Is there no end to the lengths VA examiners will go in order to deny a Vet’s claim? We here at AskNod have seen more denials than we care to admit, but some jump out at you and scream “Can you believe this?”

This decision by a VLJ in D.C. at least rights the apple cart and gives the Vet SC for hep. However, the rationale for the RO denial is like something out of the Twilight Zone. The VA examiner is grasping at anything he can cling to in order to deny this gentleman. This, from the decision:

“The examiner noted that the Veteran’s only risk factors were exposures to shared razors and tattooing.  He then concluded that it is less likely than not that hepatitis C is related to service because there is no evidence of any exposure in the military. The examiner noted that the tattoo parlor the Veteran used had subsequently closed down.  He suggested that the ink used on the Veteran’s tattoo was not sterilized and that his wife, who was tattooed the same day, did not contract hepatitis probably because a different bottle of ink was used.  He also suggested that the Veteran’s “other exposures” were important etiologic factors. The examiner dismissed the letters from K.B. and H.C. as “sheer speculation.”  He stated that K.B.’s letters were particularly “suspect” because she initially stated that infection from shared razors was possible, and later the same day made a “dramatic change” by amending the letter to read “highly likely.”  He asserted that “doctors do not write two different opinion letters the same day.”  He suggested that K.B. changed her opinion because she had been asked to write a stronger letter in favor of the Veteran, and he said that both letters should therefore be discounted.”

Keep in mind that the Veteran listed 2 things as risk factors: Shared razors in service and a tattoo in 1996 with a sterilized needle. Now how in the Sam Hill did this examiner come up with the ink, “other exposures” and doctors who never write more than one nexus letter per day per patient? If that isn’t desperation, we don’t know what is. So, fellow Veterans, be advised that there is absolutely no depth that VA will not descend to deny your claim. The examiner even “opined” that said tattoo parlor was not in business anymore- indicating that someone with “boots on the ground” went out and determined this. Our guess is the implication that the parlor was out of business was a deciding factor that the ink was suspect.

To the VA examiners in Oakland, California we say: Read it and weep. And don’t forget to renew you membership in the Flat Earth Society next year.

http://www4.va.gov/vetapp10/files3/1028955.txt