Sue military for vaccinations issue?

[Ace M]

I was discharged from BMT in 09 when all of a sudden i lost all my strength, became fatigued and had pain all over. I was given cervical and lumbar strain for a total of 20% about a yr after my discharge. I have not been able to work a job since my discharge. I have not been able to attend college. I have SSI and receive around $900 total. I have been going to the VA for treatment this entire time and test after test they could not find anything. In 2016 a neurologist diagnosed me with fibromyalgia.

If i file a claim now and i do get compensation but that wont help me from 09 to 2018. My life was destroyed in 09 and my medical issues were a mystery for almost a decade.

Do i have any legal options? Or was it when i signed the papers to enlist i gave all my rights away? If its the latter, i understand and will simply make a claim but for missing out on compensation from 09 to 2018 is a huge sting especially since the doctors simply did not diagnose me. Even though i went to every single test and continued to go on a regular basis.

[Berta]

"Was your hubby diagnose & treated for these diseases  prior to his death from private Dr's or did he get treatment from the VA Dr's for these diseases but was not diagnosed from the VA?"

His medical care was all from the VA.

"how did you prove this with no diagnose?

was it after your hubby died? or before & you found the proof?"

When he suddenly dropped dead, and I could not bring him back with CPR ( thank God I knew CPR so I could try)

and ALS used the paddles to no avail,

amd the death certificate said ischemia of heart, (a massive sudden heart attack)I knew something was not right- he did too- he had filed an 1151 claim 6 months prior to dying.

The day I got his VA med recs, right from the first VA ER Cert, and the EKG they did ,never telling him it had been abnormal, I began to study cardiology, neurology, studied the autopsy carefully ( he was an Organ donor- the autopsy was free, and I filed the SF 95 2 months after he died and became the claimamt on the 1151 claim-

The whole story is here probably in our FTCA forum.

I settled with the USA under auspices of General Counsel VA and won my 1151 wrongful death claim , and in 2015 I won an additioal malpractice claim against them.

They had never diagnosed or treated his IHD and subsequnet stroke properly-

Then in 2003 my daughter ,still in the USAF, insisted dad might have had DMII as well from AO.

I didnt want to read those horrible med recs again but she convinced me to, and I filed a claim for SC direct death due to DMII.

This time I got a IMO. I emailed Dr Bash and sent him all he needed and my lay medical opinion - I had studied Endocriology too at this point-and within days he prepared the favorable IMO- he actually did 2 and I had a freebee from one of the VA doctors who dxed him with diabetes at VA but someone (VA doctor) crossed that out-there were two VAMCs involved, the second one tried to cover up the mess from the first one- They failed- I got them good.

 

As I mentioned in the Fayetteville posts- we cannot have our heads in the sand-

if something seems wrong with our care we need to pursue that.

VA saves lives everyday- but they hide their true mapractice statistics- I told the Sec, H VAC and POTUS where those stats are.

I will give the malpractice firm contact info here in the FTCA forum after I talk to them again- re: Fayetteville.Mike Sasser's wife called them yesterday or will tomorrow.

Another point- I am not a disabled vet- I am a civilian,in very good health, - and I began and fought the AO DMII the entire 4 years I was getting all A's at AMU ( I was their first civilian graduate -Amerian Military University), I also handle numerous projects around my house myself, to include the mowing and weed wacking etc-,painting, sawing, drilling ,  cleaning, etc etc  and had my farm business to deal with as well, and always attended church and even did Volunteer work for the local VA Chapel.

Yet I worked on my claim almost every day even with the IMos,so that it was solid.

I can understand some vets cannot deal with too much but they sure might have have family members to help them-because  many claims only succeed due to perserverance, lots of research, getting IMO IMEs if needed, help, finding buddies etc, etc,-and we can only do so much here in the limits of the internet.....

No vet or survivor should depend solely on a vet rep.There is stuff only the claimant  can do.

I do not see this thread as a FTCA issue at all- maybe 1151- but that would take a real doctor's opinion, not mine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 4, 2018 by Berta

[Buck52]

Sorry Ms Berts I certainly never wanted to cause you grief and relive this sad time in your life, this is a great post and I hope Ms T will put it in the archives for future veterans to read.

Thank you Ms berta

[Ace M]

So is there no issue in requesting a C File? I know broncovet told me to request it and i know its valuable, but i get conflicting opinions on it, people say not to request it if you have an active appeal.

 

My NOD was filed back in 2015 for the cervical and lumbar strain increase and ebenefits shows it under active appeals.

 

This is my denial explanation for fibro:

Service connection may be granted for a disability which began in military service or was caused

by some event or experience in service.

 

A medical opinion received February 2, 2018 opines that it is less likely as not (less than a 50

percent probability) that your current condition of fibromyalgia was caused by or related to

complaints of muscle aches and fatigue in boot camp consistent with extensive physical training

in boot camp with the rational that you were not diagnosed with fibromyalgia until the year 2016

and although you complained of generalized weakness and fatigue prior to your 2016 diagnosis,

these were vague and nonspecific complaints that were not supported by physical examination at

any time. Additionally, the medical professional noted that you were extensively worked up by

neurology, rheumatology, and rehabilitation medicine over the years since military discharge

with no evidence for fibromyalgia and no discussion of it being a possible etiology for your

complaints. The medical professional opined that there was no basis for the diagnosis of

fibromyalgia until the time that it was diagnosed in 2016 and the evidence of record does not

support that you had fibromyalgia due to muscle aches and fatigue during service, and these

complaints are more consistent with the extensive physical training that occurs in boot camp.

Service connection for fibromyalgia is denied since this condition neither occurred in nor was

caused by service.

 

I have SSI for depression, i do not know if the VA is aware nor would i know how to find out if they know.

 

Voc Rehab did state that the evidence they considered was my: 30% service connection. I have to locate the letter to get the full details. I did send a copy when i filed for TDIU.

The doctor that diagnosed me is a VA doctor, she did agree to look at my BMT records and provide service connection, this is her response after looking at my records.

I reviewed all the records you left me on CD from VA EMI, physical therapy
notes, clinic notes, clinical tests and trainee notes from 2009. I did note
that your first symptoms developed after carrying a duffle bag, that was also
referred to as a satchel. I also read the neurology consult completed
3/23/2009 with the impression of no neuromuscular or neurology disorder or
abnormality.

The clinic note on 3/31/2009 noted persistent fatigue, lumbago, cervicalgia,
upper back and bilateral shoulder pain, as well as recovery from a upper
respiratory infection. Your monospot was negative and the chest xray was
normal.

The physical therapy yon underwent for several weeks recorded lack of
complete recovery of your pain and decreased muscle stamina.
It is not evident to me that you underwent any training or had any injury
during your military training that would have triggered fibromyalgia syndrome
(IMS) but there is no way to know definitively.

I see that you have completed the ordered neuropsychological testing and the
results are pending. This testing may provide more insight about further
recovery of your chronic condition of IMS and ability to complete some type of work.

 

I do have 30% total for cervical and lumbar strain, the 30% for depression is non service connected, if I did get 40% for fibromyalgia they could claim that the cervical and lumbar strains are a result of the fibromyalgia. So they could give me 40% and take away the 30%. Does the 30% non service connected depression count towards TDIU?

All of my treatment since discharge has been through the VA. It currently still is pre and post fibro diagnosis.

[broncovet]

Buck, the statement by Nolo is inaccurate.  They posted:

Quote

Does Reopening a Claim Preserve Your Original Filing Date?

Unfortunately, when you reopen a claim, retroactive benefits are not paid to you based on the date you originally filed a claim, but instead are based on the date you filed a request to have the claim reopened.

38 CFR 3.156 (b) and 38 CFR 3.156 (C), both allow the VEteran to reopen a claim and preserve the effective date, but only WHEN:

1.  The claim or appeals is pending.  38 CFR 3.156 (b).  OR

2.  The reopening is due to new SERVICE RECORDS.  (38 CFR 3.156 (c)).  

This means the date of reopening claim does not preserve the effective date ONLY WHEN it isnt new service records, and the claim is not pending.    A claim remains "pending" if its still in the 1 year appeal period, OR if a nod was filed and the appeal is not finally adjuticated.  So a claim can remain pending for a very, very long time, since it often takes VA 5 or more years to adjuticate an appeal.  Even after adjutication at the BVA, the claim is still pending until the BVA appeal period has expired.  (An additional 60 days).  Further, if there is a remand, at any level, the claim remains pending until the implementation of the remand is carried out (with a new decision), and that appeal period has expired.  

The status of a pending claim is a legal issue for the above reasons.  Its a little complicated, as this 40 page document shows:

https://www.bva.va.gov/docs/VLR_VOL2/Copy5--JohnFussellandJonathanHager.pdf

Edited July 5, 2018 by broncovet

[Berta]

Yes-Broncovet is right ----- be careful of NOLO. Some of their info is outdated.

Buck said:

"'Ms Berts I certainly never wanted to cause you grief and relive this sad time in your life, this is a great post and I hope Ms T will put it in the archives for future veterans to read."

I have made many posts her the past 21 years Buck, on this issue-radio shows as well-FTCA and 1151.

No one can imagine how devastating this situation  still is for me- but it is worse yet for the veterans and survivors who have gotten that letter from VA. But  my husband did not die in vain and I have-because of his wrongful death-helped many vets with these issues.

The problem for me is that so far VA has done nothing to prevent malpractice-they would rather pay out millions

for it -than hire real doctors.

That might change-one vet  who was stunned to get the VA letter , is running for Congress- if he wins, he might be the one who begins to change this situation- for all vets who depend on VA for care. 

Senator Boozman, who is also a doctor , wants to hear from anyone who got the letter.

I will post his contact info  in the Fayetteville topic.

Yesterday my daughter, a veteran, and I discussed all this Fayetteville news- she again asked me how far along I am with the book she whats me to write about Dad and the VA.I promised her I will finish it by December-

I will be taking quite a bit of time off Buck from hadit when Fall comes-to do that-

She was the one who finally got me to re open my claim for undiagnosed and untreated AO DMII and she was right.VA made the book fairly easy for me- it will contain every documented lie and BS in  most of the letters they sent to me over the years regarding my claims. And also the award letters.

It al hurts so much to even look at all that.

Fortunately right after I filed my SF 95, a vet friend of ours was malpracticed on by the same VA- Bath VAMC-

- I wrote the claim as he sat here in my home-and within a very short time frame he got 100% P & T under 1151 for their mapractice.He didnt want a lump sum FTCA payout.

Both he and Rod worked for the Bath VA in dietetics- the going scuttlebutt there was maybe VA was going to kill all the Vietnam vets in dietetics who had PTSD. I went over and tried to put them at ease on that-

this VAMC's last FTCA (wrongful death)was in 2015- will check date - it is in a BVA decision.

The new member ere asked :

"Does the 30% non service connected depression count towards TDIU?"

No.

 

 

 

 

 

[Buck52]

Roger That Ms berta! 

Roger that broncovet  good catch about NOLO

Thank You Both.

Edited July 5, 2018 by Buck52