Just joined the board

[Merc]

Hello all, Just joined the board. Stumbled on here after getting fed up with VA and their nonsense.

Since I started reading, I've made a leap of faith and reached out to a few of the respected doctors for some assistance with putting our stuff together. So far, Dr. Bash has been the most responsive. After speaking with me and my wife, he thinks he can move us both from 20% to 100%... It's not cheap - quoted $18k!!  But if he can deliver and maybe even get us some retro, it may be worth it.

 

Figured I'd chronicle the adventure here for the benefit of others.

[Merc]

Yes! I've been using that as I read your posts. There are still a few technical acronyms I am not sure of, but I still get the gist of your posts. Thanks.

Right now it's just a matter of getting my ducks in order and making a list of things I need to accomplish so that I can set these cases up properly. Right now I have a mess of files, random VA denials, past issues and confusion with ebenefits, etc.

So, in a nutshell this is what I have so far:

Me- Army medical records (not too much there as I was young and invincible- paying for it years later lol), VA treatment records, c-file, denials

Her- Army medical records, a few private doctor records,  VA treatment records, denials, no c-file (ordered them along with mine and they sent me 2 copies of mine!) Reached out to VA FOIA still no reply. Contacted local congressman as well. Hope this will help to move things along.

What I do not have: dbq's, nexus letters, lay witness statements, IMO, IME

Additionally, after speaking with Dr. B, he seemed to feel that there were various issues we both had that could probably be interconnected. Some that I had never before even considered. So, I think it's worth exploring and trying to flesh out as well.

So, I guess the first thing I need to do is get my denials reviewed. I'll post up as soon as I can. In the interim, I think I need to sort through my stuff and make sure it's all there in an easy to read/find format. Most everything is scanned but I want to make sure as there are several duplicates.

Then, I guess I will need to formulate a list of steps in order to stay on track. Right now it feels like I've got a jigsaw puzzle and a bunch of pieces but not all of them and no box cover to give me an idea of what the complete picture (packet) looks like.

Edited May 22, 2019 by Merc

[Fat]

I JUST GOTTA RANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why are some doctors adversarial in writing a nexus statement.

Your not asking for the doctor to lie, but just offer a legal opinion on connectivity.  It would only take 15 minutes or less, you are helping a veteran, and the Hippocratic oath somewhat compels you to assist.

I know I stretched the Hippocratic Oath part, but you get the idea.

I think sometimes physicians make the issue more than what it is.

The medical test should confirm the sickness or injury and afterwards its a doctor truthfully connecting the issue.

Just seems more doctors could be more veteran friendly.

[Merc]

HA!  You'd think so, but frankly I sometimes I think it's more talk than anything else. Now, just to be clear, I do not begrudge any professional from earning a living- even a great living!  I think the opportunity to do so is what makes this Country great. That said, I agree that it would be nice to not have to fight with your provider. Or to pay an arm and a leg for an outside provider to take some time and help out a Vet.

We use the VA exclusively (probably a mistake, but it's what we can afford right now) - If I ask for even something as basic as a signature for a parking placard, they look at me like I've asked for the secret code to the vault! It's crazy. The primary reason we'd kinda given up on this mess was that every time we go to the doctors they treat us like we're somehow trying to get over, trying to get something that is not due... It burns me up just writing this.

 

[brokensoldier244th]

1 hour ago, Fat said:

I JUST GOTTA RANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why are some doctors adversarial in writing a nexus statement.

Your not asking for the doctor to lie, but just offer a legal opinion on connectivity.  It would only take 15 minutes or less, you are helping a veteran, and the Hippocratic oath somewhat compels you to assist.

I know I stretched the Hippocratic Oath part, but you get the idea.

I think sometimes physicians make the issue more than what it is.

The medical test should confirm the sickness or injury and afterwards its a doctor truthfully connecting the issue.

Just seems more doctors could be more veteran friendly.

They don't want to be party to a lawsuit down the road if you sue for disability benefits. Their nexus would form a large part of the case during discovery, so a lot of doctors just stay out of it. Unfortunate, very, since for SSDI for example, you have to have your doctor complete FCE (functional capacity exams) etc, and if you don't have those, no matter how strong your other evidence and rationale and treatment records might be, your case is pretty much sunk. Ask me how I know, after an appeal and a lawyer, I still lost, and Im 100% disabled VA and hadn't worked in 2 years at the time I filed. My VA docs wouldn't do it, my private doc wouldn't do it, though she was a lot more forthcoming about the 'why' and unhappy about it, but as a partner in her practice they all made the decision to stay out of disability findings, and she was only a GP anyway and not and MH doctor so her FCE wouldn't have had much weight. Your doctor notes and treatment records should be enough, in my opinion, in the absence of a FCE- and your lawyer should have a brief they can file explaining why there isn't one that would carry weight with the judge- but they don't. /rant off

Edited May 17, 2019 by brokensoldier244th

[brokensoldier244th]

20 hours ago, Merc said:

The denial for my wife's claim is scanned. For some reason I don't have the correct tool suite to properly redact the papers. So, I figured that I'd just print it and redact the old fashioned way with a marker. Now my printer appears to be running low on ink!!!

I'm having a rough time of it today.

 

You can also scan, take a screenshot of it, then edit/redact the picture. Thats what I do. Otherwise you have to have a program to edit PDFs and most of them cost money, or the free ones are full of adware and crap that mess up your computer. There is a free program you can use for your phone to scan documents to PDF that is lightweight and pretty much ad free (and free) called CamScanner. Ive had it for about 5 years and I love it. I scan all sorts of stuff- doctor stuff, school stuff for my kids, receipts, whatever. You can save to your phone, Google Drive, or just email it to yourself or anyone else. Super handy!

[Buck52]

A lot of times a veteran can be smart in asking his/her PCP about his condition  by asking the Dr  Dr smith  is it possible the VA Meds I take for my condition to cause other conditions to arise, like OSA it seems that since I started taking name them  (Meds)  they do seem to help me with my condition ok  and I take them a prescribe   but since I been taking them I have problems sleeping and my spouse has notice I snore loudly and toss and turn during the night..ot something close to this   have a pen and paper taking notes...never mention a claim to the VA PCP or specialty Dr's.

by taking notes the Dr will see this and Hopefully let you know in detail about the meds your taking ...

wait 3 days and check myhealthevet  *NOTES*  and simply read what the Dr mention about the meds you ask him/her about......if the Dr don't have any notes about this conversation then take your notes back to this Dr and confront him/.her as to why nothing was mention in his medical report what you ask about the Meds your taking.

Make copies off MyhealthVet

Some times this is all a Veteran can do if he can't afford to go get a IMO (Independent Medical Opinion)

Main things is seem more caring about your health and not so much about a claim  and never mention your filing a claim and this information provided will help as evidence to support your claim.

jmo

Edited May 17, 2019 by Buck52