CAMP LEUKEMIA BREAST CANCER IN MEN

Posted on November 9, 2012 by asknod

Who would have imagined men could get breast cancer? I was nonplussed in 2010 to discover my left breast had the least bit of my right after I escaped the clutches of the vAMC death squad in Seattle. They promptly scheduled me for a mammogram  Yes, gentle reader. You read that right.

My wife and numerous other women have described the unpleasantness, indeed the pain, of a mammogram but I could not appreciate their distaste for this until my appointment at the Carol Milgard Breast Cancer Center in Tacoma. There I sat among five or six women who stared at me for a moment thinking I might be there to pick up a female acquaintance. When I was called to go in, the looks among them ratcheted up several notches to disbelief. Fortunately it was Gynecomastia (a side-effect of my extreme illness and hospital incarceration for a year) and it subsided over time. That in no way ameliorated the pain I,too, experienced when my breast was squeezed as flat as dollar pancakes.  The Spanish Inquisition doesn’t hold a candle to the Carol Milgard Center nor did they have instruments of torture commensurate with modern medical science.

Peter Devereaux was not so lucky. Please read the following. If you had the misfortune to be assigned to the Camp of the Young( Le Jeune is French for “the young”) and even think for a moment that something is amiss medically, I admonish you to get a checkup pronto.

October 31, 2012

Former Marine battling breast cancer

By Cheryl Lecesse STAFF WRITER The Salem News Oct 31, 2012, 04:30 AM EDT

PEABODY — Peter Devereaux didn’t even know men could get breast cancer.

So when his doctor called to give him the news, Devereaux thought he had called him by mistake.

“I said, ‘Doc, it’s Peter Devereaux,’” he said, thinking his doctor would apologize and hang up.

He didn’t, and within days Devereaux was back at the hospital, getting a bone scan and chest X-ray to see how far the cancer had spread within his body.

A Peabody native and North Andover resident, Devereaux, 50, was diagnosed with stage 3B invasive ductal carcinoma in January 2008. For the past 41/2 years, he has been battling the disease, which doctors discovered had spread to his hips, ribs and spine in 2009.

He is one of 82 men who have been diagnosed with male breast cancer believed to have been caused by water contamination at Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base in North Carolina.

“It’s the largest cluster ever recorded,” Devereaux said.

Devereaux signed up for the Marines after graduating from Peabody High School in 1980. He served until December 1984, and in that time spent 16 months at Camp Lejeune.

“On average, you’re 19 years old in the service, you work out like crazy, you work hard, you’re drinking water by the quarts,” he said. “None of us knew about the contaminated water.”

In 2008, Devereaux said he received a letter telling him he may have come in contact with contaminated water. By then, however, he had already found a lump in his chest.

After his diagnosis, Devereaux underwent a mastectomy followed by numerous rounds of chemotherapy and radiation. Doctors removed 22 cancerous lymph nodes.

“It makes you appreciate a lot of things in a hurry,” he said.

In 2009, after he began experiencing shooting pain up his spine, doctors discovered that his cancer had metastasized. He’s still fighting, currently undergoing chemotherapy to beat the cancer.

In the meantime, Devereaux is doing all he can to be an advocate, to raise awareness of male breast cancer. There’s still a perception that breast cancer is a women’s disease, and many men don’t think it can happen to them.

“It’s difficult for a lot of guys to come to grips with having, at the bottom line, a women’s disease,” he said. “We’ve still got a long ways to go, we’ve still got work to be done.”

Fortunately for Devereaux, family and friends have rallied around. One of seven children, Devereaux said his family, his wife and his 15-year-old daughter have been incredibly supportive.

“One thing you learn early on: All my friends, all my family, we all have it. It’s not just me,” he said. “Cancer’s not an individual sport, it’s a team sport.”

Among his biggest supporters has been a group of men with whom he used to play pickup basketball games. Last year, they approached him about organizing a tournament to raise money for breast cancer awareness. It was a success, and this year, the second annual Turkey Shootout, a four-on-four tournament, is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 24, at 8:30 a.m. at Boston North Fitness Center in Danvers.

This year, all proceeds from the tournament will go to Art, because, a Massachusetts-based organization with a goal to discover breast cancer’s environmental causes.

A former ultra-marathoner and Golden Glove boxer, Devereaux said he’s happy now just being able to walk two or three miles. And as he’s had to make life changes, his friends have adapted, too. Where they used to go out for a drink after work, now they hit the juice bar for a shot of wheatgrass.

“I tell people I’m one of the richest guys I know,” he said.

For more information about Devereaux, visit www.peterdevereaux.com. To register for the Turkey Shootout, email Devereaux at peter_devereaux@yahoo.com.

Cheryl Lecesse can be reached at  978-338-2664 or clecesse@salemnews.com.

Mark my words. vA and the Marines will probably go into a huddle on this. If it appears there will be too many claims filed for boob cancer, they’ll pull the plug on it or declare it’s not been proven to be linked to MEK , Acetone etc.. As for the wives and daughters of servicemen stationed there who should have this misfortune befall them, I can almost guarantee the long face and the Adobe Acrobat denial response in tortured English with dangling participles…

Candygram for Mrs. Mongo!

” We reviewed the facts and evidence of your claim and have come to a decision. While the claimant may sincerely believe that their ailments are attributable to chemical contamination of Camp Lejeune’s water supply, nothing in medical literature support his hypothesis. Breast cancer cannot be dispositively associated with exposure for any the chemicals discovered because breast cancer is so prevelant in all walks on life. Thus this claim must be denied.”

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BVA– HCV BEFORE SERVICE? WHAT ABOUT ESPIRITU?

Posted on November 8, 2012 by asknod

FROM THE VERNON W.

HOWELL MEMORIAL VARO

IN WHACKO, TEXAS

Before I begin, let me say that this decision is flawed for any number of reasons. The definition below is for RPR, a diagnostic tool for syphilis. In no way shape or form does it pertain to HCV or any hepatic infection. Notice the spelling of reagin versus vA’s version.

Rapid Plasma Reagin (RPR) refers to a type of test that looks for non-specific antibodies in the blood of the patient that may indicate that the organism (Treponema pallidum) that causes syphilis is present. The term “reagin” means that this test does not look for antibodies against the actual bacterium, but rather for antibodies against substances released by cells when they are damaged by T. pallidum.

In addition to screening for syphilis, an RPR level (also called a “titer“) can be used to track the progress of the disease over time and its response to therapy.

Trust those vA examiners to get to the bottom of this one. I do hope the gentleman drops the DAV and gets real legal help before he goes to the Court.

The Veteran’s service treatment records reflect that on the Report of Medical History portion of his January 1974 enlistment physical examination, he answered “don’t know” with regard to whether he had a history of jaundice or hepatitis. There is no discussion of hepatitis in the examination report, and it is noted that serological tests were “non reactive.” There was no diagnosis of hepatitis in service. On the Report of Medical History portion of his separation examination in April 1977, the Veteran answered “yes” to the question of whether he had a history of jaundice of hepatitis.” The examiner at that time noted that the Veteran “has hepatitis agent, notice 1972, NCNS.” A rapid plasma regain (sic) (RPR) test was noted to be non reactive.

So. The Veteran answered yes to a question as to whether he had “hepatitis” in 1977 during his separation physical.  He mentioned as much again in 2007. These are not supported by medical records and, as such, are just hearsay. If you came into court with this at Judge Judy’s, you’d be rode out on a rail. Hearsay. Supposition. Conjecture. All these words come to mind. Do you see the words “under oath” anywhere in all that? I reported the same thing in 1973 on my discharge physical. vA ignored it and said it was “history” unsupported by fact. Johnny must have been more morally upright than I was back then. They pretty much believed everything he said.

In 1992, Mrs.  Jovita Espiritu came to town and put forth an interesting proposition about the etiology of her dead husband’s diseases/injuries incurred in service. Neither she , nor any of her neighbors were doctors yet they tried to make medical diagnoses on numerous occasions over the course of the claim. Thus Jovita was rightfully ensconced in the COVA Hall of Fame along with Norman Gilbert and the others. What Johnny Whacko has done is no more than the same. Perhaps less. All he has testified to is that he”thought he had hepatitis in 1972″. As he isn’t graced with an MD after his name this is simply a subjective assessment with no corroborating evidence to support it. Here’s the the gist of the basis for the necktie party.

 At a September 2007 RO hearing, the Veteran answered “yes” to his representative’s question as to whether he was diagnosed with hepatitis in 1972, prior to entering service. The Veteran further testified that he did not have any flare of or receive any treatment for hepatitis in service. He indicated that he was not aware that he “really had hepatitis, other than, the, I guess the virus,” until six months to a year after service when he attempted to donate blood and was told he had hepatitis.

This says much. It informs us that he was diagnosed with “some form of hepatitis’ detectable by the only test in the western world at the time-the ambiguous Hepatitis Australian Antigens (HAA) one. If it was positive, you had HBV. Negative was taken to mean HAV.  Diagnosis was impossible for HCV. However, if you had visible symptoms and Liver Function Tests (LFTs) that revealed a raging, ongoing jaundiced adventure, it was often said you had Non-A, Non-B hepatitis (NANB). Strangely absent from this medical misadventure is any mention of testing to determine if he has antibodies to HAV or HBV which might illuminate what disease was active in 1972 to the present. Absent this analysis, a doctor (or vA examiner) would be hard pressed to say otherwise. Since Johnny is being accorded so much knowledge, its seems axiomatic that he should be able to opine as to which flavor it was, too. Isn’t that what vA is purporting to hypothesize?

He does a credible job of shooting himself in the foot over his extracurricular activities prior to service but that cannot be considered willful misconduct if it preceded service. Very poor life choices are just that. Until he held up his hand and said I do, he was not violating  38 CFR 3.301 or the UCMJ. He was never arrested for it or had any documented medical proof of disease prior to service so it’s –yep- hearsay. Elevating it to sworn, documented history in the contemporaneous record  doesn’t whitewash it and make it admissible.

He reported at a December 2010 VA examination that prior to his military service, he “never missed a party” and used a lot of drugs, to include intranasal drugs and intravenous drugs. In contrast, he does not recall or identify any similar risk factors in the military. He denies sharing razors or toothbrushes in the military. The Veteran recounted the same history to the examiner of learning he had hepatitis when he attempted to donate blood after service.

So what? I told everyone I was related to Santa Clause when I was 19.  It was a good throw away line for picking up babes. All we have here is a party animal who claims to have shot and snorted a bit prior to service. Nevertheless, he was declared fit for service and,  his vague assertions aside, unsure if he did or didn’t have the dragon prior to service.

 The Veteran’s service treatment records reflect that on the Report of Medical History portion of his January 1974 enlistment physical examination, he answered “don’t know” with regard to whether he had a history of jaundice or hepatitis. There is no discussion of hepatitis in the examination report, and it is noted that serological tests were “non reactive.” There was no diagnosis of hepatitis in service. On the Report of Medical History portion of his separation examination in April 1977, the Veteran answered “yes” to the question of whether he had a history of jaundice of (sic) hepatitis.” The examiner at that time noted that the Veteran “has hepatitis agent, notice 1972, NCNS.” A rapid plasma regain (RPR) test was noted to be non reactive.

The examiner here is referring back to the 1974 statement in the entrance physical. NCNS stands for No complications, No sequelae. “Hepatitis agent” is not a recognized medical term. He concluded that no less than three physicians in 1977 pointed to hepatitis (no particular flavor) based not on medical evidence but on a self-reported history. Would that it was so easy to recite our past to vA and be believed with absolutely nothing to substantiate it. Even more amazing is that Johnny Whacko is now a doctor. Jovita has nothing on him. And, of course, he doesn’t have any evidence of syphilis according to the RPR test. In fact, there is absolutely no mention of syphilis in this whole thing so why the big RPR hoopla?

Even more amazing is the ability to utilize the DeLorean with Mr. Fusion,  capable of venturing back in time and figuring out that this wasn’t any normal hep but the dreaded C.  “How did do do dat?” as my son used to say when he was knee high to a nine inch bottle of Schlitz.

The Board finds that the Veteran’s hepatitis clearly and unmistakably preexisted service based on his own testimony that he was told he had hepatitis in 1972 prior to service; the notation on the April 1977 in-service examination that the hepatitis agent was noted in 1972; his self-report at the December 2010 VA examination of high risk behavior before service; and the December 2010 VA examiner’s conclusion that hepatitis clearly and unmistakably preexisted service.

We see evidence every day of the perfidy and outright pretzel logic utilized to deny claims. I have to admit this is one of the better thought out ones but it reaches too far. If they expect him to never appeal it to the CAVC, then they can rest assured it’s bulletproof. If he appeals, this whole thing is going to come down like the two houses of the legendary pigs under a little huffing and puffing. This is the essence is “absence of evidence is negative evidence”. Worse they take the absence of evidence and build a complete house out of a phrase from a Veteran untrained in the medical arts. Johnny is now a noted gastroenterologist with F.A.C.S. hepatic credentials and credible in all his recollections. vA  seems content to fill in where he gets fuzzy on the etiology.

The only evidence indicating that the Veteran may not have had hepatitis prior to entering service is his own statement on the enlistment examination that he “did not know” whether he had a history of jaundice or hepatitis. His subsequent statements, both as sworn testimony at the RO hearing and as made to the December 2010 VA examiner, are to the contrary.

Any time you or I mangle the timeline of facts in our recitations of memories forty years old, we are called poor historians and our testimony is declared compromised and of little probative value. The more vague Johnboy becomes in his recollections, the more credible his testimony in their eyes-the antithesis of  vA’s usual shtick. How can it be that he knows nothing at entrance to service and gradually is flush with the art of opining  over time? How come Jovita was not accorded similar treatment?  Remember Ben Layno?  The Court  told him categorically that his observations were limited to his five senses (hearing, sight, smell, touch and taste). Thus the mere mention of “Well… I’m not sure, exactly. What does jaundice mean?” would be a good indicator that Johnny Whacko wouldn’t have a clue what hepatitis of any flavor was if it came up and bit him on the ass in 1972-or 2012.

Admittedly, Johnmeister arrived without the nexus somehow. We all know how that works.

a) The dog ate it.

b) Nobody at DAV told him he needed one.

c) Being a doctor, he can provide his own

d) The vA, being standup guys, offered to provide one free of charge because Dr. Bash wanted $6,000.00 for his.

e) All of the above

Nevertheless, after all is said and done, they explicitly believe all he said in 1974, the 2007 discussion (not under oath) with the vA caregiver and the RO hearing in 2010 . How can it be that the BVA comes to this misguided analysis? One might think they had an agenda.

 The Board has considered the Veteran’s testimony and other submitted statements. The Veteran candidly concedes he engaged in high-risk behavior prior to his military service, but that he did not know he had hepatitis until after his military service. To the extent the Veteran himself is opining that his hepatitis C was incurred in or aggravated by service, the Board does not find his opinion probative as he lacks the medical training to offer an opinion with regard to etiology. See Layno v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 465, 469-70 (1994); see also Visser v. Packer Engineering Assoc., Inc., 924 F.2d 655, 659-60 (7th Cir.1991).

Well, his opinion is highly probative- right up until it isn’t. This pretzel looped back on itself three times before heading south. The Johnster has provided much of the hemp needed for his new Western-style, Bolo tie but suddenly becomes suspect when he says the ” it musta happened in service” phrase. Notice he doesn’t point to any risk? Notice DAV is holding his coat and letting him carry the water? Notice the lack of any meaningful legal help? Johnbo had until August 5th to get his NOA in to the Court. Let’s hope he did and that he finds this.

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BVA–“INTERFERONS” FOR PORPHYRIA CUTANEA TARDA?

Posted on November 8, 2012 by asknod

This one is too tragic for words. AMLEG is repping this guy and they can’t even get him the right rating. They’re trying to do it under DC 7815 for Porphyria but miss the mark. DC 7704 (Polycythemia Vera) is the only rating for phlebotomies (40%) and everyone knows this. Well, almost everyone, apparently. Hell, the Vet can get an additional 10% for the scarring on top of the 40%.  AMLEG is clueless.

What is spooky is they decided to remand this to find out if he’s getting “Interferons” for this condition. What if he was? Besides being sicker than a dog, I doubt it would have any bearing on the subject-or effect on the PCT for that matter.

What’s worse, if you are getting phlebotomies every three months to control the PCT, how in Sam Hill is the PCT ever going to materialize to such a level as to provoke “bullous pemphigoids” (blisters)?

Knock-knock.

Who’s there?

Logic .

Logic who?

vA logic. Stop the phlebotomies and let’s make your liver trip the metal detector at the airport because of the iron buildup. So what if it provokes early cirrhosis? We need to know.

So here we go. Let’s endanger the Vet’s health and discontinue the phlebotomies with the sure knowledge that:

The examiner indicated that the Veteran’s PCT began when he was 22 years old, and that the Veteran experienced severe skin reactions when he did not get routine phlebotomies. The Veteran had a pint of blood withdrawn every three months as routine treatment for his PCT. The examiner indicated that no eruption was noted during the examination.

Jez. Where’d you park the squad car, Dick Tracy? You don’t just suppose the reason the Vet’s lack of skin disorder has anything to do with phlebotomies?  Round up the usual suspects, Jacques.

Posted in AO, BvA HCV decisions, Vietnam Disease Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

BVA–DUDE, WE LOST THE TAPE RECORDING OF THE HEARING

Posted on November 8, 2012 by asknod

Gosh. Don’t you hate this when it happens? It’s like when you reach down into the sink drain for the fork that fell in and your wife absentmindedly reaches over and turns on the garbage disposal. Jez, I just hate that when that happens. Similarly, don’t you hate driving 90 miles with no travel pay one-way to do your Board hearing and some gomer calls you up fifteen months later and asks if, perchance, you have the cassette tape of the hearing?

So, five years into it from 2007, and it’s back to the drawing board hearing reschedule in 2013. Wow, this never happens, sir. We’re speechless-literally. Doesn’t anyone check this stuff prior to the Form 8 insertion and the hand off to the Pony Express? Oh. I see. The VSO…

Bummer, dude. Sounds like they may have been checking out those tasty Denver mile-high buds before they were legalized.

Posted in BvA HCV decisions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

BVA–OOPS! WE FORGOT THE HEARING, DUDE

Posted on November 8, 2012 by asknod

Imagine waiting around for several years (actually more because it’s Oakland) and then getting the call from the BVA. Of course, all this time you were waiting for the call to attend your requested Board Hearing, not the the decision call. So it’s off to Merry Olde Oakland for a two year delay to get the hearing. I think we can safely say this wasn’t an oversight on the RO’s part. This, and similar shenanigans like shipping your claim off without the SSD documents, occur about every 3 minutes nationwide. Poor training after what they spend to produce a vA claims rater? You be the judge.

This is where you, as the driver of your claim, can save time and win earlier-usually locally. So much time is spent playing Badminton with the claims between DC and the RO (God forbid the black hole of the AMC) that 10 years can be lightspeed a la hyperdrive motivator. DAV was driving this one. With access to his claims file at their fingertips, do you think anyone could be bothered to walk across the hall and say “Yoo-hooo? Say, can I review Johnny Vet’s records for completeness before you certify that and pack the Form 8 in on top? It’ll only take a minute.” This happens far more frequently than Vets imagine. When it does, the VSO jerk will blow bubbles and say. “Yessiree, Bob. Boy did we pull your bacon outta the fire. Our DAV rep in DC spotted that they screwed you out of your hearing so we demanded a remand. Our guy knows the judge pretty good so he let us bring it back here. That’s why you hired us, dude. We’re on it.”

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BVA–ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

Posted on November 8, 2012 by asknod

What happens when your claim grows dust in the file room:

 

It’s not vA’s fault. The stupid Vet just didn’t file soon enough. If he’s been responsible, he’d have filed for this in 1969 when he came home from Nam. Considering they tell us there’s no dx of Hep C in our medrecs from back then, that stands to reason. We just blew it off on filing for it. Not just stupid. Lazy and stupid…. or lying.

Posted in BvA HCV decisions, Vietnam Disease Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

$43,018 Orlando conference cash “awards” to VA employees

Posted on November 7, 2012 by Laura

Small chunks of information in the VA OIG investigative report, released on Sept. 30, 2012, reveal a great deal about the dysfunctional management of the VA at the highest levels.

In FY 2011, 15 VA employees received cash awards for their “efforts contributing to the success of the conference.”  The names of all but two employees have been redacted from the public release.

From Exhibit 15, page 77.

A table shows that 2 employees received $5,500; 3 received $3,000; 1 received $4,000; 2 received $2,500; 4 received $2,000, 2 received $1,5000 and 1 received $749.00.  Three employees received time-off with cash values.

The 4K went to an employee who was commended for his work on the $49,516 Patton parody, a video which OIG considered a completely wasteful expenditure.  The 3K award went to an employee who bought a karaoke machine with his” own money” according to a note.  What a guy! How can you have a proper HR training without a little Disney sing-along to enhance the experience?

Paying cash to VA staffers for planning lavish parties in the sunshine state was wrong; the whole 6M+event was wrong.

Instead, perhaps VA-sponsored trips to Vietnam’s Cu-Chi Tunnels, Normany, or Auschwitz, would have actually helped employees serve Veterans better.  What other sites could they visit (U. S. or abroad) and actually learn something important about veterans, war, freedom, and sacrifices?  

 

Posted in Complaints Department, Guest authors, vA news | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

BVA–REMAND FOR EVERYTHING BUT THE KITCHEN SINK

Posted on November 7, 2012 by asknod

FROM THE PAUL R. REVERE

MEMORIAL  REGIONAL OFFICE

How many things could go wrong with a claim? How many things could the Regional Office, tasked with the proper, professional development of your claim, possibly mishandle to the point that the remand is a virtual laundry list of all the things they are supposed to have been done prior to putting pen to paper to write the denial?

This case is so underdeveloped that the raters don’t have the bare minimum to base their decision on. The Veteran is on SSD and freely contributed this information, yet the RO never made any effort to retrieve these highly probative records. This alone should be the penultimate reason not to go forward and push send (to DC).

Medical evidence that is a prerequisite to any fair and balanced decision has only now been made a part of the record. A claim for depression or mental disability not otherwise specified has been expressed yet the claim sailed off the DC absent any development. Furthermore,  the C&P evidence (or the severe lack of) precludes any meaningful adjudication on the nose or back claim. My nine year old grandson could assemble this in his sleep.

The last missing piece is truly phenomenal. The gentle reader will note that this devoted Veteran had two separate periods of service. After separating in 1978 after a three year enlistment, he returned again in 1981 for a second three year stint. The vA, in their haste to put this poor boy down, has neglected to obtain his service  records from his first period of service. It is rather vague as to what is present and what is missing but the claim was never ripe for appeal until all the records were obtained.

In the remand, Veterans Law Judge U.R. Powell offers this polite request in Note #3 to help facilitate review so another remand won’t be forthcoming or necessary:

It would be helpful if the examiner would use the following language, as may be appropriate: “more likely than not” (meaning likelihood greater than 50%), “at least as likely as not” (meaning likelihood of at least 50%), or “less likely than not” or “unlikely” (meaning that there is a less than 50% likelihood).

In other words, the VLJ is asking the examiner to express the nexus in terms required by the M-21 1MR currently employed by vA for this purpose. In fact, the good judge goes further and admonishes this future examiner thusly:

The term “at least as likely as not” does not mean “within the realm of medical possibility.” Rather, it means that the weight of medical evidence both for and against a conclusion is so evenly divided that it is as medically sound to find in favor of that conclusion as it is to find against it.

This is boilerplate remand language. What is not is the repetitive use of the exact same admonition in Notes #4 and #5. This implies the vA’s examiner has a short memory span or ADHD. Regardless of why VLJ Powell chose to reiterate it no less than three times. its disturbing that it might even be necessary once. Are those RO folks so dense that they need instructions on how to go to the bathroom, too? We always wondered about the 60% error rate making it all the way to the Court. It’s now apparent why.

Our judge also included this one three times. Considering we are required to have private or vA doctors review our contemporaneous records prior to performing the nexus dance around the chicken entrails, it would appear that the RO needs reminding of this fact as well- only thrice over. Perhaps like a spell, recitation three times is the lucky charm?

The VA clinician is requested to provide a thorough rationale for any opinion provided. The clinician should review the claims folder and this fact should be noted in the accompanying medical report.

What exactly are they teaching our new breed of rater? This is from Boston. People from Boston are well-educated and erudite. They are polished and dress appropriately. In a word, they are our kind, dear. How can this come about amidst good breeding in the best of circumstances?

 

Holy shirt and shoes, Batman! here’s another right underneath it. Different Judge but same modus operandi on the remand language.

Posted in BvA Decisions | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

BVA–ROUNDUP AT SUBIC BAY

Posted on November 7, 2012 by asknod

Here we go again with those carefully parsed “tactical herbicide” cases as opposed to good old fashioned “nuclear herbicides”. Thus, our good buddy Vet from Fort Fumble in St. Pete’s, with the help of about 4 or 5 buddy letters, finally gets his foot in the door  with AO or its distant, innocuous cousin. Remember, we cannot be so bold as to admit we used the real McCoy at Clark or Subic Bay. We can’t even admit we used anything stronger than Roundup or Blue for fear of pissing off the The Philippine Government. Even though nothing of substance grows at Clark to this day and kids all have three eyes and no ears, there will be no admissions of AO usage there or we’ll have a major Superfund fiasco in our lap. Not that we don’t already but that currently is a voluntary effort with no admission of guilt. There’s a big difference. It’s similar to vA’s Joint Motion for Remand. No guilt. No admission of such and a mere voluntary expedition to find out if the Vet was exposed or screwed.

Here we have a very complete, well-ordered example of “at least as likely as not” without a tacit admission of usage. Nevertheless, we can add this to the Guam, Okinawa and Korea “could have” file. Each case is done on a facts of the matter basis with no blanket “Yeah, we used a lot of it.” Thus Vet A gets it and Vet B cannot use Vet A’s BVA decision. Or can he? If you can prove you were working where this gentleman was or on one of the ships mentioned, it’s fairly good odds to say you will get SC for DM2. You simply bogart his information. vA calls it plagiarism but we prefer to think of it as being “similarly situated”.

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VAOIG–THIS IS MY OTHER BROTHER DARRYL

Posted on November 7, 2012 by asknod

Remember the the second Bob Newhart Show where the three brothers come in? “Hi. I’m Larry and this is my brother Darryl and this is my other brother Darryl.”? Here I wish to immortalize that famous line again. Obviously Veteran Larry told both his brothers-in law (also similarly situated) about his new trick to siphon off $18.00 each trip to vA. After about a year this spread among the family and friends and soon there were nine doing it including -yep- two brothers named Derrick and Phillip. I learned to my great dismay in Southeast Asia that a secret blooms like Pansies once two or more people know about it. That’s probably why they invented security clearances.

Law Bob sends me this lame Veteran attempt to smoke the vA out of about .0001 seconds of operating funds. Considering they blow through $56,000.00 in bonuses a day nationwide for denials “above and beyond the call of duty” while often putting themselves “in great danger to save their fellow employees”, pursuing this noble endeavour is necessary to maintain honesty in the ranks. I’m sure the vAOIG utilized choppers for surveillance and many gallons of gas.

Most importantly, I have found that defrauding or stealing from the government (and the vA) is met with very harshly. Unofficial requisitioning, on the other hand, in time of war is considered impolite but tolerated. Who counts Dupont Spinners? We never did. Larry, Darryl and Darryl have now discovered the limits of what they can claim for travel pay. At 45¢ a mile, it all adds up. Worse, if everyone traveling from Clayton to Dayton is getting paid $14.50 and you’re claiming $44.50 from your Grandma’s house in Cleveland, you have to expect a little scrutiny. Most especially if your address of record is Clayton. I shouldn’t even have to point this out.

As for claiming an award of 3 Silver Stars and 3 Purple Hearts for Meritorious Service to the Great State of Missouri in the National Guard, you better have a pretty spiffy DD 214 to that effect. vA is more than happy to give you disabled contractor status, but don’t be surprised if the OIG drops by eventually and wants to make sure the $6.7 million dollars in contracts you did with vA was all legit. Warren K. Parker, 70, has some big Frequent Fraud Miles accumulated,  so it appears he’s going to get an all-expenses-paid, 87-month staycation at the famous Graybar Hotel in Kansas. In keeping with the Larry, Darryl, and Darryl theme of blood being thicker than water, his wife, son and son in law ( Mary, Michael and Thomas) will also be joining him soon on this extended getaway. Silver Star Construction LLC,  in the interim, apparently will go into hibernation. Warren had this to say about that:

“We’ll be back in business as soon as this horrible miscommunication is rectified and my good name is restored. My wife and family are confident we’ll be vindicated. As an aside, if you haven’t purchased my book entitled Book of Death about my adventures in Vietnam as a sniper, I strongly suggest it. It captivated me just by writing it!”

Judging by the long list of entities prosecuting this case, it’s entirely possible more than that sum was spent ferreting out the miscreants and their ill gotten lucre. Nevertheless, justice was served-chilled.

Warren K, Parker- a legend in his own mind; a rumor in his own room. We split the October Alfred E. Neuman Award among these two equally deserving groups because we frankly are unable to ascertain the more deserving party.

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