Denied HEP-C VA Claim

Posted on September 26, 2011 by asknod

fedupvet4025
Registered: 01/08/09
Posts: 1
01/08/09 #1
Dear Gentlemen:My husband was in receipt of this message and we would like to know how to pursue this.My husband, who retired from USMC in August 1997, underwent HEP-C treatment for 2-1/2 yrs at the Fayetteville VA Medical Center, which didn’t work because of a rare geno-type.  He is currently being looked at to be placed in a HEP-C clinical trial at the Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, NC.    When he resubmitted his VA disability paperwork a couple of years ago, his claim was denied for HEP-C because they claim it was not “service-connected” when in his military medical records it showed through several medical tests completed through the military treatment facility, that my husband was experiencing “high liver enzymes” 5-10 yrs before retirement, but they never did any further tests–it was after he retired that the VA Hospital discovered he had HEP-C with a rare genotype.What are the next steps that you recommend we take now with the latest new ruling has come into focus?

Please advise…and thanks so much for this advisement.  We look forward to hearing back from you as soon as possible.

Mrs. Fedup Vet
NOD
Avatar / PictureManager
Registered: 11/22/08
Posts: 652
01/08/09 #2
Hell hath no fury…Gentle Reader,
You appear to have all you need to win. What you lack is guidance and a focus for your anger. I hope we have not arrived at the fire after it has consumed the claim. Our hope is first that you will tell us that the denial is current( less than one year old). We can help with the appeal info and the proper (or, perhaps as we see it, proper) way to approach with a winning game plan. It sounds as though you have all the things needed to win- 20 years in and medrecs to support your contentions. What did you list for risk factors on the questionnaire( and it has to be more than jetguns)? You will need one of the presumed risk factors to get your foot in the door.That being said, with 20 years(which will encompass 3 different war times, this makes your husband eligible for a 1154B rating consideration if he was in combat. That is an important asset with VA and improves what I think is a valid claim. We will assume there is no negative info or any UCMJ infractions that might muddy the waters. Failing that, We would question why you still have not been service connected. If you wish, send us your denial and we can ascertain what went wrong privately. Or you may wish to show the other Vets a teaching moment, attach it as a file to the end of your reply here and we can all dismember it and find the flaw. Please redact any SSNs prior to posting as we have plenty of them already.We also fervently pray that you have not made the same mistakes as legions of us before you and failed to file a NOD and a Form 9 to protect your rights to appeal. If you did, a moment of silence will commence and then it’s time to file anew. Never, ever throw in the towel. I have been filing and appealing for 20 years not be cause I enjoy it, but as info become available to substantiate my claims. Most of us are not the litigious type, so this gives us no solace. Justice is what we seek as we become unable to support ourselves and our dependents.

As we Vets are an inquisitive bunch, pray tell what would a rare genotype be? One of the 3s or a 7? With 20 years, I’m guessing Mr. Fed Up VET entered shortly after the Vietnam Olympics in 1977?

P.S. With a showing of high liver enzymes in service, a properly constructed nexus letter would be an easy ticket to service connection.
RobD1956
Avatar / PictureModerator
Registered: 11/22/08
Posts: 31
01/09/09 #3
The first thing we suggest in a case such as this is get in touch with the NPRC and request his med rec’s you may think you have all of them . But sometimes certain items are missed. So we will ask now for specific files. First are the Blood tests all of them Blood donations drug screens, and any and every blood draw . This will hopefully show when the HCV  first introduced itsself to your husband. And decided to be come close friends . We will also need the Geno type this is quite important . It will help in proving a time line for the Virus. Please use the link below and fill out form SF–-180.  We will apply our best effort to try and correct this grievous error made on the part of the VAROhttp://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/get-service-records.html
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About asknod

VA claims blogger
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