Eeny Meeny Miny Moe

Where I got Hep. I do not know

This is an entertaining one from St. Pete. Everything from St. Pete is entertaining in my book. They must have a shitton of Vets in that neck of the woods or else everyone w/ Hep. goes there on vacation to file. This dude is unique. He is being repped by AMLEG so you know what that means. Yep. No nexus letter. Why confuse the poor Vet and get him all upset? Besides, VA will be providing one for him so what’s the difference, right? You can see where the Short Line Railroad is heading before this even leaves the station.

It’s a sad fact and one that seems endemic to VSOs, but the requirement for a nexus just doesn’t appear on their “to do” list when filing. This case is unique in one aspect only. Absent the nexus correlation, this gentleman attempts to prove his SC via a reverse logic scenario, or more concisely, a process of elimination with the smoking jetgun being the last risk standing:

The Veteran contends he contracted hepatitis C as a result of his military service. He says there are no other possible explanations for him contracting this disease than contamination of his blood from vaccinations from an inoculation gun using jet injectors that were administered upon his entrance into the military, during basic training, or during his treatment at a U.S. Naval hospital following an altercation in service. So he discounts any notion that there are other reasons for this infection.

This is a novel defense, but basically its all he has left absent a doctor’s letter that objectively nails it down to a known risk. The BVA really tried to work with this Vet but he was determined to do it his way:

The Veteran claims to have completed and returned a development letter sent by the RO in July 2005 entitled “Risk Factors for Hepatitis C Questionnaire.”  However, there is a blank  questionnaire in the claims file, attached to that July 2005 letter sent by the RO.  In lieu of providing the requested responses to this questionnaire, the Veteran has indicated he was  not exposed to hepatitis C through exposure to “tattoos, homo-sexual intercourse, needle stick in a medical environment, intravenous drug use or transfusions prior to 1992.”  See his VA Form 9, Substantive Appeal, dated in September 2006.  He  therefore believes he must have contracted this disease, instead, while receiving the vaccinations at entrance into the military, during basic training, or during medical treatment at a U.S.  Naval hospital.

Here the Board VLJ summarizes the whole enchilada and the seeds of his defeat. If Bozo had put half as much energy into getting a nexus, he’d probably be on Dollar Drive right now. As it stands he’s condemned to living in Penny Lane until he figures it out. AMLEG isn’t going to enlighten him, that’s for sure. Maybe he’ll find his way here and read this:

The Veteran essentially is trying to etiologically link his Hepatitis C infection to his military service by process of elimination, rather than by also having evidence affirmatively establishing this claimed correlation.  The Board is mindful of  the argument he has presented, including in his statements submitted in support of his claim, specifically his VA Form 9 denying any exposure to the above-mentioned risk factors, as to why his hepatitis C is related to his military service, if for no other reason, by logical deduction.  But he in effect is trying to legitimize this alleged correlation by merely theorizing there is no other possible cause, without instead offering any  supporting evidence positively establishing this required linkage.

Therein lies the reason he won’t prevail. This is sad because you will see and read about it again and again in BVA decisions. For lack of a nexus the battle was lost. I’d rephrase that to say for lack of a responsible VSO the claim was lost. But what do I know?

http://www.va.gov/vetapp11/Files1/1104734.txt

A bit of history attached below. My second of three Gamma Globulin shots @ Lima Site 20 Alternate (white paper) by the Flight Surgeon but attested to at the US Embassy in Vientiane, Laos on 9/22/70 ten days after a transfusion and 79 days before I came down with hep. on 1/11/71. It was given with a disposable syringe (new) rather than a jetgun. I got a cholera shot at the same time.