Active duty medical records

[gangof4]

When I retired, I received my medical records which were unfortunately lost.  How can the VA research what I was treated for while on active duty if the original records were lost while in my possession?

[Lemuel]

12 hours ago, FloridaNative said:

I had to get my records from the National Archives. My first request got me a narrative summary not the complete records I had requested. I contacted my US Senator and his staff sent another request. Got more records but still not my complete files. Notably they lacked the records of my lengthy hospitalization. The third try with the Senators office got the rest of the records. Noteworthy my records with the VA for a period of several years after I was discharged magically disappeared. Fortunately I had enough to file my claims. Good Luck. If you don't get what you request keep trying and request assistance from your  senator or congressman.

(for hard copy records--I do not know how to get data IPTR -- VA Hospitalizations are supposed to be obtained by the benefits division)

To get IPTR you need the dates of hospitalization.  Especially the date of admission.  Your military health record only contains a summary of that hospitalization.  On the top line of the summary is the date of admission and the date of discharge.  If your records got burned in the fire, it appears summaries were made of records sent to the bureau of personnel for your military unit. (Army, Navy or Airforce)

The summary should include the page 13 of the personnel records because a copy is sent to the bureau of personnel at each change of command or new set of orders.  

My knowledge is limited to NHMAT School 1968 in San Diego and my subsequent effort in 1992 or 3 to get Henry's IPTR for treatment of cerebral malaria and later my own for TBI.  If you do not request the specific IPTR with dates and facility you will only get the Military Health Record which only includes a summary of the hospitalization.  NPRC now has two or more buildings in which records are kept.  One is where the fire was and others are where, at some point the IPTR were collected from the various inpatient medical facilities.

 It appears the records are separated by facility and organized by admission date and then alphabetically the way they were packaged at the military hospitals when periodically boxed and shipped.  5 years old without a reoccurring visit for CONUS hospitals but I think the battle zone hospitals had to be more frequent.

It appears, from seeing others records, that if discharged recently all of your OPTR and IPTR are digitally accessible by the VA. 

Some community care records do not make it to the VA data base.  I think this is because sometimes the payment contractor does not upload the copy received to the VA file or it is misfiled by uploading to the wrong file.  At least some of my community care records are in my "Blue Button" download and others are not.

If you are having trouble getting your records, it is nice to be aware of 38 CFR 2.2 so that you can request a subpoena for them from a VARO with an office within 100 miles of the facility. 

CBOCs enter directly into the VA Data Base.

[allansc2005]

@gangof4,

I don't suggest your first course of action being running to your Senator/Congressman. You could face a LONG and unnecessary  delay in finding those records.

 

Try local resources first; organizations like VFW, American Legion, DAV.., are well rehearsed at finding lost records. Also don't rule out your local STATE VA office.

 

Of course should you exhaust all options, then by all means call your local representative's office, just be prepared for a wait.

 

IMO.

 

Allan 2-2-0 HOOAH!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dustoff1970]

What I successfully did between 1999 and 2000 was to send my VA Abusive Injury Section 1151 claim copies to Many U.S. Senators, congressmen from many states as well as original to VA Secretary and Under Sec for VA Benefits as Petition For Equitable Relief and Admin Review in addition to contacting DAV and without telling any of the others what I was doing. 

Therefore the VA Sec,  Director of the abusive Texas VA hospital and directors of the Waco and Reno VA Regional Offices were hit with a deluge of senate and congressional inquiries as well as contact from VA HQ in D.C.  ( Throw everything against the wall and see what sticks and also known as overkill).  Additionally I also filed CUE claims with Waco VARO and included copy with the Petition For Equitable Relief and also a new increase claim for PTSD TDIU about same time.

Before end of 2000 I received P&T TDIU and 5 years back pay.  I still have copies of all the letters sent by senators and congressmen to the VA Sec and VA directors and copies of their apologies to me and replies to the congress persons. Everything happened fast after that.

If necessary I am prepared to use all those copies again if needed.

In a 2003(???) CAVC court decision Judge Greene agreed with my CUE claim on the 4th contention that the VARO and BVA committed due process error (not CUE) in not adjudicating me for a TDIU claim.

The VA doctor in charge of the horrific abuse to me and a small group of other war veterans was moved to Arizona where he died at young age of 61 in Tucson I am happy to say.  This has been sweet revenge and fun for me. 

Try all your options at the same time.  It worked well for me many years ago and to this day although it involves more time and work effort.  I don't play by other peoples rules as I am no longer in the Army. Don't be afraid to tweak the. May be necessary and rewarding.

My comment is not legal advice as I am not a lawyer, paralegal or VSO.

 

 

Edited June 17, 2022 by Dustoff 11

[brokensoldier244th]

Throwing everything against a wall to see what sticks generally holds things up- just because it works for 1 doesn't mean it works for everyone. It takes extra time to sort through the duplicates of everything sent in, along with labeling and mrking WebMD and whatever other stuff, related or not, that the veteran sends in. Focusing your claim on relevancy and with medical evidence you can support, along with mrk the stuff that you send in in relevant places makes it easier to find what you are trying to claim. 

Senatorial and Congressional requests? An aide sends a letter to VA. VA looks at our notes. VA responds to Congressional aide with a form letter, and our notes, along with whatever it is that we're waiting for, which, over 50% of the time, is something from the veteran, or an exam that needs to be scheduled on the examiner end. Thats it. I see them all the time. Receiving a Congressional inquiry is not as big of a deal as it gets made out to be on veteran side. Its just one more piece of paper, and your Congressperson has no authority to direct VA to do anything.

All it does is create a flurry of emails back and forth re-hashing what the notes on the claim already say, which takes time away from actually working on the merits of the claim. In many instances your claim is held up by things that the VA has no control over- examiners setting appts? Not VA most of the time. Need federal records/military medical  records/military or civilian investigative or medical response? Not VA. Employer response to requests for records for IU? Not VA. SSA medical records  for IU/Housebound? Not VA. 

[allansc2005]

@brokensoldier244th,

 

Amen to that!

 

I went down that road, and waited and waited...,finally got tired of waiting, got off my duff and went to my STATE VA office, talked with a retired Colonel, and within a month my records were found, leading to me winning my case-CUE(with the help of Hadit's Berta).

 

I called my Congressman's office back and told him "There is a very caring and smart retired Colonel at the...VA office..."

 

Sometimes going "local" does work.

 

Allan 2-2-0 HOOAH!

[Dustoff1970]

37 minutes ago, brokensoldier244th said:

Throwing everything against a wall to see what sticks generally holds things up- just because it works for 1 doesn't mean it works for everyone. It takes extra time to sort through the duplicates of everything sent in, along with labeling and mrking WebMD and whatever other stuff, related or not, that the veteran sends in. Focusing your claim on relevancy and with medical evidence you can support, along with mrk the stuff that you send in in relevant places makes it easier to find what you are trying to claim. 

Senatorial and Congressional requests? An aide sends a letter to VA. VA looks at our notes. VA responds to Congressional aide with a form letter, and our notes, along with whatever it is that we're waiting for, which, over 50% of the time, is something from the veteran, or an exam that needs to be scheduled on the examiner end. Thats it. I see them all the time. Receiving a Congressional inquiry is not as big of a deal as it gets made out to be on veteran side. Its just one more piece of paper, and your Congressperson has no authority to direct VA to do anything.

All it does is create a flurry of emails back and forth re-hashing what the notes on the claim already say, which takes time away from actually working on the merits of the claim. In many instances your claim is held up by things that the VA has no control over- examiners setting appts? Not VA most of the time. Need federal records/military medical  records/military or civilian investigative or medical response? Not VA. Employer response to requests for records for IU? Not VA. SSA medical records  for IU/Housebound? Not VA. 

Like I said Dude it worked well for me and fast but not for the faint of heart or followers.  I had very poor representation from Korean War DAV in Waco in 1985 who was hostile to Vietnam vets  and have successfully done everything on my own since then.  There is a very good reason why many many vets do not use VSOs and rely on advice of experienced other vets so live with it.

I think folks on this forum should identify themselves as VSOs or former VSOs if in fact they are.

Edited June 17, 2022 by Dustoff 11