Did you ever wonder how they pick out who will be a VA examiner? Do you think they have some qualifications for the job? Here’s a lovely case that was similar to mine. This gentleman, like me, had Hep. in service. A 1974 test for the Australian Antigen revealed he had HAV (hepatitis A). Technically this would mean the test was negative as a positive result would indicate HBV or hepatitis B.  It turns out this HAA test was often interpreted wrongly or the results were contaminated yielding inaccurate results.

Fast forward to the reality of 2004.  Goldrush Bill is SC for it since 1974 (nonspecific hep.) and asks for an increased rating. Bingo. Now it’s a witch hunt to ride this Vet out on a rail and throw out the bogus 1974 rating. All the stops are pulled. The drug card comes out. All of a sudden an increase becomes a whole new adjudication into “What is it? What was it? and Do we have to pay him?”

The VA examiner is trotted out and he  opines immediately through the top of his hat that it was HAV in service and Bill’s new zip code is on Penny Lane. Denied. After an extensive battle and appeal to DC, the truth finally emerges. The chucklehead at the VARO was full of it. Another doctor had to explain that if the PCR test for HAV comes back negative, then you have never had HAV.  Ever. Conversely, regardless of what they thought back in the stone age of medicine (1974), he now is documented as having HBV antibodies (showing an infection at some time in the past) and HCV. Usually, if you get exposed to B, you can be fairly certain you picked up C as a hitchhiker and didn’t know it for 20 or 30 years. Which is what happened here.

Often we talk about objectivity and prejudiced opinions. Nowhere is this more prevalent than at the VA. It seems as if a qualification to be a medical Ouija board practitioner there is predicated on denying any and all claims that come through the door. The list of “never happened” is eerily similar from one case to the next. VA has a hard time getting over the idea that PCR testing is far more legitimate and not prone to the errors we see emanate from the VA examiners. In fact, it is error-free assuming the results are mated to the right individual sample. Thank God VA examiners are not tasked with filing the results in the right C-file or innocent Vets would be tarred and feathered unmercifully. Oh, wait. They already are.

Anyway, here’s one that got it right nine years later. If a VA rater’s (or Examiner’s) job hinged on a success rate  of properly decided claims with few remands from appeals, there would be no raters to perform the task. This tells me two things. Either the system is corrupt or they hire incredibly mentally challenged medical personnel who wouldn’t qualify for a job at a Veterinary clinic.