpracticed on. I proved a medication they gave him for 6 years, (for a condition he didnt even have!) was contraindicating his HBP meds from VA, which was the wrong dosage.

In 2015 or maybe it was last year the VA service connected the HBP under 1151 as contributing to his death.

I have 2 1151 DIC awards, and 2 direct SC death awards.....only check of course, and that all took lots and lots of work.

You will need copies of his VA medical records, any private records, results of any autopsy if done, and most likely a strong IMO. The VA will do a posthumous  C & P exam.

How long has your husband received TDIU and what is the date of the CHAMPVA EED?

If he has the VA Life Insurance or any life Insurance at all, make sure you save at least 2-3 thousand of it for any eventual IMO fees.

Save every med bottle he might still have .I still have the proof of the major error VA pharmacy made days before my husband died.

That error is not what killed him but it almost killed a vet the meds belonged to. HBP meds.

Here I was, in shock over my husband's sudden death and fighting with VA to give an elderly vet his HBP meds, that were sent to my husband who took them in error. They looked like his but at a much higher dose. They were what VA should have given my husband all along---but the other vet had gone for 3 weeks without them =-HBP meds---they could have killed him and I would have helped him sue the same time I filed FTCA.I had to give the other vet's  meds to the coroner and didnt have them back yet.I took photos of the capsules however....evidence is everything.

 

 

 

 

 

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Hi Berta, thank you, that's a lot on important information.  I will have to go back in the paperwork to find the info on his back. He was at 20% for decades, and I think he still is. It was the depression that bumped him up to 80%.

He is seeing a private kidney specialist through our medicare. It was in March that his primary at the va told him he was at 30% and needed to see a specialist. He referred him to one at the va, but Mark didn't like him, so we went the private route. It will probably be chalked up to HBP. He has had it since early 1981. He got out in Dec of 80. I've hunted for proof that it was within one year but haven't been successful in getting old med records. I requested his c-file when I filed his claim, but never got it or an appt to look at is. We were in Fl. at the time and now live in Mo. I have to find out where his va records are kept. I want to go to the records place in St. Louis and search his military records for physicals before he got out but I don't know the name of it so I can get a phone # and call. More research! I guess the important thing right now is to get a claim filed. We just went and set up a trust and power of attnys and all of that. I have to find out if I can go to St. Louis and view his records after he has passed with a power of attny. I've done this before. I successfully did his claim and my claim back in 2003 to 2006. Mine is for MST PTSD. He also has tinnitis, and sleep apnea plus the ptsd. We were so fearful of losing our 100%IU if we rocked the boat wilth new claims. I have to prove that he can be SC for HBP. I think that is the route I need to go. The stomach meds could have caused the kidney failure, but he's been on so many meds during the years to try and control his bp and nothing worked. He runs 220/80 and has to the last few years.

Thank you so much for your help. I'm determined to do this. Hadit was priceless when I did our first claims and I know the knowledge here is going to be again. All 5 of our kids are coming in this weekend to spend father's day with us. The first time in many years to have them all together at once and probably won't happen again. I wish it was for better circumstances. But we have to take what we can get and enjoy it!

Thank you again, I'm also going to check out the DIC forum as soon as I have a breathe to take.

Pat

T

 

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