I love Tom’s humor. He’s a Marine through and through. I think they just ran out of slots for Air Force enlistments in 1968 when he signed up or he would have become a zoomie. Check this out.
Jerry asked Earl, “At your ripe age, what do you prefer to get – Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s?”
Without so much as a pause, Earl replied “Definitely Parkinson’s. Better to spill half an ounce of Jack Daniels, than to forget where you keep the bottle!”
Spoken like a Proud Marine.
Florida requires health practitioners and labs report all cases of acute and chronic HCV into a database called MERLIN. A 2012 study (link below) showed that only about 12% of children infected with HCV in Florida had been identified between 2000-2009. Nationwide, only about 4.9% of children with HCV had been identified. The study concluded that “the identification of children infected with HCV in the nation as a whole is grossly inadequate.”
To make matters worse, in Miami-Dade County, only 1.6% of children identified with HCV were being treated by gastroenterologists. The American Association of Pediatrics doesn’t allow open access to their Red Book on infectious diseases so I can’t see what their recommendations are. Their advocacy section is silent on HCV.
How do children become infected? Mother-to-baby transfers? Community-acquired: hand hygiene issues? Household contacts? Health Care Associated infections (HAI)? Certainly there are many possibilities.
The AAP does have some 2009 webinar slides online on HAIs that are worth looking at. The health practitioners in the WHITE states (in 2009) can keep their health care associated infections a secret. North Dakota is certainly protecting health providers there with regard to their current HCV outbreak in Minot. But its hard to keep 44 cases from a one common source completely quiet and unethical to boot.
slide 19
Slide 36
This slide is interesting because it indicated how easily “extrinsic” organisms on skin can transfer infectious diseases during invasive procedures. The four lines are hard to see. In the case of jet injectors, skin to > (Next!) skin to> (Next!) etc….plus the multi-dose vial contamination, other unsafe injections, the dirty blood supply, is it any wonder that military “boomers” constitute the largest known on-going outbreak of HCV in the U.S.? But given that HCV is a non-issue for most public health officials, we really don’t know.
We now know that HCV is a serious threat to children as well. Testing is cheap and easy. What’s the hold-up? I’d like to see the VA and Tricare show leadership in making universal testing available across age groups.
In what is increasingly becoming a struggle to get the VA’s attention when they really should be working your claim (or profess to be actively doing so), my attorney has finally given me the “secret handshake”. I am now one of ordained. In just a day or less, I can make my presence known to the gentleman(men) actively engaged in adducing the M-21 crystal ball on my behalf.
The secret to this will soon be moot in 2020 when VA converts over to the new VBCS or Veterans Bar Code System. It will be paperless and utilize a bar code scanner for your C-files. It was deemed unwise by the hierarchy to try to switch the whole VBMS paper system over to one that didn’t still require 20/20 visual acuity to read the name on the CD boxes. Old dogs, new tricks. You understand. Besides, this might make some of their jobs superfluous so it was deemed technically impossible to mate up a bar code label to a clear CD disc container due to the bright reflection and the refractive error rate of the reader. A solution from the VA’s Central Office-Wide Virtual Suggestion Box (VACO-WVSB) to use an opaque container was found impractical because it would be impossible to determine if a CD was, in fact, inside the container as CDs are known to come in all manner of different weights.
In the interim, while we wait for this modern miracle to be invented and to arrive at ROs everywhere, lawyers have discovered how to penetrate the major ROs and get answers in a relatively short time. Using any standard VA form, be it a 8940, a 21-22a, a Form 9 (these work well), or the new 21-0958 (excellent bait), the VA’s mail room is bypassed. You’re going into the Command Post where the faxes come in. 0958 NODs and Form 9s are perishable items. DBQs are often an excellent choice, too, because they have to check each one to triage it. If your claim is out on the floor being actively worked by a decision of the Court(s) above, they know your last name and probably have your last 4 memorized that week.
If someone peels it off the teletype and announces a “What the hey? Why didn’t he use a 21-4138? Send this over to Bob. VACOLS says it’s his claim.” then the message goes instantly to the MAN. Of course, by 2020, you’ll be able to flash your ID on the touch screen, scan in your personalized bar code and leave a message for the gentleman(men) to return your query.” A vast improvement indeed.
Have Gun, Will Travel
Wire OAK1DRO in 2020
Remember those nasty boogers? They refrigerated the serum and then blasted you with it in the arm or upper butt with it. It was like jamming a popsicle under your skin for an hour and the volume was enough to hurt in it’s own right. So now what do we come to find? It was masking the effects of HBV and HCV all along.
Is that a hoot or what. Nurse Sylvia sent me this a while back and I’m trying to get her to post this valuable stuff here . She’s not holding up her end of things. Some of us filing for HCV from the sixties and seventies (and eighties?) need this kind of stuff to win claims with. Granted, the number is dwindling dramatically due to the lethal nature of HCV and cirrhosis but there are still quite a number who come here to find the Holy Grail.
Gamma Globulin shots were pounded into us every time we switched continents. If you got a transfusion it was automatic as soon as you got near an Air Evac Unit with a refrigerator. This crap was like popcorn at the theatre. They always had it and were more than willing to blast you at a moment’s notice. I remember a payroll detail that landed at our Operating Location had a Pecker Checker on board and a LIST one day. No shots, no payroll. Go to jail. That was my first encounter with unreasonable authority. Even though I’d had Hepatitis and hospitalized for six weeks, they insisted on blasting me again. This was on top of the one I got four and half months before after the transfusion. When I got back to the world-yep-you guessed it. “Sgt. Nod report to sick call and get your shots up to date. You’re overdue for a GG.” Hell, by then I could have had a raging, acute presentation of HCV and no one would have been the wiser for it. I’m sure the rationale would be “Can’t be Hep. He’s up to date on his GG.”
So here they are. Documentary proof that they knew as early as 1960 and had a very clear understanding by 1965 that injection of Gamma Globulin would mask all the telltale signs like icterus (jaundice) and some of ther other symptoms such as dark urine or clay-colored stools. Brilliant. And they kept on using it anyway. Say, did anyone pass this on to VA yet? They’re probably working on their 1999 stock by now.
Gamma Globulin Prophylaxis Willowbrook trials
Annual REport Hepatitis Group 1961 to 1962
This is important knowledge to have at your disposal for a claim, most especially if you had hep. in service. Alternatively, with the vast quantity of evidence now assembled that most of the Gamma Globulin immunoglobulins were harvested from the blood of prison inmates, the chance of a double whammy increases that you may have gotten the Hep from the GG injection AND it masked the symptoms.
Here’s an important risk factor sent in by “Pop” Smoke. Just when we think the CDC has briefed everyone and it can’t happen any more, along comes one of these or the Minot, North Dakota outbreak. HCV is a lot more mobile and virile than anyone, especially the VA, would have you believe. Add this one to your risk factors as evidence that it does happen.
My rare forays onto the Book of Face turned this up. It sums up what many have found out the hard way. Pen posted this vignette which will help us all.
DO NOT wash your hair in the shower!! It’s so good to finally get a health warning that is useful!!! IT INVOLVES THE SHAMPOO WHEN IT RUNS DOWN YOUR BODY WHEN YOU SHOWER WITH IT. WARNING TO US ALL!!! Shampoo Warning! I don’t know WHY I didn’t figure this out sooner! I used to shampoo in the shower! When I wash my hair, the shampoo runs down my whole body, and printed very clearly on the shampoo label is this warning, “FOR EXTRA BODY AND VOLUME.” No wonder I have been gaining weight! Well! I got rid of that shampoo and I am going to start showering with Dawn Dishwashing Soap. It’s label reads, “DISSOLVES FAT THAT IS OTHERWISE DIFFICULT TO REMOVE.” Problem solved!
What would we do without this exciting social tool?
To remove those pesky pounds that defy diets
P.S. Here’s another good one.
CGN-9
USS Long Beach
Member Tombo of the USS Long Beach (CGN-9) during the protracted Tonkin Gulf misunderstanding sends us this absolutely priceless humor to go with our morning coffee. Where does he get all these dynamite videos? While it doesn’t rival the 300 topless gals who did a joint parachute jump to advertise Samsung’s new dishwasher, it is, however, in good taste. Enjoy the miracle of photography.
Hadit. com will be moving into a new format with a live broadcast. I had hoped it would be the one we did last Wednesday. Unfortunately, the electronic gremlins got to us and we had to revert back to the old format. Here’s a link to the 1/8/2014 show. If you look back in the library, I’ve also done some shows on other topics.
4/17/2013 —-Independent Living Program
4/10/2013 —With Bob Walsh, my attorney
8/28/2012— Hepatitis C filing and the intractable problems with VA
I wish to thank Jerrel, Mike and the Radio Rangers gang for having me on. Most of you do not realize how new this banding of Brothers is. Seventeen years ago, Tbird began what would be considered brand new territory for us to meet in and compare notes. There have been other venues, forums and formats that attempt to connect us with one another but none so Veteran- friendly as Hadit.
When I first entered this arena, I initially touched on Hadit, but, to be truthful, could not find any focus on Hepatitis C and the host of problems that plagued Vietnam Veterans relating to the rainbow defoliants. Patricia Lupole of HCVets gave me a forum from which to help others but it was a disjointed effort with some of the animosity you find on Peggy’s Pink Site.
My wife, Cupcake, advocated for an informal blog site that would still allow for anonymity as many were not comfortable with this disease and society’s approbation and fixation on it as a drug abuser’s disease. In my mind, a go-to place for anything about Hepatitis and AO would be more focused -like going to a hardware store versus a grocery store. Since I’m big on humor and pictures, what we came up with is very different. Wouldn’t it be boring to hedge hop from one forum to another?
Another important aspect to consider is that I have no experience in the field of mental issues and am uncomfortable dispensing advice on it. I know what I came home from Southeast Asia with but that in no way, shape or form prepares me as an expert to discourse to others on PTSD. Hell, I sat in the desert and talked to tortoises and sidewinder rattlesnakes for two years after I got my General Discharge in early 1973. I’m hardly the one you want to ask anything of regarding that subject.
With what we gather and present, we hope to do a great service to Veterans. It doesn’t require money or volunteers. It simply entails paying what you learn forward for the ones who will come behind you. No one is fighting for a ratings percentage or viewership. No one seeks a bigger market share. We don’t have to get high-handed and take umbrage with any perceived slight to our persons or our mission.
At asknod, many of us hold the unenviable position of dying from our ailment which makes it all the more personal. I’ve lost three friends since I started in 2008 and there are more on the cusp. We won’t dwell on that. With the advent of the new NS5A inhibitors, Hepatitis C is on it’s way out like Polio or Smallpox. It won’t be soon enough for some of us as the damage is already done.
I thank all of you for what you do to further Veterans rights- be it by giving of your time, donations to worthy causes or simply a sympathetic shoulder to cry on. Some may say we volunteered to serve and knew what we were getting into. True, but the contract we signed had a little codicil that said if we were damaged by our service, we would be remunerated. I suspect that facet of our work here will never be done as long as VA exhibits the usual intransigence and indifference to our plight.
As many of you heard on the show, VA is trying to weasel out of the Porphyria Cutanea Tarda disease and use semantics to avoid paying what is due. Allow me to introduce asknod “member” Jules, who acted unilaterally on his own claims without any consultation until he had won wholly by himself and it was a fait accompli. Six CUE claims won with nothing more than reading a book and visiting this website. He has volunteered to help me in his position as a PA-C and dermatologist to right the wrongs VA has visited upon me for twenty years. The disease seems to leave a trail on the skin regardless of VA’s attempts to ignore it at C&Ps. This is the power of Vets helping one another. We strive for no Bozos and a win for all of you. We don’t expect a $353 K/year salary for it either. Remember-a win at the VA ? Priceless. For all other things there’s Master Card.
As many times as I write about VA law, I get the biggest bang out of reversals. Which Judge is often interesting in an effort to see who might have become more liberal towards our cause. We have come to expect a rather anti-Veterans response from Kasold, Davis and Moorman. Kasold is military and JAG. That’s a negative for a Veteran. Davis has liberal leanings politically but is not Veteran friendly on a rational, continued basis. Moorman is JAG times ten having maxed out at the Air Force as Head Poohbah in that MOS. He, too, has a singular affinity to “go with the flow”. Hagel came up through ranks at the PVA VSO but still has little legal patience for stupid Vets. Lance is JAG too and has yet to find any affinity for Vets in my mind. The latest woman, Coral Wong Pietsch, is treading an exploratory path that hews close to conservative roots. She’s not trying to make waves yet and certainly isn’t splashing much in the new duck pond.
Judge Greenberg is the FNG on the block but judging by his background, I’m inclined to say he’ll tilt more towards Veterans in the future based on his diligent work at Walter Reed for the severely disabled there in 2006-07.
But now let’s focus on the firebrands. Our latest is the former NVLSP (National Veterans Legal Services Program) lawyer Margaret Bartley. Just as you’d expect, she’s peas and carrots with Veterans. If there is any way St. Marge can see some daylight under the door, you’re going to get a remand and another bite of the apple. If, God forbid, the VA wronged you, child, why, you can expect a reversal and a Return to Sender, no such Law.
St. Mary Schoelen, whom we all also pray to have our claim before, is the daughter of a Navy Officer and has a deep respect for those of us who have served. She’s seen, I suspect, the rougher side of the enlisted core by being raised in the vicinity. I certainly did. This bodes well for all of us. Coupled with her legal background of representing Veterans before the BVA, she regularly speaks in a reasoned voice and produces a predictable product. When those country bumpkin BVA Veterans Law Judges below send her bogus law, her first inclination is to politely send it back and remind them of why she is paid more due to her accumulated legal acumen. When they become more rambunctious and return the remand evincing even worse mentally deranged theories for their prior convoluted, bi-polar legal logic, St. Mary feels compelled to punctuate her legal repertoire with a stern reversal. which brings us to Mr. Christopher A. Mekus.
Back in 1988, when Mr. Mekus left the Air Force, he had a nasty booger on his left hip. they cut it out and left him on those nasty half-crutches like a lot of the old polio victims used in the fifties. He was in a lot of pain so the VA gave him 100% for a year to let the surgery mellow out. In 1990, they called him back in and he was no better but actually getting worse. Again, they confirmed the 100% nature of the disability and scheduled him back for a standard two-year follow up and a Permanent and Total (P&T) rating following a confirmatory C&P exam. In May of 1992, the final exam confirmed he was, indeed, deteriorating and they granted his P&T. There matters stood for ten years.
Considering the backlog, you would think there was no time for raters to doodle around in old files and spot what appear to be errors in ratings. Think about a “cold case files” rater assigned to ferret out corruption and Clear and Unmistakably Erroneous (CUE) VA decisions that unfairly enriched the Veteran at the expense of the American Taxpayer (and other Veterans). Dastardly people, those Veterans. Considering the volume of work backing up, they still manage to make time for Veterans like Chris Mekus. That’s your VA Benefits Administration hard at work.
In June of 2002, out of the clear blue, along comes Mr. Uncle Sam rater and decides Mr. Mekus was a cheat. The VA had done it all wrong and he was not entitled to P&T status (which confers Chapter 35 DEA Benefits) but rather a 60% rating under another diagnostic code (DC). They chose a strange one that was actually different from what they maintained he should have had for the last decade. Again, no explanation other than the one they used in 1988 was by God wrong, wrong, wrong. What is important is that he was simultaneously awarded Total Disability due to Individual Unemployment or TDIU. Mr. Mekus was now no longer P&T which is a much higher VA medical standard than TDIU that could, upon examination for improvement, result in yet a further, future reduction in his rating. Mind you, all of this occurred without so much as a medical examination to determine just exactly what condition his condition was in.
Chris wasn’t any man’s dummy and could recognize incoming ordnance with the prospect of more, immediately and wisely dug a hole, put on his brain bucket and filed his NOD. Off it went into the machine and the SSOC ensued using some strange, tortured logic for this legal expedition. No one yet had explained that this was basically marching in circles for Mr. Mekus. Not once did anyone say “Hold the phone. Is this the guy that’s still on those funny crutches and having a lot of pain like back in 92? If so, let’s change the rating diagnostic code to one that fits what he actually has and move on. He’s toast and isn’t going to improve with age like a good Cab Sauv.” But nooooooo.
Chris finally got it up in front of the Board in 2004 but the VLJ immediately remanded for some “additional development” (read forgot the Social Security Records) and it returned four years later from the Black Hole. They then confirmed the CUE error. Chris appealed to the Court. They vacated and remanded on the oldest defect in the Board’s repertoire- failure to do a good Reasons and Bases argument supporting their Texas Necktie Party.
When you call CUE, as the VA essentially did on itself, even you, the VA, have to prove the same set of parameters and fulfill all the requirements. This is dicey, thin ice and VA often manages to lose these just as we do. They tend to think that if the diagnostic codes do not mention something or exclude something, that this queers the whole choice of the code and sends it into CUEland. It doesn’t. Not by a long shot:
Mekus v. Shinseki
This is a useful precedent for DM2 cases when they start getting anal with the “restricted diet” argument, too. But we must keep asking ourselves how we arrived here on December 27th, 2013 at 625 Native American Ave. NW. What insane computer program spit this thing out and made Mr. Mekus’ life pure hell out of the blue? What kind of nonadversarial judicial process was this born of? What kind of vindictive VA employee could dream this up, engineer it and then present it as a fait accompli without calling up Chris and asking for a Beer Summit or a Kumbaya Huddle complete with 30 minute breaks for hugs?
But wait. There’s more. Chris’ CAVC remand came back to the BVA and they set to, sharpening punji sticks and building new pits. This one was going to be airtight with multiple theories that all led back to the same barbe-CUE pit. I’ve pointed this VA proclivity out in my book. VA constructs the final chapter of the denial saga first- then works backwards with brick and mortar and joins it to the prior facts and the prior defective premise. Rule Number One: Deny Claims. Rule Number Two: If Claim is Valid, Refer Back to Rule Number One.
Like any plate dropped and broken, glue alone will not conceal the damage. The VLJ and his merry band had dutifully sewn this up but still couldn’t alter the underlying mistake-or, more appropriately, the lack thereof. This was simply a classic example of the Mountain being erected from a molehill – much ado about nothing. Chris had a bum hip. He had it in 1988. He had it worse in 1990. He really was having it worse in 1992. In 2002, VA began demolition proceedings and continued for eleven years building the train tracks in the wrong direction. They refused good advice from a noted engineer and continued apace until given the bitchslap and a stiff rebuke. What’s wrong with this kind of thing? Well, for beginners it keeps happening in spite of repeated vacates, set asides and reversals is what.
That Chris Mekus’ case was dredged up is the interesting story-not the reversal. Its one thing for a VA examiner or other concerned RVSR to become appalled at Chris’ cheeky effrontery for attempting fraud on the VA with a bogus P&T rating based on the wrong DC. But it’s an entirely different matter when s/he had to go get a few signatures to make this stick. That means s/he had to convince the others of the enormity of the crime and get them to agree in simpatico. Then they all had to sign it to make it a legal finding. That’s a whole lot of wrong “had to’s” to collect at any outfit. Unless there is no “non” before the word “adversarial” at the VA.
The perfidy didn’t end there. Twice they tried to huff and puff and blow Chris’ rating down. Each time required more subtle and nuanced BVA legal misinterpretation. The decision was in and they just had to sell the judge on the idea. St. Mary wasn’t buying. Perhaps Davis or Kasold might have bitten and given in to Willie Gunn, but the luck of clerk Greg Block’s draw gave them St. Mary.
What did Mr. Eastwood say? A good man knows his limitations? Seems if you draw the short straw like Mr. Gunn did, the smart money says engage in “a tactical advance in a new direction” (read retreat).
I don’t think you can more clearly illuminate the high-handed attitude of the VA than via Mr. Mekus’ treatment. I have witnessed this “arranging the crime scene” technique firsthand in my own case and the VA’s concerted effort to ignore or deny the truth until virtually on the verge of exposure. I can also say that I may find myself back at the CAVC soon if the VA decides to renege on their bargain. The enormity of this whole thing which, incidentally, resulted in no monetary reduction one way or another, simply muddied up old water for no appreciable gain to either party. Whither nonadversarial? Why logic didn’t insert itself into the equation before they pushed Print is ample proof of why it takes so long to accomplish anything at the VA. They’re too busy looking for crimes in all the wrong places. It must be an OCD/OIG kind of problem.
Today we are going to make radio history. I’ve kept my identity anonymous for six long years in an attempt to protect my claims from “shrinkage.” I won on November 21 officially as most know. There is no more need for secrecy. Some of you already know me from Veterans Today .
Here, below are part of what we’re going to discuss today. Four sheets of paper in my c-file that will rock the VA eventually. The third one resulted in a win all the way back to 1994 but VA refused to agree until five minutes before Attorney Robert Walsh’s oral briefing at the CAVC. They are what we call CUE- Clear and Unmistakable Error. This is the hardest thing you will ever do but it is actually far easier than you think. The Court of Veterans Appeals gave us an out years ago that allows us to “cheat” at this CUE game. You will learn how to do this today. Click on any of these to magnify them. This first is what VA used as a worksheet before they typed up an official ratings sheet. Down there in column #9 is item D. Notice it says “PMRs not considered evidence to establish SC for left hip complaints in 1971.” That is CUE. When have any of our medical records- either before service, during service or after service- been subject to being thrown out as “not considered evidence”?
This next one is the “PMR” or private medical record in question. I know that there are not many of you who will have civilian medical records in a combat zone. This is probably why VA considered it a forgery. My title was Mr. instead of Sargent. That’s because in some of the places I was working we did not have rank, per se. Uniforms were optional or even forbidden. I actually worked with a Pilot in Charge (PIC) Benjamin Franklin. I crashed in a PC-6 C with PIC Jack (Jesus)F. Smith. I even had the pleasure of meeting PIC Tom Jefferson and breaking bread (and Tanqueray) with him. The problem here is twofold. In 2007, VA suddenly chose to accept these records as being legitimate and based their grant of Hepatitis C on them. That means they are legitimate. If they are legit. in 2008, then they have to be legit. in 1991. There cannot be two correct interpretations to this conundrum. Either the records and the date on them are to be credible in 1991… or they are not.
The third item is page 9 from my January 5th, 1995 SOC saying VA has received my new evidence and will soon be preparing a new decision. They never did proceed to a new decision but maintained right up to the CAVC that I didn’t submit anything more than a NOD until March 3rd, 2013. Then…suddenly, they agreed with all we claimed.
This last one I found several weeks ago and is the focal point of why we’re doing this show. On March 29th, 2010, based on my request in a DRO review, VA finally granted me 40% for having a phlebotomy every month. When I finally won in 2008, they gave me 10%. I objected because 40% was the correct analogous rating. But they took my 10% away. Bad, bad VA. This set in motion a CUE to get the 10% back. It might sound like small potatoes when you already are over 100% schedular but I’m trying to attain SMC- S or the Housebound rating and I’m almost there. By taking back the 10%, I now needed 20% more to accomplish it. Look closely at the circled words below. On July 18th, 2008, the QTC C&P doctor stated I was 100% totally disabled by just my Porphyria Cutanea Tarda alone– above and beyond my 100% for my Hepatitis. That’s right. Two 100% schedular ratings. The only problem is they ignored it and gave me first, a 10% doggy bone and then be grudgingly, a 40% bone. All the while I was owed a 100% rating. That, ladies and gentlemen, is MEGA CUE.
The big news is if you file your own claims pro se or even if you use a VSO, you are not represented by competent legal counsel. When you file CUE yourself, you are not held to the same legal standard of having to be excruciatingly correct. If you forget a few “i”s and “t” crossings, VA cannot toss it out and say you didn’t do it right. The CAVC is going to give it a deferential reading when you do arrive with your law dog in tow. He will patiently explain that you have the IQ of a Christmas tree ornament and cannot be held to the same legal standard as you would be if you had an attorney file this from scratch.
I filed a CUE on the 10% takeaway based on VA not observing due process. That means they should have called me and said “Yo. Alex. We gave you 10% for the blood letting (phlebotomies) and you are right. We should have given you 40%. Sorry. But you do understand we can’t give you both for the same thing. That’s pyramiding. Therefore, we’re taking back the 10%. You have a year to pitch a bitch if you disagree.”
VA doesn’t do it that way. You read about it in the Decision later. That’s ex parte justice. You report. We deny. However, when you stumble across the above after they deny your CUE, they’ll say it ‘s too late to argue a new theory. This is a lie and simply not so. Because you do not have a Juris Doctor degree after your name, and your friends do not address you as Doctor (as in doctor of Law), you are accorded that wonderful idiot status that permits you to hire an attorney and present the proper reason for the CUE. Let’s call it the Presumption of Stupidity. In my case, it is going to be interesting. If I am 100% disabled from the Porphyria now in 2008, what was I in 1994 when I filed for it? 2008 is no longer my claim date. VA is forced to go back to 1994 and begin the rating. The exact same set of circumstances existed in 1994 as they do now. I was getting phlebotomies once a month making me anemic and dizzy. I had to avoid Sun and stay indoors. I had to avoid heavy work that might injure my skin. Most importantly, I had 0$ income all of 1994 according to my Social Security earnings records. And 1995. And 1996.
Here’s the legal rationale for the Presumption of Stupidity. You’ll just love this one. It’s like Baskin and Robins- something for all pro se or VSO-represented claimants (which pretty much covers the majority of us). Call it the Miranda bypass or “they didn’t read me my rights!”
This show today is going to be about looking for these errors. It is going to be a message of hope. It is aimed at making each and every one of you realize VA raters and Examiners are so stupid and inept as to actually give you the ammo to shoot them with. Many times, the win is right there in front of you and you go by it like an umbrella at the front door in summer. Witness how many times I looked at that C&P letter from Dr. Morgan before I read that one seminal phrase declaring me totally disabled by PCT alone. You could have knocked me over with a feather.
Always remember—ALWAYS– if you do not appeal it, they are right. When you come back and attack with CUE, it is far more difficult than it is while the claim is still in contention. When you fight all the way up to the CAVC, 65% of you will discover that VA suddenly becomes your huckleberry and wants to do a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR) because you’re right. Put your wallet in your front pocket and sit in a corner. They’re (VA) just looking for an opportunity to fashion a better hangman’s noose. The trick is to get yourself a good lawyer and pay him that 20% you were hoping to buy a new Mustang with. Make the JMR bulletproof with an “understanding” negotiated ahead of time that agrees to a prearranged offer. Never head back to the Board of Vet Appeals with an open-ended agreement that you’re okay with being strung up and hung by the neck until dead twice.
The VA claims jungle is an interesting place. It is full of errors as you must know if you have ventured in before. If you have a good service rep. you will win. Unfortunately, there are a finite number of these and all the good ones are buried in requests. Pretty soon, even the best one cannot perform if he/she is drowning in claims. This is why I advocate that you do it your self at the lower level because it is just the prelude to the main attraction-The Court of Veterans Appeals.
So, pilgrims. I step out of the closet and greet you. My name is Alex Graham and I approved this blog. I want each and every one of you to know that there is a reason why you win or lose. One word. Evidence. If you are lucky enough to have it or have saved it like I did, you’ll prevail. For those of you from newer conflicts like Iraqistan, you do not face this hurtle. But then, most of the guys I help are from the Vietnam era and a lot of their stuff has been lost or misplaced. It is for those of you that I try to find every regulation or law to gain the traction for your claim. Winning a Hepatitis C claim is the hardest when you consider what is required. The disease did not exist on paper in 1968. It’s pretty hard to find that one in your STRs yet VA uses that absence of evidence as proof you didn’t have it!
On with the show.
If any of you are well-versed at looking up CAVC cases, you’ll find me at 12-1980. It’s an interesting read. Pull down the whole docket. Here’s the one that made the VA decide they wanted to make nice with me suddenly as near as we can tell.
Which was followed shortly (in VA’s mind) by:
As I said, it’s been a wild ride. I’ll have a twenty-year protected rating here in about ten weeks. Twenty years ago, my kid was playing soccer in a pee-wee league for six-year olds. My daughter was picking out a gown for Homecoming. Sugar Bear’s almost thirty seven and has two boys. President Clinton was starting his second year in office. Dial-up was how you accessed the internet. And I filed a claim for hep and PCT.
asknod
Bethanie Spangenberg
kcraveiro
robinhoodesqvetsatty
Wesley McCauley
Veterans Claims Help 