Accident + Injury secondary disability due to medication intake

[tk3000]

Hello Folks,

I read in the the past in books or other sources, and it seems that there are fully developed cases and claims within the VA whereby the intake of medication (opioids/pain killers in particular) can supposedly play a substantial roles in an accident with a subsequent injury and disability. While it is true that the medication's prescription warns about such impairment one can not stop living a life or perform basic and necessary tasks (for what there is no substitute) due to such medications.  

It seems reasonable that whether one is riding a motorbike or operating a machinery and  then is victimized by a debilitating accident for which one could argued that the intake of pain killers played a substantial role in the  precipitation or occurrence of the accident, that then one could claim that the injury and disability caused by aforementioned accident shall be service connected as well.  

There are many questions   afloat from this argument, mainly questions of principles and cause/effect, for instance:  in these circumstances, while the burden of the proof lies with the veteran it would not be possible for the VA to prove beyond a reasonable doubt  the intake of medication did not play a role in the accident. 

Could anyone point me out to previous cases or scenarios of this nature, please?  How straightforward  or convoluted such cases can be?

 

Edited August 23, 2017 by tk3000

[Buck52]

 I hear that John999

When I take my pain meds and meds for PTSD  I Never drive anymore,  Dr told me not to &  if I needed go to one of my VA appointments  or grocery store  ect,,,ect,,,get someone to take me  so that's what I DO.

The medications  I take make me black-out at times and also makes me have memory loss, One time I was driving and forgot how to get home...man what a weary feeling that is.

[Buck52]

I take most  or all of my medications before bedtime & when I get up in the mornings I can think straight and drive if I need too.

[tk3000]

On 8/30/2017 at 1:56 PM, john999 said:

I was told by my pain management doctor and shrink at the VA that in Florida if I was impaired due to use of VA meds and got pulled over I would be in trouble.  One thing about some of my pain meds is they affect my coordination even when I take them as directed.  If I had to get out of my car and walk I would be in handcuffs.  I am not impaired mentally but I tend to stumble when under the influence of meds for chronic pain.   Needless to say I obey every traffic law and don't drive late at night when the bars close.  I don't drink alcohol either because I know if I get pulled over I am a dead duck.  Pain meds,  muscle relaxants and anti-anxiety drugs all combine to screw up your ability to walk and keep your balance at least for me they do.  I wonder what antidepressants do to a person's coordination because I take a lot?   I am surprised that any vet who is DUI from drugs or alcohol and has a wreck even if it due to PTSD would get a break from the law or the VA.  I was told by a lawyer not to submit to tests for DUI.  Make them get a warrant to take your blood or urine.  That gives you more time to get straight.   You do lose your license for a year but may avoid a DUI conviction.  My old pain management doctor told me the same thing.

 Sure enough, these medication can have very detrimental side effects. And there may be not only the combined side effects (sum of the parts) when they are combined but even new side effects, so in effect the combined side effects can be larger than the sum of the parts. 

I avoid situations (simply walking a short distance) that cause pain or more intense pain, and live with some pain plus some sporadic and momentaneous sharp spikes of pain rather than taking the pain medications. The MH medication I have to take to avoid withdraw effects and whatnot. 

[tk3000]

On 8/30/2017 at 1:03 PM, jfrei said:

Now the police report will have to list what they believed was the cause examples icy conditions defects with road or even issues with the car. Which none of those causes are willful misconduct and if you search on the BVA website for recent decisions in the past 15 years there will be lots of examples. They have to list what was the cause of the ancient if not you may have to hire a forensic investigator if you feel their were other circumstances that caused the accident. Ive done a search for you and came up with 2026 results just a quick check was your Blood sample taken to show your medication levels had they felt that was the caused the crash this would have been taken just my thoughts. Any vehicle accident is hard to prove and usually and sadly the Regional office wont help you and neither will a DRO review I speak of first hand experience with accident and the DRO sent in a question to general counsel who told her to deny. BVA are the only ones to show evidence to give the overall picture of what may caused the accident. I had a line of duty in my favor from my service department, a signed statement that the car had a defect by the manufacture, and a report from the police with a hired forensic investigator showing that my car had a known defect and caused my crash by the police. All that was denied at the regional office. It wasn't until I went to the BVA showing the same evidence I also never had a hearing skipped it.  It was granted there, but file the FDC not to be a negative nancy but to get to the quicker decision and ultimately a quicker route to the BVA. But maybe when you file the FDC if you have the police report and it lists what caused the accident maybe just maybe you could win your case but you have to have all the ducks in your row the VA wont give you an easy time. Another question who or where was the medication from? Was it given in service by your military doctors ? If its not to much to get specific cases what was the drug name? Your answer as the cause of this accident has to be stated in the police report its a part of an accident protocol.

When the accident happened I wasn't in active duty any longer, and all medications came from VA itself. I broke my during the accident, and have had surgery; but I am sure whether or not I had blood work done (and it is done, probably it was done to seek traces of medications in the blood stream). 

At the time I taking pain killers (probably Piroxicam), muscle relaxant (don't remember the name), and mental health medications (also don't recall the names). I will have to do a search within the VA to find out what medications I was taking back then (it has changed so many times). I will go to the police department and seek to obtain a copy of the police report (had one but don't know where it is).

I can guarantee that there was no willful misconduct and I was riding slowly. The throttle cable was slightly accelerated though, and the roads were mostly clear (besides I was used to ride during the winter with not so good roads). The point is  I lost control in the curve, and believe that medication played a major roles in my inability to respond quickly enough to the circumstances.

 

 

 

[jfrei]

Get the police report ASAP so we have something to work to give you a better answer. That's were the Willful misconduct determination will come from when the VA does their own LOD or just to rule out willful misconduct. There is where you'll find out what they said about your meds playing any roll in the accident. 

[jfrei]

Obviously you were not driving wreckless and you'd know if they thought you were intoxicated by any means. Did they do a sobriety check walk a line hop on one foot or whatever? If not then they most likely didn't put DWI as the cause...just a guess not sure what you said caused the accident tired from the night before slow reaction time now I'm just guessing....

Edited September 1, 2017 by jfrei