Va Answered Iris

[Cavman]

I listed in an IRIS all evidence I had mailed and some I hand delivered to them regarding 3 new claims and appeal. I got a letter today and it stated "All items sent to us are placed in your file." Actually the word placed was spelled place, I corrected it for this post.

I hate to drive all the way there to verify all my evidence is there, but I probably should....right?

Cavman

[Pete53]

The answer would be yes. Many on Hadit recommend that a Veteran check thrir C File

[Berta]

Cavman- maybe this is good idea-

You could ask for a copy of the c file but it would hold up your claim a little-

still- there is nothing better than seeing what they have-

As you know- after sending in my IMOs many times since 2004, that were also submitted via my vet rep- so they say-no proof there- as well as being significant factors in my fast BVA remand-

the VA Iris told me last week that they have "not" received them-

I immediately sent copy of the Iris response to regional counsel to support my FTCA claim that the VA is destroying my property which has a monetary value of $4,000.

And I sent a complaint to the VBA.

Within days a claims examiner (could be the VSM per 800#) got my c file to see where these IMOs are.

If they acknowledge them , they have to decide-based on them or come up wioth more quackola stuff- I can deal with that-

I cannot deal with the fact that they refuse to acknowledge these IMOs.

When I got my c file over a year ago-I was astonished at what was in it-

all the stuff in the late 1990s that supported my claim- which they said they never got-

IMOs are probative medical evidence that must be considered by the VA.

They should have even suggested that I get one in a VCAA letter but they never did.

I am glad that I sent the inquiry-

I thought VA counsel would just go over to the RO, see that they had the IMOs, and call me up and tell me I had no basis for my tort claim-he knows I just want due process- not the $4,000.Something in writing from him to prove they were there -was all I wanted.

But he did not do that-he wasn't sure about tort basis on another level.

I sent him a Fed Circuit Court opinion that supports my legal basis.And the Iris inquiry that says they (VARO)never got them (although the mail room did).

It sure pays to check-

since August my vet rep claimed they were there-

VA itself says at least 12 copies of 3 IMOs have "not" been received since 2004.

Check your c file. If I dont get a proper response soon I will have to go to Buffalo myself to see my c file-

I go to school- it will be a big pain in the rear if I have to make this long trip-on my free time- which I have little of-

I cannot get my POA to even check the c file for me- maybe that is good-last time they did that-in 2005- and said the IMos were there-that is when they disappeared from the c file.

Edited December 29, 2006 by Berta

[Objee]

The answer would be yes. Many on Hadit recommend that a Veteran check thrir C File

Don't just check your c file - get a copy of it!!!! Mine was 8" thick. Once it's on record

in your c file that you have a copy, EVERY medical opinion should contain something like:

"Mr. XXXXXXX made an official copy of his C-file available to me so I can write a medical

opinion based on his past medical history in addition to that I have currently accessed."

Ralph

[john999]

Recently the VA pulled a stunt on me that reminds me of what happened to Berta and others here.

What had happened is that I had filed for a secondary condition to my service connected DMII. I got the VCAA letter on it. While reading in the VBM I found out that my having arteriosclerosis is considered to be almost a presumptive secondary condition for DMII. It used to be presumptive but there has been a change in the M-21-1MR (page 184 of the 2006 VBM) I had just had a CT scan that revealed the artery disease problem in my leg. I then filed a claim for the artery disease as secondary to the DMII. I did it through the mail. I got no VCAA letter. A few months later I got an IMO on the artery disease and hand delivered it to the VARO. Two weeks later I got a VCAA letter with the VA saying they had amended my original claim and added the artery disease to it. I think that if I had not hand delivered the IMO my amended claim would never have become a reality. If you file a claim and you get no VCAA letter something is wrong.

I have written many times to the Army Review Board and the Board of Correction of Records and to the records department in St. Louis requesting records. Never have my letters not been answered. At the VA it is almost a certainty that my letters won't be answered by the VA or VSO. I am paranoid but something is not quite right here. The VA has destroyed records and claims in my case that they admit to doing. In Berta's case I think someone at the RO is just throwing her evidence in the trash because they have a problem with her. They cannot lose her IMO's 12 times by accident.

[Angela]

Berta,

I agree with others here! They certainly did not lose your IMO 12 times by accident!

Before I filed my CUE claiming that the RO failed to consider evidence, I sent in a request for a copy of the records they didn't consider. Once I got a copy from the VA, then I filed the CUE.

Have you tried sending the IMO to your congressman with a request that he/she get it to your RO? Maybe they'd acknowledge receiving it if it came with a congressional inquiry?

Angela