by Kristina Derro
Veterans Disability Lawyer

This month, the VA’s Office of Inspector General released its report on the systemic issues identified at 16 VA Regional Offices (VAROs) from April 2009 to September 2010. You can view the full report here: http://www.va.gov/oig/52/reports/2011/VAOIG-11-00510-167.pdf

Unfortunately, the report revealed the ineptitude that all the veterans experience and suffer from on a daily basis. The report identified that VARO staff incorrectly processed 23% of an estimated 45,000 claims. The biggest mistakes involved claims for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs).

Over 8% of claims for PTSD were not adequately processed because the VARO staff “lacked sufficient experience and training to process these claims accurately. Additionally, some VAROs were not conducting monthly quality assurance reviews”. The bulk of the errors were in failing to properly verify claimed stressors and assigning incorrect effective dates for the grant of benefits for PTSD.

75% of VAROs inspected did not follow VA policy when processing claims for residuals of a TBI. In December 2009, it was estimated that 28,000 veterans suffered from a TBI, with many more being added to that list daily with the increase of bombings and IED attacks that our military is exposed to in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Inspector General’s findings regarding the VAROs’ incompetence in processing these claims can have disastrous effects for our veterans. Over 19% of claims for TBIs were not processed correctly. The report found that 42% of the errors were due to the VARO staff utilizing inadequate medical examinations which did not contain sufficient information upon which to make a decision. Evidently, the VA medical examiners were not using the most current examination formats and therefore not providing the VARO staff with sufficient information. Unfortunately, due to the VAROs staff’s lack of experience and training, they did not recognize when an examination was inadequate and failed to send it back to the VA examiner for corrections.

Compounding this problem is the fact that when the VARO actually did grant service connection for a TBI, 42% of errors involved the VARO assigning incorrect evaluations for the residuals of TBIs. The VA policy requires a separate evaluation for any disability with a distinct diagnosis related to a TBI, such as headaches or tinnitus. Regrettably, VARO staff failed to give separate ratings for disabilities and instead lumped them together in one rating.

A statistic which will come as no big surprise to any veteran that has sent information to VA is the fact that the report found 75% of the VAROs failed to properly control and process mail according to VA policy. Shockingly, the majority of mistakes were attributed to the staff being “generally unaware of policy requirements, including date stamping, governing mail processing at VA facilities. Further, VARO workload management plans contained unclear procedures or first-line supervisors did not always follow guidance delineated in these plans”. The failure to properly date-stamp materials obviously has catastrophic effects on a veteran’s claim. For instance, the document may be considered to be untimely, even though it was timely submitted but the VARO staff failed to properly date stamp it. Additionally, if a claim came in on January 31^st, then the start date for benefits when the claim is ultimately granted would be February 1^st. However, if the item isn’t date stamped until February 1^st, then the start date for benefits would be March 1^st.  This would cause the veteran to lose out on a month of benefit payments.

An interesting read for sure, the report details the mistakes that the 16 VAROs made, along with the Inspector General’s suggestions for improvement. All we can do is wait and see if VA actually gets around to implementing the suggestions. Until then, veterans’ claims continue to be improperly handled on a daily basis…

To learn more or to contact a Veterans disability lawyer, Veterans disability attorney, Veterans lawyer, or Veterans attorney call 1.800.693.4800 or visit Legalhelpforveterans.com

by Kristina Derro
Veterans Disability Lawyer

The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee heard testimony on Wednesday, May 18, 2011 regarding the historically rocky transition for service members between leaving the Department of Defense (DoD) and beginning to receive medical treatment through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Researchers found that increasing levels of drug abuse and suicides among recently-separated combat veterans can be partly blamed on inadequate coordination as service members are discharged from the military and become the responsibility of VA.

A lack of coordination was also found to negatively affect the treatment of combat-related injuries. At the DoD, injured service members receive state-of-the-art care, receive counseling services, and are prescribed narcotics to treat pain. When service members are discharged and begin to receive their medical care from VA, research has shown that VA improperly manages their narcotic medications, making them more likely to abuse drugs, become homeless, or commit suicide. Further, due to a rocky handoff, veterans at VA also have physicians who are unfamiliar with the course of treatment that those veterans were receiving while with the DoD.

The area of prosthetics is one example where the lack of coordination and lack of familiarity hurt the veterans. The DoD has outstanding prosthetics for its amputees. Upon arrival at VA, many VA physicians are fascinated by the high-tech devices, having never seen them before, and are more interested in examining the devices rather than examining the veterans.

Both the Deputy Secretary of Defense and the Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs recognized the need for a truly seamless handoff from the DoD to the VA medical facilities. Recognizing the problem is the first step, however it seems that the VA has a history of being unable to rectify the problems even though they have been sufficiently identified.

To learn more or to contact a Veterans disability lawyer, Veterans disability attorney, Veterans lawyer, or Veterans attorney call 1.800.693.4800 or visit Legalhelpforveterans.com

by Kristina Derro
Veterans Disability Attorney

Sixteen men and women who were raped and assaulted during active service filed a recent lawsuit against the Pentagon. The lawsuit accuses the military of condoning a culture that fails to prosecute the offenders of sex crimes and instead punishes the sexual assault victims who come forward to report the incidents.

According to a recent report by the Department of Defense (DOD), last year 3,158 sexual assaults were reported by men and women in the Armed Forces. The DOD estimates that this number reflects only about 13.5% of the total number of assaults on men and women in active duty last year. Experts say that the number of reported sexual assaults in the military is so low because of the fact that victims often receive pressure from supervisors and peers to not report anything. Further, once reports are made, the victims are often viewed as “troublemakers”, the sexual offenders are rarely disciplined by the military, and the victims often get transferred out of his/her military occupational specialty and into a new job—instead of forcing the sexual offender to be relocated. Seeing victims treated in this manner acts as a deterrent in the reporting of sexual assaults by other victims.

Adding to the problem is that while sexual trauma victims are in the military, they are away from family and friends who are the traditional support system in times of stress. Instead, the victims have to rely on receiving their support entirely from the military itself—the same establishment that refuses to acknowledge the problem or punish the offender.

VA health care systems have seen a large influx in military sexual trauma survivors. So much so that several VA medical centers have employed social workers on a full-time basis whose only job is to counsel those victims of military sexual trauma. There is movement afoot in the Armed Services to start training active duty members at an early age, even beginning in boot camp, about how to prevent sexual assault and how to intervene if they see someone being sexually harassed or assaulted. It has been recognized that there needs to be something done to prevent military sexual trauma from happening in the first instance.

To learn more or to contact a Veterans disability lawyer, Veterans disability attorney, Veterans lawyer, or Veterans attorney call 1.800.693.4800 or visit Legalhelpforveterans.com

By Kristina Derro
Veterans Disability Lawyer

Last week, the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit heard oral arguments on a case involving a Colorado man who falsely claimed to be a highly-decorated Marine Corps veteran. He is being tried under the Stolen Valor Act, a piece of legislation passed in 2006 that makes it a crime to lie about receiving military medals.

The defendant, Rick Strandlof, founded a veteran advocacy group and claimed to be an Iraqi War veteran who received a Purple Heart and a Silver Star. In reality, Strandlof never even served in the military in any capacity. Fellow advocates exposed his deceit and federal authorities charged Strandlof with violating the Stolen Valor Act.

At his trial in the U.S. District Court, Strandlof did not deny his lies, but instead argued that the Stolen Valor Act is unconstitutional and that his lies are protected under the 1^st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The District Judge agreed and dismissed the case against Strandlof, but stated that while the U.S. Constitution does not protect against fraudulent speech, in Strandlof’s case there was no actual victim of the fraud. The District Judge noted that the Stolen Valor Act “criminalizes the mere utterance of the false statement regardless whether anyone is harmed thereby. It is merely fraud in the air, untethered from any underlying crime at all”.

The government appealed, arguing in its brief to the Tenth Circuit that the Stolen Valor Act is narrowly tailored and does not discourage people from making other constitutionally-protected statements. It noted that the Act is aimed at preventing harm to the public from the “misappropriation of the benefits, reputation, and credibility properly accorded to those who have earned military honors”. The attorney for the government noted that “[f]alse statements are not protected speech. They undermine rather than advance the free marketplace of ideas”.

However, the Tenth Circuit judges strongly questioned the Justice Department attorney, wondering where the criminalization of lies stops and pointing out that what the government wants to implement is a broad category of protection against false statements of facts.

This case is proving to be extremely important because last year, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled the Act unconstitutional because of the same free-speech concerns. If the Tenth Circuit comes to the same conclusion as the Ninth Circuit, then it would become more settled law that the Act is unconstitutional. However, if the Tenth Circuit were to rule differently, it would make it more likely that the U.S. Supreme Court would step in to settle the dispute.

To learn more or to contact a Veterans disability lawyer, Veterans disability attorney, Veterans lawyer, or Veterans attorney call 1.800.693.4800 or visit Legalhelpforveterans.com

by Jim Fausone
Veterans Disability Lawyer

The research continues on veterans and sleep apnea. A study presented in May 2011 at the American Psychiatric Association’s annual meeting suggests that sleep disturbances like obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), excessive awakening and insomnia, may be a normal result of combat experience and not specifically related to PTSD or TBI.

However, the sleep study participants did not have a higher rate of OSA than non-veteran sleep clinic participants, calling into question the commonly held view that sleep apnea and related sleep disorders are a function of PTSD and TBI. Rather, they appear to be a function of experiencing stress under combat conditions, even if that stress does not rise to the level of PTSD.

As we have written before, OSA is an increasingly approved rating by VA. You may find the article on the study of interest.

http://www.healthnewsdigest.com/news/Research_270/Sleep_Disruptions_May_Be_a_Function_of_Combat_Not_Specific_to_PTSD_or_Other_Medical_Disorders.shtml

To learn more or to contact a Veterans disability lawyer, Veterans disability attorney, Veterans lawyer, or Veterans attorney call 1.800.693.4800 or visit Legalhelpforveterans.com

VA Malpractice Data
by Kristina Derro
Veterans Disability Lawyer

Recent data published by the Project on Government Oversight revealed that VA paid out over a dozen million-dollar malpractice payouts because of either failure on the part of VA to obtain informed consent from its patients or VA’s health care providers failing to timely diagnose and treat conditions.

Out of more than 12,000 claims against VA from 1989 to 2008, several thousand were related to medical malpractice. Of those, 16 had payouts of $1 million or more due to clinical negligence.

To learn more or to contact a Veterans disability lawyer, Veterans disability attorney, Veterans lawyer, or Veterans attorney call 1.800.693.4800 or visit Legalhelpforveterans.com

by Kristina Derro
Veterans Disability Lawyer

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit unleashed its fury on the VA last week in a decision where the judges ruled that the “unchecked incompetence” by the VA had led to poor mental health care and slow processing of disability claims for veterans. Two nonprofit organizations, Veterans United for Truth and Veterans for Common Sense, filed a lawsuit seeking to force VA to make changes to the way it treats veterans with mental health disabilities and handles compensation claims.

The Ninth Circuit agreed with the plaintiffs’ case that the VA must put mental health initiatives into effect throughout the entire system and change the way it adjudicates disability compensation claims in its various regional offices. The Court cited to statistics that it often takes weeks for a suicidal veteran to get a first appointment at a VA and that it often takes VA an average of four years to fully provide the mental health benefits owed to veterans.

During the trial, emails between high-ranking VA officials were entered into evidence, revealing that VA was aware of the high suicide rates among veterans and that it harbored a desire to keep quiet the number of veterans under its care who attempt suicide. The Ninth Circuit opinion stated that “[n]o more veterans should be compelled to agonize or perish while the government fails to perform its obligation”. The Court found that there were no suicide prevention officers at any of the VA’s 800 community-based outpatient clinics, the screening for suicide by the VA was not rigorous, and that 70% of VA medical centers did not have systems to track potentially suicidal veterans.

The Ninth Circuit also wrote a scathing opinion regarding the way VA handled disability compensation claims. The opinion noted that the processing of an initial claim usually took longer than the 120-day goal set by the VA itself, and that regional offices take more than a year to certify appealed claims which the Court found was “a merely ministerial act”. The Court found that no official with VA “was able to provide the court with a sufficient justification for the delays”.

To learn more or to contact a Veterans disability lawyer, Veterans disability attorney, Veterans lawyer, or Veterans attorney call 1.800.693.4800 or visit Legalhelpforveterans.com

by Jim Fausone
Veteran Disability Lawyer

Have you noticed that when the national press talks about the cost of war it ignores the medical costs associated with the military and veterans? The VA budget is a reminder of the prolonged cost of war. A recent analysis of the DOD budget also drives this home.

Costs of the program that provides health coverage to some 10 million active duty personnel, retirees, reservists and their families have jumped from $19 billion in 2001 to $53 billion in the Pentagon’s latest budget request. These costs are driving the President to suggest that veterans and those using TRICARE pay more for their health care. The Detroit News reports: “After years of resisting proposed increases for the military men and women who sacrificed for a nation, budget-conscious lawmakers suddenly are poised to make them pay a bit more for their health care.”

The current TRICARE fees, unchanged in 11 years, are just $230 a year for an individual and $460 for a family. That’s far less than what civilian federal workers pay for health care, about $5,000 a year. If this increase is passed on to retirees, you should expect pressure on VA to continue to raise the costs passed on to veterans.

We will have to remind Washington that the veterans are a unique group that gave the country the best years of their lives and should not now be asked to again bear the burdens of the country. Those who have never sacrificed for the country should do more – not the retirees and veterans.

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110509/NATION/105090339/Health-care-for-military-reaches-$53-billion#ixzz1Lsxqplu5

To learn more or to contact a Veterans disability lawyer, Veterans disability attorney, Veterans lawyer, or Veterans attorney call 1.800.693.4800 or visit Legalhelpforveterans.com