Just received this from Member Bob. I make no suggestions on how to you view politics or politicians. I think they are all equally perverse and lower than whale poop. We report. You decide.
On another note, I’m betting heavily on the fact that Old Mitt wishes he could stuff that one back in the old pie hole or rephrase it. A DeLorean with a Hyperdrive Motivator would also be nice.
I love happy endings.
We conducted this inspection to evaluate how well the Lincoln VARO accomplishes this mission. Of the 51 VAROs we have inspected since April 2009, the Lincoln VARO ranked in the top 6 percent for claims processing accuracy. Lincoln VARO leaders attributed their successful operations to robust training efforts resulting in a highly skilled workforce and a unified management team providing exceptional oversight. Generally, VARO staff processed traumatic brain injury and herbicide exposure-related disability claims correctly. However, the VARO did not always accurately process temporary 100 percent disability evaluations. These errors occurred when staff did not schedule required medical reexaminations. Overall, VARO staff did not accurately process 11 (13 percent) of 85 disability claims we sampled as part of our inspection. These results do not represent the overall accuracy of disability claims processing at this VARO because we sampled specific high-risk claims. VARO staff took appropriate actions when correcting errors identified by VBA’s STAR program. Management ensured staff completed thorough and timely SAOs. Because VARO managers provided effective oversight of mail-processing workspace, they were able to control and route all mail the date it arrived at the VARO. VARO staff also provided adequate outreach to homeless shelters and service providers by working collaboratively with community and advocacy groups. However, VARO staff did not always address Gulf War veterans’ entitlement to mental health treatment as required. The Lincoln VARO Director should develop and implement a plan to ensure staff address Gulf War veterans’ entitlement to mental health treatment.
The important thing is nobody in the vA choir stumbled on the words while singing Kumbaya, My Lord for the VAOIG officials. So they have that going for them. As for the Gulf War Vets? Well, they’re working on that. Trust them and give them some time. I think they mentioned 2015. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
In short, everything was fine. And they all adjudicated happily ever after.
Randy sent this in but I’m sure everyone who gets up on Saturday morning has coffee with Mr. Philpott. Shortly thereafter, I got it from Col. Dan, Bob the Leagle Beagle and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Notwithsatanding, here’s Tom’s column from this last Saturday. Seems like the vA is going to reinvent the triage trick as we mentioned. VBMS. Has a nice ring to it. I smell something stinky like rotten fish in there. This has all the hallmarks of the STAR Teams and many more which preceded it. After a suitable time we will be greeted by the OIG monkeys tripping over all the QC teams trying to figure out why this one augered in. $20 bucks says they’ll blame it on training failures and a lack of familiarity with the new product. Then it’s back to the old drawing board and a new acronym to fix the (v)BM(S).
Be careful which line you guys stand in. If you get in the wrong one, chances are you won’t find out for 125 days. Oh. Make that 625 days- 2015 is a ways out. You still get the 98% denial guarantee regardless of which one you stand in. Think how much money they’ll save doing it this way. The new tagline:
They can make cute little jingles like this and put them on the hallways at VAMCs and ROs everywhere.
Got any cute jingles you’d like to share? Good taste is imperative here. I’m trusting all of you…
Why haven’t scientists forcefully come forth to shed light on the potential for medical devices to spread infectious diseases such as HCV? The F. D. A. regulates medical devices (jet-guns, syringes, endoscopes etc..) and their proper sterilization. Isn’t keeping the public safer what they’re paid by taxpayers to do? Apparently some powerful members in the agency don’t think so.
See this The New York Times headline story (7/14/12) by Eric Lichtblau and Scott Shane:
In Vast Effort, F.D.A. Spied on E-Mails of Its Own Scientists
“A wide-ranging surveillance operation by the Food and Drug Administration against a group of its own scientists used an enemies list of sorts as it secretly captured thousands of e-mails that the disgruntled scientists sent privately to members of Congress, lawyers, labor officials, journalists and even President Obama, previously undisclosed records show.”
Whistle-blowing scientists have been fired; other have been silenced with these fear-tactics. The corruption being uncovered is huge. Think Watergate-huge.
I’ve recently read a vintage F. D. A. meeting transcript that dealt with the cross-contamination risks of jet-guns. I’ll post some sound-bites in the upcoming weeks so readers of ASKNOD can get a sense of how F. D. A. experts and doctors tip-toe around this issue.
Folks, most veterans and their families are not going to prevail at the VA until scientists at agencies like the F. D. A. can speak openly and without fear. Many veterans have included scientific studies, published on government sites such as PubMed, only to have them dismissed as “Internet” material/junk. These studies may be sound but they are not influential.
On 10/28/10, Judge Chiapetta of Baltimore, decided that he had to deny service connection for HCV to a Veteran (Case #1040550) based on his creative thinking skills with regard to acute and chronic HCV. This is also a jet-gun case but that’s not the issue I’m considering here.
In FINDINGS OF FACT, the judge writes:
“Hepatitis C was not shown in service or for many years thereafter and the preponderance of the evidence is against a finding that it is in any way related to the Veteran’s service.”
BUT the C. D. C. says:
What are the symptoms of acute Hepatitis C?
Approximately 70%–80% of people with acute Hepatitis C do not have any symptoms
Later Chiapetta writes:
“…there is no medical evidence even suggestive of a possible link between his in-service risk factors and his current diagnosis of hepatitis C (which was first made almost two decade[s] after his discharge from service).”
BUT the Veteran served from August 8/74-8/76 and even though:
“…the Board notes that it is common medical knowledge that hepatitis C was not recognized prior to the late 1980s, the evidence does not support a finding of any symptoms consistent with hepatitis C while he was on active duty.”
Chiapetta insists:
“A review of the Veteran’s service treament records does not show any diagnosis or treatment for any liver-related disorders, including hepatitis C. “
BUT the C. D. C. states:
“How soon after exposure to Hepatitis C do symptoms appear?
If symptoms occur, the average time is 6–7 weeks after exposure, but this can range from 2 weeks to 6 months. However, many people infected with the Hepatitis C virus do not develop symptoms.”
The Judge adds:
“The report of a July 1976 examination prior to separation does not indicate that the Veteran had hepatitis C, or any other liver-related disorders.”
BUT the C. D. C. answers:
Is it possible to have Hepatitis C and not know it?
Yes, many people who are infected with the Hepatitis C virus do not know they are infected because they do not look or feel sick.
And:
“What are the symptoms of chronic Hepatitis C?
Most people with chronic Hepatitis C do not have any symptoms. ”
“What are the long-term effects of hepatitis C?
…5-20 people will go on to develop cirrhosis over a period of 20-30 years.”
Chiapetta has one important gottcha moment here!:
“…The Veteran reports that he did not have hepatitis C prior to starting work at a VA Medical Center in September 2002…. He also reported that test results for his employee physical revealed negative findings for hepatitis C, and a review of the report of the September 2002 employee physical examination does not show any indication of that the Veteran had hepatitis C at that time. …The first positive finding of hepatitis is shown in a December 2002 VA treatment record.”
We don’t know what test he was given, however, the C. D. C. informs us:
Can a person have normal liver enzyme (e.g., ALT) results and still have Hepatitis C?
Yes. It is common for persons with chronic Hepatitis C to have a liver enzyme level that goes up and down, with periodic returns to normal or near normal. Some infected persons have liver enzyme levels that are normal for over a year even though they have chronic liver disease.
I don’t know if the Veteran’s HCV infection is due to cross-contamination from jet-guns, or his service in the Army, but with the possible exception of the Veteran’s 2002 physical, Judge Chiapetta’s writing and reasoning does not appear to be based on valid scientific evidence. Anyone see some?
The HCV Q & A’s come from this C. D. C. Fact Sheet.
Pliny the Elder once said “In wine there is truth”, or if you’re Greek, “Ἐν οἴνῳ ἀλήθεια”. Its six of one and half a dozen of the other. I was at a wine tasting in Gig Harbor yesterday and what should my wondering eyes behold? Why naturally, a wine named after my wife.
The shots of the sunset are looking towards member Kel and Renee’s house (about twelve miles the other side of the trees in the foreground).
Yes, I agree. It’s time for those pesky trees to go to market. They’re obscuring the Olympic mountains. Unfortunately lumber is down due to low building demand so there is no money in it right now.
P.S. A partial explanation for the beautiful sunsets here was in the news this morning. The major forest fires on the Siberian peninsula are being caught by the jet stream and drifting over here. Who said Global Warming has to be ugly?
Some time ago, a popular blogger made a reference that VSO’s “had better records” than attorneys. Being a curious fellow, I had to check it out to see if his “bragging” had any substance. It did not. So, which is the best VSO?
NONE OF THEM!
Attorneys are the best as they had the lowest “denial” rate, according to the 2011 BVA Chairman’s Report (see page 22 for chart). The “average”, according to the report was 24.2%, which would be a comparative grade of “C”. Using interpolation, this would mean VSO’s with 20.9% or better deserved a “B”, while those with 28% denials or worse deserved a “D”, and the lowest 2 categories, deserved a failing grade.
The “denial” rate was used because, neither an “Award” nor a “Remand” guarantees the Veteran will receive any compensation, but a denial means the Vet will have to appeal or no benefits will be paid. The reason for this is because the VA has a habit of “awarding” 0% compensation where the Veteran gets an empty lolipop stick, and, unlike the VA, I do not consider “winning 0%” to be a win at all.
Based on the numbers, These VSO’s deserved an “A”
Attorneys 17.7% A+
VVA 18.1 A
MOPH 21.7 B+
Agent 21.7 B+
DAV 22.3 B
PVA 22.8 B
VFW 23.4 B-
State 27 C- (Notice I was being generous, as States were worse than average)
“Other” 28.8 D
AmVets 31.8 F
No Rep 36 F
Based on these stastics, we can draw these conclusions: An attorney is probably worth the money you pay him since he greatly increases your chances of “not losing” your case, especially considering the attorneys get the toughest cases that most VSO’s were unsuccessful at winning, because most of us dont want to shell out money unnecessarily so. So, Vets often “try” a VSO before they hire an attorney. You also don’t fare well representing yourself, though I will be the first to admit there are “pro se” Vets who dont take no guff off anyone.
Disclosure: No law firm compensated me monetarily for this opinion. Also, I received no “Free Rent” from any government agency as I have no offices in ANY of the 58 VA Regional Offices. Finally, I was never awarded a government contract, except, of course, the contract where I agreed to risk my life for 4 years for service to my country.
Up to now, this was merely an annoying delay. What is becoming apparent is that the publishers entrusted with getting decisions out in the online version are callously ignoring us and failing to publish them. Or, conversely, they are disabling the system so as to render them inaccessible.
Attempting to view any decision in 2012, even if you can get it to come up, yields the “Gee, sorry. That link is broken. Please try again next year.” It is now July 15th, 2012 and the year is half over plus 15 days. We have seen nary a decision that is viewable on their site. Veterans depend on these to teach them what vA’s latest technique is for denial. Since that changes all the time, we by necessity must stay on top of it. The decisions are published. That much we know. If you torque the settings and dig, you can see them posted. Accessing them is futile.
I try to steer clear of two things on this site. Politics and conspiracy theories are a dead horse. Whipping them doesn’t bring them back to life. The BvA is up to something because this isn’t an IT glitch. They’ve been publishing them for as long as I can remember. What they have been noted for perennially is the lag time of about three months on average. In no instance can I recall a delay of this magnitude. Any queries about it are greeted with a form letter that says “We’re looking into it.”
I hope they haven’t elected to use this as one of their cost-cutting ploys and then publish them en mass at the end of the year. If you haven’t noticed , they have subtly changed the web site over the last several years. Where we could once view all HCV decisions, we are now limited to the first 400 they choose to allow us to see. They have also eliminated the instructions for the Boolean search that allowed you to narrowly define the parameters of what you sought. It still exists but if you were never party to the knowledge, they aren’t handing it out.
Boolean search technique, for those of you interested, works like this. You want to find decisions that contain HCV and PCT (for example). Simply typing these in won’t bring up the results you expect. By using quotes around “HCV” and the symbol “+” then “PCT”, you isolate your search. Hence “HCV”+”PCT” with no spaces in between will give you what you seek. vA took this off the site in 2010. Why? Sorry, no conspiracy freaks allowed here. It made sense because they don’t want you snooping. That’s common sense- not a conspiracy. They sure didn’t make any attempt to hide it. They simply removed it. It still exists somewhere because I used that tiny search bar up in the right top to look for it and got a whole page of examples-sort of. Here’s one that mentions it but I can see no way to click on just the Boolean facet. If you try it on the site it works-it’s just invisible to the uninitiated.
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4. Is Boolean searching available? Truncation and wildcard searching? Proximity searching? 5. Is the keyword or relationship searching ability thorough? Is phrase searching available? Is natural language or keyword searchingmapped to a controlled vocabulary?
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http://www.va.gov/valnet/docs/Electronic_Resource_Evaluation_Checklist.docx | Search This Site  Similarly, limiting your viewing of a particular subject to the 400 they allow you to view is a form of censorship. What if they only allowed you to look at the denials and excluded any wins. How would you gather evidence and technique to learn why and how others won? The short answer is you wouldn’t.
Now, with the advent of the “no decisions” at all, we have no way to determine what vA has in store for us. As I mentioned, every inquiry so far has resulted in no more than a desultory “We’ll look into it” but I have not had any return calls explaining the deficiency. we’ll keep you posted.
P.S. Randy sends me this from Aunt Iris
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Member Christine sends us this heartbreaking news. As usual, Big Pharma has decided they cannot live with meager profits and the eradication of a disease rapidly approaching epidemic proportions. Imagine what would have happened if Doctors Saulk and Sabin had taken this tack and complained the their respective profits from the sale of the Polio vaccine wouldn’t give them an early retirement or that house in the Hamptons for a weekend getaway. A lot of us would be cruising in wheelchairs. They didn’t and we aren’t.
Please sign the petition if you would. I’d like to see my son graduate from law school, and it seems this would be the vehicle if I can get some. I guess I don’t expect the vA to pony up the drugs but there’s always Medicare.
Member Cal sends us this priceless (and timeless) humor.
The young cowboy took a place next to the old-timer, bought him a drink and told him the story of his great ambition.
“Do you think you could give me some tips?” he asked.
The old man looked him up and down and said, “Well, for one thing, you’re wearing your gun too high. Tie the holster a little lower down on your leg.”
“Will that make me a better gunfighter?” asked the young man.
“Sure will,” replied the old-timer.
The young man did as he was told, stood up, whipped out his 44 and shot the bow tie off the piano player.
“That’s terrific!” said the hot shot. “Got any more tips for me?”
“Yep,” said the old man. “Cut a notch out of your holster where the hammer hits it. That’ll give you a smoother draw”
“Will that make me a better gunfighter?” asked the younger man.
“You bet it will,” said the old-timer.
The young man took out his knife, cut the notch, stood up, drew his gun in a blur, and then shot a cufflink off the piano player
“Wow!” exclaimed the cowboy, “I’m learnin’ somethin’ here. Got any more tips?”
The old man pointed to a large can in a corner of the saloon. “See that axle grease over there? Coat your gun with it.”
The young man went over to the can and smeared some of the grease on the barrel of his gun.
“No,” said the old-timer, “I mean smear it all over the gun, handle and all.”
“Will that make me a better gunfighter?” asked the young man.
“No,” said the old-timer, “but when Wyatt Earp gets done playing the piano, he’s gonna shove that gun up your ass, and it won’t hurt as much.”
This reminds me of arriving up country and talking with an old (6 month) hand. I mentioned that shooting tracers was a pretty cool innovation because you could see where you were shooting and “tune it up” if you were off a bit. Dale pointed out the obverse that it also put a large bullseye on you as the zipperheads could now see where you were shooting from. After about a week, FNGs usually quit using the auto selector on anything that shoots because machine guns were the biggest threat and were the primary target. You discover this when you notice the vegetation around you wiggling a lot and what sounds like angry bees around you. The other dead giveaway was nobody wanted to be near you because it was hazardous to their health.
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