I found this on my social media organizer where I am instructed on what is the politically correct thing to think on any given day. Fortunately, this being America, I am free to move about the country. Michael Stevens earns the accolades for this one. I think it says it all.
One of my recent frustrations has centered around the misleading statements of scientists who study blood-borne pathogens and work in U. S. institutions. Epidemiologists in other countries seem more forthcoming about how global mass vaccination programs and other medical interventions spread infectious diseases.
It’s hard not to form impressions of the quality of various research projects after reading dozens of abstracts and articles in PUBMED. Many of them are signed by multiple authors so one can’t zero in on the exact contributions of each who signed off on an article. But when there are only one or two creators, judgments are more easily made and potential allies identified. Here is the informal rating system I’m applying to various intellectual products as I find them:
Brave truth-seeking epidemiologists: Five stars
Careful but generally helpful epidemiologists: Four stars
Frightened epidemiologists who find subtle ways to promote unbiased science: Three stars
Timid epidemiologists who make limited contributions: Two stars.
Ambiguous epidemiologsts who are protectors of the status quo and make limited contributions. One star
Epidemiologists who lie, hide and evade issues for money, to save their reputations or those they worked for (sometimes saintly reputations at that), or for other reasons. NO stars
French Canadian Dr. Pepin, a physician, epidemiologist, and professor, is also an ethicist who admits to unsafe vaccination procedures when he worked in Africa. He explains how and why this occurred in his amazing book, The Origins of Aids (2011). HCV is an important part of Pepin’s medical storytelling. I am grateful to the author for articulating how blood-borne pathogens such as HCV and HIV have been transmitted iatrogenically through different types of medical interventions and settings. Pepin looks at the big picture (science, history, social) and one can learn how the best epidemiologists reason through problems. Looking at circumstantial evidence and direct evidence are part of the necessary processes used.
Many physicians think that they are qualified to opine on epidemiology without dual degrees. Here are two examples:
Gutherie S. Birkhead M.D., has a master’s in public health and CDC experience. He works for the State of New York. He gives Pepin’s book a “thumbs up;” He’s not an epidemiologist but close enough so I rate him three stars for his book review in JAMA and five stars for his blog comment (2nd comment down) giving his strong support for the One and Only One Campaign in response to a USA Today article.
But as soon as Federal government money becomes a major influence (as in big salary, benefits and glory or research dollars) the waffling begins.
For example, this book review is written by CDC newly hired Kevin DeCock, M. D. from Belgium. Like Birkhead, he calls the book a “tour de force” but this quote leads me to believe that he was hired to defend the status quo.
“The evidence offered by Pepin for the iatrogenic hypothesis is probably better presented than ever before. Nevertheless, the evidence is speculative because it is based on circumstantial and ecologic associations, such as those between earlier medical practices and trends in hepatitis C virus infection. Despite excessive speculation in parts of the book, such as that concerning the role of the trade in plasma from Haiti, this work is still a “tour de force” and deserves widespread recognition.”
De Cock likes the book but calls it “excellent but frustrating” in the first sentence; I have to give him in the one star.
There is a big difference between a 3000-word study on a subject and a research-dense book. Unfortunately, studies are cited more often than books and are very influential. The more citations, the more influential.
Pepin’s work sets a gold standard for epidemiologists. He earns five stars from me. If you can get The Origin of Aids from your librarian or on your Kindle app, I think you’ll appreciate Pepin’s work, which is also deals with HCV, as much as I do.
Sometimes, in their haste to assassinate a Vet, the RO neglects to take the head shot and ensure the claimant is down permanently. Such is the case here. For lack of a word in the right place in 2002 and failure to mention certain things, VA ‘s Los Angeles Regional Office poked a rather large hole in their foot with a large calibre weapon.
When Robert came to me in 2010, he presented his problem. If you believe the VA, he inadvertently confided that he had injected and sniffed drugs while in service. There is no record of this or judicial punishments. Nevertheless, by admitting this, VA formulated a finding or holding that he had. Robert has been through more Interferon courses than anyone I’ve met. None of them were successful in eradicating the bug. At one point in 1995, they had him injecting himself once a day. This tends to pickle the brain and Robert admits as much. He maintains he has never volunteered using illicit narcotics to the VA. I believe him. When I approached the VA with my claim, the C&P doctor was congenial and wanted to know how I thought I got it. The first word out of his mouth was drugs. I made sure he was aware that I did not endorse that theory.
So many Vets make this mistake and fail to correct it. Here, in the 2002 initial claim, he was unaware he’d been tarred and feathered with it because the VA examiner neglected to mention it. They, as I mentioned above, were so busy planning the ambush that they neglected to describe it in detail. In fact, the VA examiner neglected to mention anything whatsoever about drug abuse in the rationale for his denial in 2002. To add insult to injury, they took his nexus letter and started adding handwritten comments to it. Yep. Just like Phil Cushman. VA Examiner Doctors working overtime correcting other Doctors’ errors.
The denial was bogus but Robert didn’t know this. He was sick from all the drugs and trusted the bubbleheads that the government provided him with to represent him. When he came to me it was obvious he’d gotten the shaft. We put together a list of good risks which fortunately mirrored the ones he’s claimed in 2002- the usual-jetguns, dental and shared razors etc. One would think VA would just give this the once over again and heave it into the shredder room. They tried. They just underestimated Robert’s resolve.
Robert patiently followed my advice to appeal and we put it together carefully. We came up with a credible CUE defense based on a poorly altered nexus (the letter was typewritten on VISTA VHA- the additions were hand-written). We put forth the evidence of unsanitary hygiene in dental practices available here at the site. We piled it high with lots of things. Robert wisely put in for an advancement based on 38 CFR §20.900(c) on the docket as well.
The BVA looked at this tarbaby and realized the VA examiner had irreparably damaged the claim by omitting so much in 2002. They therefore had to repack the bearings with all the old drug stuff to refute Robert’s newer contentions that this was hogwash and merely words stuffed into his mouth. They then tore up Dr. Cecil’s nexus which hinged on no drugs being involved. Once they determined Robert had admitted using drugs, his protestation of innocence automatically provoked a finding that his credibility was shot. I have discussed this at length in my book. This did not bode well for the claim.
The BVA Veterans Law Judge, to his credit, could see the silt being stirred up and the hopelessness of gerrymandering a way out of this nexus business. He opted wisely for a new Independent Medical Opinion and it backfired on VA’s finest. The doctor actually used the benefit of the doubt to say that it was just as likely as not that the jetguns and poor dental hygiene practices in 1973 were the guilty party as any hanky panky with drugs-if indeed there had been any at all. Furthermore, Robert had obtained a tattoo in service but it had not been annotated at his separation physical. This weighed against his claim but really didn’t upset the applecart as it was not considered germane to the discussion. But remember, like an elephant, once a doctor hears something such as “tattoo in service”, his mind begins formulating that into the mix as well. It’s like a jury who overhears something and the judge instructs them to ignore the comment. Sorry Pandora’s out now. An independent doctor is liable to accept that a tattoo falls into the realm of non-medical and is a phenomenon a man can describe with his five senses.
In the end, the BVA judge was hung by the Colvin ruling. He would have dearly loved to choose an RO ARNP VA Examiner’s opinion as more probative, but instead, he foolishly sent out for Chinese dinner. Amazing. This is the first “jetgun” claim here to succeed based on that defense. I doubt it will be the last. Robert, by his own admission, is seriously impaired by what VA has done to him with Interferon again and again. Guinea Pig is too tame a description to describe poking someone day-in and day-out with rat poison. Multiply that by three or four courses of the bug juice and you are asking for some warped brain cells. Oh yeah…and the thyroid cancer.
The teaching moment, as always comes at the end. If you think you are incapable of accomplishing this task, think about how Robert approached it when he came to me. I was brutally honest and asked him if he had a sado-masochistic bent and a desire to be eviscerated by the VA. Remember he was already on a pension from VA. Why upset the status quo? He put his trust in me and I promptly said no dice. This is a DIY (do it yourself) site. I’ll provide advice but the claim is yours. He doggedly pursued it through the darkest hour when denied at the RO. He picked and poked at it all the way through and had a face to face with the Veterans Law Judge even though the fight or flight urge said “Run like hell”. In short, he did this with severe mental impairments and he did it well. In a word, he did it bravely. His military training served him well.He now awaits the LARO’s receipt of his C-file back from DC and a preliminary rating. Having tasted success, he’s going to try his hand at a few secondaries after the dust settles.
Of all the claims I’ve encountered, this was the one with the poorest of odds. I have an indomitable will and resist the urge to retreat. Throwing the gauntlet down is the signal to fight. Robert apparently felt the same way. He did condition his desire to fight based on whether I felt it had a prayer in hell. I didn’t lie nor did I tell him to start shopping for a new Ram pickup either. I merely said what I’ve said to all of you. One thing is for damn sure if you don’t file. You won’t win. The second adage most all know me for is “Win or Die”. I cannot begin to tell all of you how proud I am of Robert. When he emailed me last night and said ” I can’t be sure but I think I won”, I honestly couldn’t sleep. Apparently, neither could he. In sum, if this man can do it, any of you can. All I did was hold his hat and coat. He carried the water.
Here it is in all it’s splendor- a nineteen page how-to on winning your HCV claim. Thank you for sharing this, Robert. You are the very first Vet to give me wet-eye syndrome. That must be where the phrase “Read ’em and weep” came from.
Pretty cool stuff, huh? In spite of acknowledging the use of drugs intranasally and intravenously, the medical doctor still came down on his side and said the jetguns and dental procedures “were an equal risk”. This is cutting edge precedence for HCVets. No IMOs to my knowledge have ever gone out on the little branches and held that the risks were coequal. Robert’s decision is truly unique in that respect.
P.S. Robert is number #36. Also, Robert inadvertently followed my advice and got no less than three nexus’. The BVA supplied #4. Final tally was Robert 3, VA 1.
I received an email several days ago from a gal whose husband served from the early eighties for 4 years. They had filed for various diseases (yep-HCV, too) and got back an interesting note from their VSO. It appears their records were burned up in 1973 even though he was about 7 years old then. Amazing, isn’t it? Is this like VSRs being unable to find any mention of HCV in your records from 1970? Or, better yet, opining that because the Hepatitis Australian Antigens (HAA)test in 1972 was positive, that proved you had acute Hepatitis A that resolved spontaneously?
When confronted with the dichotomy of how records produced 14 years after the fire could have been consumed in it, the service officer said he’d “have to look into it”. I’m sure they’ll have a good answer for her. She and I are awaiting that one.
Here’s the definitive info as near as NPRC is willing to admit. The fire consumed the following:
Since the VA can’t find their own ass with a sensitive methane detector, I’m sure they have never returned any records “on loan” back to the NPRC. Of note here, remember there are two other very large sources of information stored at the NPRC which they are loathe to admit exist. First, all in-patient hospital records from military hospitals are not associated with your Service Treatment Records (STRs) nor are you military Service records which would include assignments, medals, rank and the like. Three sets of files stored separately and filed by hospital chronologically. In addition, some medical records from military hospital still languish in basements and other storage areas at those hospitals and were never forwarded to St. Louis.
And then there are the real, off-road civilian hospitals in Southeast Asia where Air America and USAID set up in remote locations. Many service personnel inadvertently left their records behind mistakenly assuming our government would dutifully retrieve them. Those are gone forever much like the records damaged by water and fire in St. Louis.
The NPRC can access quite of bit of info for your claims if you are anally specific about asking them to. Sometimes you have to go back two or three times to find it or get them to perform a true search. The truth is out there except for the the few mentioned above. Out of curiosity, I wonder if they’ll ever bother to scan all these records into an electronic database or just set another fire and be done with it. Here’s a NARA link that also describes it well.
Here’s my grandson Conner at his talent show last night. Nine years old and headed for the stars. He dreamed all this up and practiced without any adult intervention.
These slide images are not in order. They show the WHO website URL and are from a presentation–probably 2006. Yup, they’re still trying to sell the new improved disposal cartridge jet injectors (DCJIs) for ID vaccinations for flu this time. I can understand the desire to reduce needle-sticks to healthcare workers and the reuse of needles which cause infections, but even those with disposable spacers/cartridge may not be as risk-free as single dose, single-use syringes.
I’m going to include these slides in my DHs claim for HCV because they’re authoritative, short and to the point.
“Risk of transmission” is stronger language than the Fast Letter’s term, “plausible.” They have evidence that they do transmit bloodborne pathogens. Also note that MUNJIs were sterilized nightly, not after each arm-to-arm injection.
Note the safety concerns: nozzles were reused.
CDC is involved with testing these devices. In the US, the FDA regulates them.
If there are DNA studies for the new jet injector models, where are the RNA studies for MUNJIs. Unpublished?
Dr. Bruce Weniger is a high-profile public health professional who is somewhat of an ally in the sense that he has made efforts to educate his peers on MUNJI dangers. You may have seen his 2004 “black” series of slides on MUNJIs online. They are important because they cite studies to bolster his position. If you haven’t seen them, take a look:
http://www.who.int/vaccine_research/about/gvrf_2004/en/gvrf_2004_weniger.pdf
Member Loyal sends us this one. It’s ugly. I tacked on a comment at the bottom of the article that sums up my feelings on the subject. It reminds me of the second stanza of the old Buffalo Springfield tune from that era.
This problem isn’t going to resolve itself. Having the government grant a charter to a not-for-profit (right!) outfit that purports to help Vets is a criminal act shopping for a crime scene. Giving them free room and board at VAROs is like adding napalm to a housefire. I have to hand it to IAVA. They have the same sense of umbrage that the Vietnam Vets of America did in their day. Sadly, VVA has now accepted the VA’s methadone maintenance program like the others and is inexorably hooked on the money. Who would have thunk it?
As I said in my comment, how sad it is that we, the 8% of America who sacrificed our time to protect her, are given the poorest form of justice with which to pursue our claims. When you have to lose before being allowed competent legal help, it speaks volumes about how much you are valued. When the same outfits who are sworn to help you take sides with your enemy (who purports to be your saviour), you are no longer in the land of cotton. I don’t care what they tell you. The enemy of your enemy will always be your friend. Listen to your heart, not your VSO.
We do not advocate using CUE as a legal means to attain the proper rating but apparently that hasn’t stopped some of you from doing so. More than a year ago now, WGM used it to overturn the Whacko, Texas RO’s decision that his risk factor of STDs was willful misconduct. That was egregious and indisputably wrong.
Randy decided to go after them with the CUE stick based on his DM2 being related to his now service-connected HCV. Forget that VA has published its own literature that connects the two. Ignore that the correlation between the two is almost undebatable. Finally, make a stand and decide to pull a Custer and die on that hill. All to no avail as we see here. When faced with the inevitable, VA meekly retreated and granted that which should have been granted at the outset.
As I have written extensively in my book and here on site, just because you are right and VA is wrong, do not expect them to acknowledge it. They will often fight you to the dirt and pray you give up. They test your mettle to see what you are made of. Randy ostensibly had AMVETS as a sword carrier but we all know what that entails.
An amanuensis must be more than a simple transcriber or recorder. They must go beyond the traditional role of mailman and holder of the coat and hat. It’s more than likely they will show up on his doorstep asking for their trophy wall photos. Randy has been an avid reader and had great success with his claims shortly after arriving here. Many do. I am not patting myself on the back. I simply illustrate what I did and try to impress on my fellow Vets how it may help them.
CUE is a tough cookie for VA to chew. They rarely grant it. We’ve had three here including this. It is satisfying to know they can make mistakes. The icing is when they admit it and correct the injustice. Randy fought long and hard, did his homework, and this is the stellar result. It is worthy of framing.
Today marks 35 “kills” or wins using information obtained from this site. I am not responsible for them. You, Veterans, are. You chose to read long and hard and immerse yourself in the art of VA warfare. You decided to pursue these injustices and right them. You also did it all here at the local level with the exception of three cases. Those three were irrevocably polluted by prior attempts that backfired or were poorly and inartfully presented. Nevertheless, they, too, were salvaged and rose like a phoenix from the ashes. The technique is viable. The results are indisputable. The recipients are all happy campers and many have mounted secondary assaults as Randy did here to get their just desserts.
Many, but not all of you, have serious secondary medical issues that can be lethal. Knowing VA’s propensity to deny, I advocate that you get these service connected for several reasons. First and foremost, you need them as insurance when your death certificate is disputed by a VA IMO that says you died of alcohol poisoning rather than HCV. Or worse, you died of complications of DM2 and not your service-connected HCV. If that happens in less than 10 years from your rating, it’s bye bye DIC for the wife-san. VA does this frequently so it is worthy of mention.
Secondly, you are entitled to Special Monthly Compensation rates such as SMC-K if you lose the ability to have a romantic relationship with your wife or mistress. Similarly, SMC-S is available to those of us who are horribly disabled to the tune of 100% plus an additional 60%. Most think 100% or TDIU is the top tier until you need someone to change your diapers and wipe the spittle off your face. VA will not tell you this. Oddly, it seems many VSOs won’t either. Whether that is born of ignorance or collusion is not for discussion today but it is remarkable.
With all that blather out of the way, join me in celebrating Randy’s most excellent adventures in CUE land. He’s an apt learner and may be hired to teach these country bumpkins down at the AMVETS VSO office if this keeps up.
While this may not be very instructive on how to slay the VA dragon, it is a powerful tool for understanding that VA is sloppy and uses denial as a default setting instead of reading their own manuals and scientific dissertations. They rarely self-correct without some prodding. Randy has more than outdone himself here and we are proud of his accomplishments. We report- You attack. He did. He joins the proud pantheon of CUE warriors WGM and Wyn Wn who have gone before him. We expected no less.
CUE extractor.
P.S. Note the reason for not giving Randy 40% for the DM? The doctor didn’t sign the note saying he had said this to Randy already. Where on earth do you think Randy got the idea that he was supposed to “watch” his diet and not to do the Boston Marathon due to “leg pain”? As usual, the Veteran is a liar until vindicated by a licensed medical doctor saying exactly the same thing. I’m betting Randy is one of those kids who used to pull the heads off ants and other small bugs, too.
Tonkin Canoe club member and few/proud sends us this winner. Where he found this wellhead of jokes is a mystery but we are the beneficiaries.
We just got the news today that Gilead Sciences is unwilling to accept me for the Sofosbuvir trials as my Autoimmune Hepatitis is still active and busy at work. It was a known disqualifier when I applied but I had hoped the severe autoimmune response from the Interferon might have abated and subsided to a dull roar.
The good news is that both Sofosbuvir and Daclatasvir will be available commercially in late 2013 or early 2014. Who knows? It could be a whole new family of “-avir”s will be coming in with even more promising results. The trick now is to figure out how to stay alive until then.
Out, damn’d spot! out, I say!
Shakespeare (Macbeth)
asknod
Bethanie Spangenberg
kcraveiro
robinhoodesqvetsatty
Wesley McCauley
Veterans Claims Help 