A week or more ago I did something I’ve never done before. I perused another Veterans Benefit site to ask a question on a subject even I am unsure of. I am not above admitting I don’t know everything. I don’t. What I happened to observe there was disconcerting for two reasons, neither of them related to one another.

The first observation was that a FNG had posted an innocuous question that was rudely answered by another Vet. It was the rudeness to a fellow Vet that struck me as completely out of place. The first Vet appeared to be lacking a lot of the knowledge one would assume a Vet with many disabilities would have accumulated by now. This led to the second observation that the newbie was a “frequent flyer”. By that, I mean this Vet has more ratings than you can count on your digits. I will paraphrase as I do not like to identify these individuals and heap scorn on them. Perhaps the moniker of Frequent Filer would be more apropos.

The post started off innocently enough. It was a question about a rating for bunions. After a tirade from Vet #2 about   how to post on their forum, the first Vet expanded on the question. Here I liberally paraphrase without embellishing. It  seems this enterprising Vet had a rating for 10% for a “bunionectomy” and has recently been rated at 20% for Major Depressive Disorder(MDD), secondary to the bunion issue, has Tinnitus (10%), hearing loss (0%), DM2 at 20% and a pearl necklace of other little ailments like hemorrhoids(10%), abnormal menstrual cycle 10% etc. The burning question was if anyone could point her to the Diagnostic Codes for MDD. It seems she was desirous of learning the requirements for a 40% rating in order to qualify for TDIU. Yep. I added it up- 40 +20+10+10+10 would get her 65% rounded up to 70. As we all know, the minimal requirements for IU are 70 with one at 40 or one at 60 or more. This is where the term frequent flyer arises. This Vet is shopping for a TDIU! While I feel every deserving individual should be amply rewarded for his/her injuries, diseases and disabilities, I feel nothing but disgust for this person. Her gender has nothing to do with it. If anything, I have more compassion for my sister Vets because I feel they have a much harder row to hoe. Unfortunately this cannot be said for the woman above.

There are just so many dollars available for Vets. I certainly don’t advocate a means test or Triage for this, but it stands to reason that if someone is gaming the system it deprives others of their fair share and occupies valuable RO time better spent on Veterans with far more severe injuries.

An example, if you will. Several months ago I was sitting in the ROI lobby awaiting my turn to obtain some of my medical files. I was talking with another Vietnam Vet who had the misfortune to step on a Bouncing Betty. His buddy in front of him didn’t make it, but miraculously this fellow did. He lost both legs at the knee and was rusting from all the Shrapnel that’s still in him. He was allowing as how he might get TDIU this time around because now he was over 60 and had been denied 3 times since 1968. He had a rating of 60% for the legs, 10 for tinnitus and the same for injuries to one of his muscle groups. That’s 60+10+10= 70%. This gentleman had no legs below the knees and still couldn’t get TDIU. Perhaps he didn’t have an eloquent VSO. Nevertheless, of all the injured Vets I have met, he would get my vote for IU. I think he almost deserves it more than I do for my hep. As for how he stacks up against Miss menstrual irregularity, I will let the reader be the judge.

So how can a system as equitable as ours be rife with Vets picking the low hanging fruit? I have one easy explanation for it. There are some who join the Service with one thought in mind- retirement after 4 years. These are the same people who “slip” and fall down in supermarkets and then sue for exorbitant damages. They know they’ll be granted a small settlement without a trial and can do this again and again. Insurance companies have nicknamed them frequent fliers. This Vet I describe is doing the same exact thing. They can go on sick call three or four times to prove an ailment or symptom in service and then file after discharge. Some injuries are subjective in nature like Tinnitus. Doctors cannot measure it with a thermometer and audiometer or a visualize it with a magnifying glass. Its your word against theirs. Here it appears the Vet is seeking to learn the path to a higher rating and thus IU via what it takes to be rated at 40% for MDD. I  submit that MDD is another of those subjective ailments. What’s more the pity is that she must have discovered that amassing innumerable 10% ratings will never add up to 100% or even TDIU, hence the query on getting one 40%er.

And we wonder why VA examiners are so cynical and treat us all like lazy boobs seeking something for nothing? I, for one, am embarrassed to be associated or related to malingerers. We should not aid and abet this type of Vet. Fortunately, it appears we don’t get any of those types here at this site. It seems everyone here actually has a disease and a life threatening one at that. I feel much better going to sleep at night knowing I am helping Vets get SC for Hep rather than hemorrhoids. I’m sorry if that sounds uncaring or callous. My Vet friends have diseases that are killing them-literally. That, somehow, is a more worthy calling. Nobody ever died of hemorrhoids.