INCOMING- END OF YEAR HADIT RADIO SHOW

Posted on December 29, 2015 by asknod

haditlogo2007Yeppers, A summary of a good year of helping Vets find their way through the VA maze will commence at 1400 Hrs on the East Coast and 1100 hrs on the Left Coast. Berta, the CUE queen of Hadit fame will be there as well as the podcast crew. We’ll be discussing the successes and (sometimes) rare failures of 2015 and the newest techniques available for ensuring a positive outcome when filing. 

I also would like to welcome a Vet of the second World War to our ranks of the compensably disabled. He was a young 17 years of age on the Graves and Registration crew who ran around in a meat wagon collecting the fallen on Okinawa during and after the invasion on April 1, 1945. In Okinawa, there was no “behind the lines”. He carried a Thompson over his shoulder with good reason. Much like me, he never obtained his medals. This deprived him of the needed link to combat that would have ensured a PTSD rating far earlier. Nevertheless, I learned this morning that he was awarded 30% for bent brain. It’s a beginning and far from being over. He’s 92 years young and insists this is the opening salvo.

History_Report_Battle_of_Okinawa_Speech_SF_still_624x352

I suggested to his daughter that if she wished to wrap this up once and for all, that she should fly back to Chicago and “cold call” the VA unannounced. She did so on a Monday morning (0800 L) about 26 days ago and much coffee was expelled through many noses at the Reception counter upon her unheralded arrival. Proudly pushing her father in his wheelchair, she announced for all to hear that she was there merely as a courtesy to allow VA to do something that morning (RFN) before she departed for her interview with Channel 2 news (CBS) on the subject of how the VA treats their oldest combat Veterans. Needless to say, she had the undivided attention of the VSCM and the Director in less time than you can say Jack Robinson. They were all over her like fleas on a newborn puppie. 26 days is a new land speed record for VA to do anything, by the way.

In this business we advocate Technique! Technique! Technique!

As some of you know. our quest to get Butch Long his medals and service connection had positively outstanding results this year. We’ll discuss that as well.

Call us and tell us about your successes in 2015. I hear about them but nothing makes my heart go piddypat like when someone yells Bingo. Kinda like a bell ringing when another angel get’s it’s wings.

Here’s the show: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/haditcom/2015/12/30/haditcom-blog-talk-radio-show-special-with-john-jerrel-berta-asknod

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Don’t Forget. Mark that calendar. Tomorrow sneaks up on you fellers.

 

347-237-4819

Don’t forget to hit the #1 to talk

ss-call-me  As a side note, I can’t tell you how pleased we are this year to pool our resources with one of the oldest (1996) Veterans Help Sites on the Internet. Theresa unleashed a juggernaut of incomprehensible power when she began Hadit.com. Asknod.org is merely a bookend to find good legal foundations to your claims. We in no way ever wish to compete or supplant her hard work. You can never be too rich, too thin or have enough good Veterans help sites in this day and age. Thank you Theresa, John and Jerrel for allowing us to be part of a larger, established organization with a reputation for honesty and faithful service to America’s 3% club. Leave no Vet behind. Ever.

Asknod's VA Logo

 

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Praise for a few old hepatitis researchers

Posted on December 28, 2015 by Laura
nanb trans

“The decreasing incidence of transfusion-associated hepatitis in blood recipients monitored prospectively. Incidence, traced from 1969 to 1998, demonstrates a decrease in risk from 33% to nearly zero. Arrows indicate main interventions in donor screening …” click to go to Alter/Klein study on pubmed

From the 1940s to 1960s, two types of hepatitis were known to researchers …infectious and serum.  A third type was unknown.  From the 1930’s and earlier, an assortment of names confused everyone.  Old names for HBV included serum hepatitis, homologous hepatitis, long incubation hepatitis, and Dane’s particle.  HAV’s old names included infectious hepatitis, epidemic hepatitis, short incubation hepatitis.

The history of blood transfusions and blood banking really begins in earnest during the 1940’s (LINK to Red Cross timeline) and hepatitis was a problem for recipients, military and civilian.  The good news is that after about 1995, hepatitis transmissions from blood transfusions (in the U.S.) dropped to almost zero  (1-minute video Dr. Alter).

Notes from: The hazards of blood transfusion in historical perspective or (PUBMED LINK). 2617.full alter

“…serum hepatitis emerged as a major hazard of blood transfusion among surviving battlefield casualties of World War II…it took nearly 3 decades before the hepatitis B virus, then termed the serum hepatitis virus, was identified and a blood screening test developed. This arduous path from observation to discovery culminated in the serendipitous finding of the Australia antigen in 1963.1“

1965–First major breakthrough   (LINK to abstract). :  Baruch Blumberg (1925-2011) and Harvey J. Alter  discovered a red antigen, which, writes Alter, “…would unravel a hepatitis mystery that dates to early descriptions by Hippocrates.”   The red antigen was called the Australia (Au) antigen and lastly, the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). By 1970, blood donor screening/diagnostic assays for hepatitis led to a 70% drop in transfusion-associated hepatitis (THA).   Next came a hepatitis B vaccine.

nanbh

“Dr. Kapikian (left) and Siemer Siems posed by the microscope before it was dismantled and moved out of Building 7. Mr. Siems repaired the microscope during its three decades of use” Drs. Stephen Feinstone, Kapikian, and Robert Purcell used this microscope to discover hepatitis virus particles “in 1973. Along with Dr. Harvey Alter and others, they studied specimens from patients who had developed hepatitis from transfusions. The team discovered the presence of a different hepatitis virus, which they called “nonA-nonB”–now known as hepatitis C. ” Image: NIH 2005 newsletter.

In 1973, hepatitis A was visualized/discovered  by Stephen Feinstone, Albert E Kapikian ( d.2014), and Robert Purcell. Hepatitis A: detection by immune electron microscopy of a viruslike antigen associated with acute illness.   Science. 1973 Dec 7;182(4116):1026-8.  (LINK)  (More info LINK: Koff)

But patients were still getting post transfusion hepatitis and HAV was not the cause.  Retrospective testing later showed that roughly 20%- 25% of TAH was hepatitis B–related, leaving 75%-80% of cases tentatively classified as non-B hepatitis.

1976:  NANBH was diagnosed–by exclusion: Viral Hepatitis: New Aspects of an Old Disease  (LINK)

1978  Non-A, Non-B Hepatitis  (LINK to Feinstone/Purcell abstract )

Less than 20% of post transfusion hepatitis is due to HBV if only blood from voluntary donors that has been screened by third generation tests for the presence of hepatitis B surface antigen is used for transfusion. Type A hepatitis rarely, if ever, results from blood transfusion.1,2 Thus, most transfusion-associated hepatitis in the United States has an unknown cause.

1989:  Next huge discovery came from Michael Houghton’s lab.  Isolation of a cDNA clone derived from a blood-borne non-A, non-B viral hepatitis genome (Link to abstract Q L Choo et al/Chiron.)  Daniel W. Bradley is another name one sees frequently; he says in the 2-minute video that the discovery actually took place two years earlier. 

Hepatitis C virus: the major causative agent of viral non-A, non-B hepatitis.  (LINK to abstract).

Blood screening followed and the blood supply was HCV-clean after about 1992 ( in the U.S..) preventing millions of infections.

Note: Dr. Purcell and collaborators also discovered the distinct strains of D and E.  Good NIH interview (2005) transcript on of early human experiments and more background information is here in a less formal, more personal manner. ****

electron

“This Siemens 1-A Electron Microscope was used to detect and characterize the Norwalk virus, hepatitis A, and rotavirus by Dr. Albert Kapikian, NIAID. The microscope is now on display in the lobby of Building.” Image: NIH museum Click for more information.

So hepatitis discoveries were in this order:  HBV was discovered first and then HAV.  Then HCV.

These scientists and their co-workers have spent untold hours of their lives working on these urgent problems and have made the world a better place by doing so.  Those still living are still working and teaching.  May they live another 25 productive years!  Thank you for your discoveries and hard work for humanity.

Posted in Blood info, Guest authors, HCV Health, HCV Risks (documented), Jetgun Claims evidence, Medical News, Nexus Information, research, VA Medical Mysteries Explained, Vietnam Disease Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

NIH: Post-blood transfusions = about 5 million HCV cases in 70’s and 80’s in U.S.

Posted on December 27, 2015 by Laura

I have been waiting for a numerical estimation on HCV risk factor #1, blood transfusions, and found it in the above YouTube video.  If you read a lot of HCV reports on PUBMED, you know that Dr. Harvey J. Alter is a superstar.  Dr. Alter’s talk is 38 minutes short. He jokes as he gives a brief historical overview of the facts that laypeople can understand.

He states that in the era before testing for hepatitis was available, blood transfusions CAUSED about 4,800,000 cases of hepatitis C.  No wonder this epidemic is so bad, especially in the veteran population (2013 post: Blood sources for U. S. troops in Vietnam.) 

This is a must see.

alter

This is a screenshot of a slide. For a brilliant yet simple overview, click the VIDEO in the first image.

Posted in Blood info, Food for thought, HCV Health, HCV Risks (documented), Medical News, research, transfusions and hepatitis, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

LZ CORK—-BUTCH’S INFERRED CLAIM

Posted on December 26, 2015 by asknod

635646931319099161-veterans-administration-logoWhat in the Sam Hill is an inferred claim? Who dreamed up that Fustercluck concept? I get more queries on that since the VA term became fashionable. Included in these Veterans’ follow-on sentences are usually phrases like “I think they done deemed denied me!” and a nuanced discussion about how they got hornswoggled out of an earlier effective date. Let’s investigate this.

Here are several great legal discussions about it. You can find these at the CAVC site.

Criswell v. Nicholson, 20 Vet.App. 501, 504 (2006) opened the door to the concept that VA sometimes disremembered to do its job at the RO. They concluded with the misguided idea that it was okay most of the time. I personally think that makes nonadversarial a good descriptive adverb for a sidewinder, too.

Cogburn v. Shinseki, 24 Vet.App. 205, 214-15 (2010) Cogburn set 4 tests to see if it was inferred, informal or infernal or still viable. Cogburn took into account whether you had DAV as your legal team(i.e. unrepresented). Taking advantage of pro se Vets is so gauche.

In Richardson v. Nicholson, this Court held that, when presented with an assertion that VA failed to adjudicate a reasonably raised claim in the context of CUE, VA must make two threshold factual determinations:

(1) Whether such a claim was reasonably raised based upon a full and sympathetic reading of the pro se appellant’s prior submissions; and if so,

(2) whether the claim remains pending or was adjudicated. 

Specifically, the Court in Richardson clarified that the Board should first give a full and sympathetic reading of the [pro se] appellant’s filings to determine whether a claim was reasonably raised.  If the Board determines that a claim was reasonably raised and was not adjudicated, then it remains pending and must be remanded to the RO for adjudication.  If the Board “determines that the claim was adjudicated, then the claimant may collaterally attack the resulting decision on the basis of CUE.” 

infer

verb in·fer \in-ˈfər\

Simple Definition of infer

  • : to form (an opinion) from evidence : to reach (a conclusion) based on known facts

  • : to hint or suggest (something)

  • In VAspeak, an inferred claim doesn’t exist, per se, until you finish acting on it by making it a filed-for claim within a year of mumbling that you might be suffering from it. At that point, there is no doubt about whether it’s inferred because it’s on paper.

38 CFR §3.155 discusses new, original claims.

 

(a) Any communication or action, indicating an intent to apply for one or more benefits under the laws administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, from a claimant, his or her duly authorized representative, a Member of Congress, or some person acting as next friend of a claimant who is not sui juris may be considered an informal claim. Such informal claim must identify the benefit sought. Upon receipt of an informal claim, if a formal claim has not been filed, an application form will be forwarded to the claimant for execution. If received within 1 year from the date it was sent to the claimant, it will be considered filed as of the date of receipt of the informal claim.

§ 3.157 Report of examination or hospitalization as claim for increase or to reopen.

(a) General. Effective date of pension or compensation benefits, if otherwise in order, will be the date of receipt of a claim or the date when entitlement arose, whichever is the later. A report of examination or hospitalization which meets the requirements of this section will be accepted as an informal claim for benefits under an existing law or for benefits under a liberalizing law or Department of Veterans Affairs issue, if the report relates to a disability which may establish entitlement. Acceptance of a report of examination or treatment as a claim for increase or to reopen is subject to the requirements of § 3.114 with respect to action on Department of Veterans Affairs initiative or at the request of the claimant and the payment of retroactive benefits from the date of the report or for a period of 1 year prior to the date of receipt of the report.

This touches on the reason why we end up with “reasonably raised”,  implied or inferred claims. You show up in 1970 and the doctors says “Whoa, that satchel charge toasted your ear, dude” You, of course say “What was that? Oh, you mean my hearing? I didn’t know it was that bad. Maybe I should file.” In most cases, that was  the end of the claim- be it new or a reopen- unless you personally acted. Expecting VA to quickly send out the twenty six page 21-526 to your last known address just wasn’t in the cards regardless of what they said. The Catch 22 that always let them off on this was a two-part trick. Pulling the pin didn’t start the clock. Pickling the bail and throwing it at them did. You had one year. If VA hadn’t sent you any filing papers by then, it wasn’t their fault. Read the rules book. Ignorance is not bliss.

Thus, in 2015, the old lady says you are soooooo deaf so you refile for hearing loss. You win but it’s eerily like what you filed for in 1970-sort off. You said your ears rang a lot in 1970 and they blew you off. They gave you 0% for “deafness”. You reopen for it this time and call it tinnitus. Bingo!-10%.  Before you filed this time, if you were smart, you got the old c-file and noted that you filed for it just like you thought you did. You told them about the ear ring. They wrote it down. The doctor even mentioned it by name in the C&P report. They just sort of let it slide because you didn’t actually call it tinnitus. Well, that’s what VA is going to argue. No way are they going to talk about 1970, cowboy. So how do we turn this into an “inferred” or reasonably raised claim? Watch closely, young Skywalker. The c-file is quicker than the eyesaber. VA was sooooo dumb back then that they actually wrote it down. Too late to erase it when you get your c-file BEFORE you file. Some would say this cost old Butch Long 10 months of benefits. I say it gained him 46 years of a lot of retroactive baksheesh.

Evidence is king. I tell you that over and over. You construct it like a concrete foundation. All the documents below are originals. Left clicking on them will magnify them for you. Left clicking on them twice will really magnify them for those of you who are blind like us old farts. You have to begin with an entry physical showing good hearing when you went in. Like this:

Long redac Presumption of Soundness

Okay, now you have proved you arrived with two good ears. That is the Presumption of Soundness. Next, you have an exit physical that implies things got a little bunged up in between:

Long exit physical

Throw in the filing for the claim. Remember, you don’t have to be anally retentive with the terminology. You told them you had too many holes in your ears and eyes and weighed substantially more than you did when you went in due to you’re packing all that extra steel. Throw in a mention that the Homeland Security guys at the airport get mighty excited after you walk through the metal detector. They always want to see you naked after that.

Long 526 orig. claim REDACThrow in a C&P Examination showing you complained about that funny ringing sound and all the pus oozing out. While you’re at it, throw in the bogus right eyeball and the right  hand and head wound/headaches. Pretty soon it looks like you were filing for TBI. Wait… you were, but you just didn’t know how to do it back then.

Long 1970 C&P pg 1 REDAC

Throw in the stupid VA doctor who slipped up and mentioned tinnitus and a future cataract (incipient lens change). See where we’re going with this?

Long C&P REDAC

Refile in March 2015 and wait for VA to tell you your effective date is… March 2015. This is when you break the bad news to them that your effective date is controlled by your- yep, wait or it-  inferred or “reasonably raised” claim. You ate the satchel charge. You said your ears rang all the time and the doctor said it was tinnitus. You were rated 0% for deafness. It isn’t your fault they forgot to rate all of it. You asked for it and you’ve been patient. They finally grant it and you spring the  1970 trap.

That’s how you are supposed to “infer” a claim in VAland. This is really what we call an informal claim in it’s truest sense for the Tinnitus. This is also an example of your filing for it and complaining in the only tinnitus language you understood (ringing). You were not a doctor. If a satchel charge went off about a foot away from you, it was called concussive blast injury. They call it acoustical trauma nowadays and give you TBI, bent brain, bent ears and a lot more-including tinnitus. In 1970, they called it 0% for deafness. We’ve come a long way semantically, baby.

Long Rating sheet 1970 pg 1Long Rating sheet 1970 pg 2

Now, when you file your Form 21-0958, you can say legitimately “Dude, what happened to my tinnitus rating from 1970? Or my right side head wound with retained shell fragments? Or the incipient cataract that eventually formed over my right eye owie? Or the right hand that goes numb after about an hour or two of work every day? Huh? When are you going to rate them?  When you ate that much Semtex, they were supposed to start thinking of the bigger picture. If they didn’t, you wait them out like Butch did. It ain’t over until Butch says it is. All those retained shell fragments are still there. VA can bullshit you but they can’t bullshit the retained metal fragments out of you.

This reminds me of herding ADHD cats. They just can’t seem to stay on track but think you’re stupid enough not to notice or add it up yourself.

dsc01113

Butch and me at his Valentine’s day bash

Posted in Inferred claims, Informal Claims, KP Veterans, Nexus Information, Tips and Tricks, VA Medical Mysteries Explained, Vietnam War history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

LZ CORK–SUCCESS AFTER 46 YEARS

Posted on December 23, 2015 by asknod
2015-02-14 14.19.39

Congressman Kilmer awarding medals on Valentine’s day 2015 (click to enlarge)

Rarely do we get to enjoy Christmas cheer of this magnitude and so close to a day of such immense implications associated with the joy of giving and receiving. I am overjoyed to announce that after carefully building a well-constructed foundation on top of the c-file in his possession, Butch managed to attain a TDIU with Permanent and Total in eleven short months of his filing. Were we to excuse four months for VA’s mailing his C&P exams to the wrong 1970 address of record, it could have been seven months. 

I wish to thank our Congressman, Derek Kilmer, profusely along with his VA Crash Crew (Nick Carr and Andrea Roper) for their super work when VA dropped the ball in July. You will remember Kilmer’s work earlier in obtaining Butch’s long-lost CIB and Purple Heart.

LZ CORK–2015-DOING THE PUYALLUP

I wrote this back in October 2014 when we began this battle.

LZ CORK-JANUARY 18TH,1969–A DAY IN THE LIFE

Unfortunately, this story has a sorry tale attached to it. The Tinnitus and Shell Fragment Wounds and (SFWs) Butch suffered in 1969 were, like his medals, never fully recognized or awarded by VA as compensation until yesterday. Only now are they willing to admit to the severity of the wounds that were compensable even then. Surely, the award of 10% for a severe shrapnel wound to the hand would necessitate an investigation into where the remainder of the 60 mm Viet Cong mortar round ended up that night. VA somehow didn’t dial in on that. Also missing was an informed decision on TBI, concussive shock, hearing loss and tinnitus. Oddly, the 1970 VA rater remarked on the rating sheet that Butch clearly suffered from tinnitus but that never was realized.

An inferred claim in these circumstances is a basic legal premise. If a mortar impacts a foot away from you, certain medical triage principles are employed later on in rating you. In Butch’s case, one fragment embedded all the way through in his right eye. VA doesn’t “see” it. Tinnitus, headaches and worse followed. VA refused to “hear” of it. If they can clearly now acknowledge the compensable nature of  his SFWs in 2015, it stands to reason the same subset of muscle group disabilities existed in 1970 when the original 10% rating was awarded. To argue otherwise is vintage VA chutzpah.

Butch was granted 50% for PTSD and I feel that was a major lowballing typical of VA. The only upside to this is that the VA Grinch didn’t steal Butch’s Christmas. We have not heard the last of LZ Cork or Butch Long. A warm thank you to Bob Lockett and all the rest of the LZ Cork Alumni who have offered their support to Butch in the last year. I cannot tell you how proud I am to belong to this Band of Brothers.

Merry Christmas to you both Butch and Barb. You are long overdue for this. A benefit delayed is a benefit denied. Yesterday only began to right the wrongs of forty six years ago.

grinch

Posted in All about Veterans, Food for the soul, KP Veterans, Tips and Tricks, VA Medical Mysteries Explained, Vietnam War history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

LZ CORK–CHRISTMAS TIDINGS 2015

Posted on December 22, 2015 by asknod
Night Flares over Cork & Radar Hill

4 deuce night flares over LZ Cork and Radar Hill January 1969. Courtesy of Steve Alexander ( 105 mm Artillery up top on Cork)

LZ Corkgram– Hot news from the Key Peninsula is Butch Long got his Big Brown Envelope from VA today. I’ll be going down to his place tomorrow morning for coffee and champagne. He asked me to come down and decipher it on account of his hands are shaking too bad. Expect transmission before 1200Hrs Local and will call smoke.  “Hot damn, Hot Damn!” as they say down in Georgia. Talk about an early Christmas Present. 

Forty six years, eleven months and three days. That’s almost some kind of speed record for VA. I may have to write Call me Bob a thank you note.

On behalf of myself and Kiedove, I’d like to wish all of you a warm and happy season’s greetings regardless of your VA beliefs. We are a tight-knit family of survivors and celebrate our seventh year in this calling. Where would we be without you? Our prayers go out to Hadit Elder Carlie Croft who passed recently. She was a guiding light in this business and led many souls to a VA claims grant. I only hope I measure up to her high standards before I punch out.

Capture 3

Carlie Croft

Unofficially, we are well over 400 wins with the advice provided here but that, of course , is merely rumors and propaganda. Not everyone comes back to tell us about their success. But then, that’s not why we began this. Theresa Aldritch, the founder of Hadit.com said it most succinctly- Leave none of your wounded or injured brother and sister Veterans behind-ever.

We represent 3% of America-its finest in my mind. The commitment must be made in youth and you can never go back for a do over. Merry Christmas and welcome home to Butch. We’ve been waiting for him a long, long time. Butch

 

Posted in KP Veterans, vARO Decisions, Vietnam Disease Issues, Vietnam War history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

2015 military holiday images

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Laura
japan

“Staff Sgt. Andre Hayes, a 374th Civil Engineer Squadron journeyman, holds his daughter during the holiday tree lighting ceremony at Yokota Air Base, Japan, Nov. 24, 2015. The lighting of the tree signals the beginning of the holiday season.” (photo/Airman 1st Class Delano Scott)

air

“Alaska National Guard Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus wave as they exit an Alaska Air National Guard C-130 in St. Mary, Alaska on Dec. 5, 2015. The Claus’ visit was part of Operation Santa Claus, a nonprofit organization partnered with the Alaska National Guard to collect toys, school supplies and food staples, and deliver them to school children in Alaska’s remote communities.” (photo by Capt. John Callahan.)

han

“New Jersey National Guard United States Air Force Reserve Maj. Menashe Miller, second from right, a chaplain, watches his sons light the fourth candle on the Menorah — one for each day of Hanukkah during a candle lighting ceremony at the Main Base Chapel, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., Dec. 9, 2015. “(photo by Master Sgt. Mark C. Olsen/)

tots

D.C.–“First lady Michelle Obama helps sort toys for the Marine Corps Foundation’s Toys for Tots drive for the sixth straight year at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling on Dec. 9, 2015.”

arlington

ARLINGTON, Va. (Air Force News Service, Dec. 14, 2015)

Over 200,000 Americans are serving overseas.  Holiday images posted online by the DoD are fewer this year but I’m sure traditions are still being observed globally on bases.  To read the rest of theDoD press release below click (LINK).

“WASHINGTON, December 22, 2015 — Thousands of U.S. service members and Defense Department civilians are serving around the world during the holidays to protect America, its interests and its allies.

Around 9,800 Americans are deployed to Afghanistan. And roughly 3,500 Americans are deployed to Iraq and Syria to assist in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The Army’s 82nd Airborne Division forms the nucleus of the deployment there.

All told, there will be roughly 220,000 American service members serving overseas this holiday season. They operate in more than 100 countries, on every continent.”

And then there are those who are super-deployed..…

 

 

Peace this holiday season no matter where you are. 

Posted in Food for the soul, Food for thought, Future Veterans, Guest authors, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

1997 JETGUN STEERING GROUP LETTER

Posted on December 21, 2015 by asknod

jetgun ejection 1ccThanks to Nurse Silvia Price, we now have the document that categorically sealed the future fate of the jetguns. Oddly, it still took a while longer to pry the jetguns from the cold dead hands of the US Military who insisted they were sterile under all conditions.

Those of you who are preparing to do battle with the VA would be advised to include this in the evidence submitted. VA insists that it was plausible. The wealth of the information we are finding indicates it was far more probable than plausible. In fact, we’ve gone to war over less “plausible” explanations.

4.2.2. Bovine immuno-assay testing

The Public Health Laboratory Service, UK, reported preliminary results from tests carried out during 1997 on the MEDEJET injector with the same nozzle as that implicated in the California outbreak. In this series of tests 200 injections were conducted on calves, each injection being followed by a series of shots into test tubes. Both the ejectate and the swabbed deposits on the injector head were collected separately. All samples were analysed using a bovine albumin immuno-assay developed for the study. 

 

The results, which are to be published, showed systematic contamination of the ejectate, persisting after the first flushing shot. Moreover, the levels of contamination were consistently higher than those which could be explained by the contamination of the nozzle by contact with the calf skin during the injection. A hypothesis was therefore advanced, that the path of contamination may have been reflux within the jet stream. This could possibly have occurred at the end of the shot when the liquid pressure at the nozzle of the injector dies to a level lower than that of the liquid column within the skin and subcutaneous tissue of the animal. 

Here’s the document. Download it and print it for submission in your claims. Don’t forget the other evidence you will find under Nexus Information in Blogs by Subject. The tide is turning in VA jetgun claims. That much is evident. Having the proper ammo to win with is as simple as submitting it along with a good nexus letter.

1997 STEERING GROUP REPORT ON JETGUNS

darlingshot1aaaa

 

Posted in HCV Health, HCV Risks (documented), Jetgun Claims evidence, Medical News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

BVA–WE DON’T NEED NO STINKIN’ BLOOD LABS

Posted on December 21, 2015 by asknod

downloadWith the amazing blood tests for liver diseases in this day and age, buttressed by liver biopsy showing age of the infection, there is simply no reason on earth for a BVA decision like the one I describe here. The only logical test to differentiate between Hepatitis A and Hepatitis C is ignored. This evidence is presented and accorded zero probative value. On top of that, the American Legion is not covering Johnny Vet’s back. No nexus of any kind, in spite of the avowed Holy Writ that one cannot win without it, is presented. 

In the last twenty years or more, we have advanced medically such that we can ascertain without any doubt whatsoever, the medical history of all flavors of Hepatitis in any given individual. If you ever had any of the three (A,B or C), blood lab testing can tell you not only if you had one or not, but whether you currently have it. There’s no Voodoo medicine involved. In fact, there is nothing complicated about it. If you have never had Hepatitis A, for instance, doctors tend to vaccinate you against it nowadays before they even consider the newer treatments of Sovaldi or Harvoni. The same applies for Hepatitis B. That test (Australia Antigen) has been around since 1970. Nevertheless, the newer  Immunoglobulins test that encompasses IgA, IgG and IgM  nails it down unequivocally. So why is it not being presented here in more detail and blowing this denial out of the water?

Reading through BVA hepatitis C decisions is not for the light of heart. It will break yours. I see far too many Vets march smartly to their VA claims funeral with a name brand VSO holding their hat and coat while they duel. Here, we have another Johnny Rebel with his VSO in tow. It looks suspiciously like he’s onto the right blood test showing no evidence of ever having been infected by the HAV (formerly called infectious) ever in his life.

In May 2008, the Veteran underwent a VA examination. The examiner noted the Veteran’s history of treatment for a “previous infectious hepatitis, type unknown.” At the time, the Veteran reported hepatitis C was discovered in 1999 on a routine physical examination and lab screening. Blood test results were set forth in the examination report. It was noted that hepatitis A virus IgM Ab was not indicated.

 

CaptureSo VA was puzzled as to why HAV antibodies were not detected if the hepatitis in service was “infectious” as documented. Let’s parse Hep A IgM Ab in the search bar and see what it turns up. Ta-daaaaa! No less an authority than the Mayo Clinic is well aware of the significance of this test so how is it the VA Judge affords it no value?

With respect to the Veteran’s arguments, the Board finds that the specific, reasoned opinion of the medical examiner is more credible and of greater probative weight than the lay assertions of the Veteran that he had hepatitis C, rather than hepatitis A, in service (including the assertion that negative hepatitis A results in 2008 indicate the Veteran did not have hepatitis A in service). This finding is based on the medical examiner’s greater training, knowledge, and expertise than the Veteran in discussing medical etiologies. We also note that the examiner reported that individuals could have antibodies that are not detectable (detectable antibodies have disappeared).

This is disturbing news for any number of reasons. Ignoring the simple fact that the above highlighted in red is patently false, why is it that the finding is allowed to stand? One does not come down with a virus, heal and not obtain life-long immunity to it. This is especially true in Hepatitis A and B infections. If you have never had them, there can be no antibodies to them in the system. Conversely, anyone who has ever been infected carries the antibodies for life as well as immunity to any future infections. This is medical science 101.

VA has adroitly allowed the conversation to degenerate into a he said-she said argument as to whether it was Hepatitis C in 1971. There is no need to make that determination and Johnny Vet is not educated enough to make the call anyway. The simply blood test showing no Hepatitis A infection makes the whole decision an exercise in Bozo medical nexus letters. My apologies for taking Bozo’s name in vain.

http://www.index.va.gov/search/va/view.jsp?FV=http://www.va.gov/vetapp15/Files5/1544544.txt

I only hope this decision can illustrate just how flawed VA law is and how it is allowed to run rampant over legitimate claims. This is also a lovely example of what you get with your “free” legal representation from VSOs.

Here, although the Veteran was hospitalized with “hepatitis, infectious” during service, the July 2008 VA examiner determined that the type of hepatitis was that of hepatitis A. The Board finds the July 2008 VA medical opinion to be highly credible and probative evidence against a finding that the Veteran had hepatitis C in service. The opinion was well reasoned, based on a review of the record, and rendered by a medical doctor with a master’s degree in public health. The medical opinion indicated that one of the more common causes of acute hepatitis is the hepatitis A virus. The examination report also indicated that since the application of accurate serologic investigations in the 1980’s, the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, and natural history of hepatitis A have become apparent. Thus, the Board finds that the Veteran was hospitalized with hepatitis A in service.

So, they said it was HAV in 1971. Since that has already been determined (in the absence of a simple blood test to prove the contrary), there is no need to go any further in this discussion. This is the famous VA bait and switch technique we see quite frequently. You are arguing no Hep A apples and VA is countering with no Hep C coconuts. The arguments are inapposite but that is what you get without proper legal help.

No Bozos

No Bozos

 

Posted in HCV Health, HCV Risks (documented), Jetgun BvA Decisions, Jetgun Claims evidence, Nexus Information, Veterans Law | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 29 Comments

Experiments: HCV can live in water bottles for up to three weeks

Posted on December 20, 2015 by Laura

This study title caught my eye: Transmission of Hepatitis C Virus Among People Who Inject Drugs: Viral Stability and Association With Drug Preparation Equipment (LINK). • JID 2013:207 (15 January) • Doerrbecker et al

PDF:  Full Text. hcv in water

“We found that, depending on the viral dose, HCV can survive in water for >3 weeks and might thereby contribute to ongoing transmission of HCV in PWID networks when water is reused or shared. These results are in line with data showing the stability of the virus in serum for 3–4 weeks”  (LINK to footnoted study/doi: 10.1086/652803)

red bull

“The can had probably the highest association with HCV among the evaluated water containers because more of the original HCV-inoculated water remained in the can before it was refilled, owing to the can’s small opening.” Image: viZZZual on Flickr

IDUers help HCV move on to new victims when they prepare their drug works. It clings to plastic, aluminium cans (Red Bull), but not so much, glass (Coca-Cola). It gets on everything; no blood (serum) is needed for it to remain stable and infectious.

It is technical so here is a part of the introductory summary (edited):

Background.

We investigated the risk of HCV transmission by analyzing the direct association of HCV with filters, water to dilute drugs, and water containers.

Methods.

Experiments were designed to replicate practices by people who inject drugs and include routinely used injection equipment. HCV stability in water was assessed by inoculation of bottled water with HCV. Viral association with containers was investigated by filling the containers with water, inoculating the water with HCV, emptying the water, and refilling the container with fresh water. Transmission risk associated with drug preparation filters was determined after drawing virus through a filter and incubating the filter to release infectious particles.

HCV can survive for up to 3 weeks in bottled water. Water containers present a risk for HCV transmission, as infectious virions remained associated with water containers after washing. Physical properties of the water containers determined the degree of HCV contamination after containers were refilled with water. HCV was also associated with filter material, in which around 10% of the viral inoculum was detectable.

In short, it takes a lot of effort to render HCV that “exists” outside of a human body harmless.  It survives high heat, all manner of chemicals, freeze-drying, being left on a wide variety of surfaces and neglected for weeks in the open air.  HCV doesn’t need blood to “live” in hostile environments but it eventually will fizzle out if it can’t hitch a ride into a new human body. In water, blood, powder, it’s all good as far as HCV is concerned.

Not picky outside of human bodies

HCV is not picky about its habitat outside of human bodies while waiting to slip into a new one. And it is patient and can handle extreme environments.

So is it really accurate to think of HCV as a limited blood-borne pathogen when even liquids like drinking water can be an intermediary step between carrier A to carrier B?  It makes the VA’s approved “HCV risk factor” lists,  C & P exams (most) and BVA HCV denial decisions even more ludicrous in the light of all the new information that is being published.  Referencing this study may be useful in the HCV claims process.  

800px-Six_degrees_of_separation.svg

“Six degrees of separation” by Daniel’ (User:Dannie-walker) – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons –

The degree of separation (think Kevin Bacon Six Degrees of Separation (BBC video) between any veterans harboring HCV while in-service and those who were not, was very slim. Consider contaminated possessions and it’s slimmer still.  (I suppose learning a bit about network theories should be on our agendas.)

Posted in BvA HCV decisions, Complaints Department, Food for thought, Guest authors, Medical News, research, Uncategorized, Vietnam Disease Issues | Leave a comment