13 replies to this topic

[Dot09]

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Edited by Dot09, 26 April 2013 - 06:13 AM.

[scscrewed]

Who is he referring you to? He isn't doing the IMO for psyc himself, I know that much. Also wouldn't almost any MD issue a IMO stating your service connected injuries are the reason you cannot work? I mean I know Docs around here, not good ones, that issue reports in SSD claims for seventy-five bucks.

Oh, and put it up here what's the good doctor charging vets these days?

Edited by scscrewed, 10 December 2011 - 08:10 AM.

[Berta]

I replied to this in your other post Dot.

I am very satisfied with 2 IMOs I obtained from Dr. Bash.Total cost was $4,000 -$2,000 thousand each.In 2004 and 2006.

I feel the charge would have been considerably higher if I had not carefully prepared an extensive cover letter referring him to specific documents that supported my claim.And why they did,medically.

Then again I had ,by then, some medical background in diabetes, neurology and cardiology which I think helped considerably.

I also sent him top notch treatises from excellent medical sources on the net.

I didn't have my Braunwald text then, but he had Braunwald and referenced this top notch cardio text in his IMOs.

I focused on his Neuro Radiology background in preparing the cover letter and the MRI write up VA had done.

There were other handwritten med recs that were very difficult to read but by then I had decifered them all and had transcribed some of them.

It took me about 10 hours a day for an entire week to prepare what I submitted to him.I made many copies and then laid it all out for him as this claim involved my wrongful death case too.At the end of that week I actually felt someone should have paid me! (Ha Ha)

I paid for another IMO too but got my award before the Cardio doc prepared it.I expected a very high fee for that one, but based on the cover letter and evidence for that one , that charge was less than doctor Bash's fee.

Dr Bash will read everything you send.

I have mentioned these cover letters here before regarding IMOs.

I stated what type of IMO I wanted and exactly why the medical evidence of record supported my claim.
The cover letter is what took up most of my time.

In essense, although I had proved malpractice years prior to this claim, I had discovered another misdiagnosed condition, an AO condition,in 2003.
There was no diagnosis of DMII in the veteran's lifetime so this claim was unusual in that respect.I had to really dig for the evidence.

Edited by Berta, 10 December 2011 - 10:40 AM.

[scscrewed]

Two points (Berta please correct me if this sounds off)

Berta's case was very, very, very complex. Your's Dot isn't very complex. Bash doesn't do pysch IMO's for your conditions, so that will be referred. However, you have TDIU listed any MD that writes SSD IMOs for attorneys in your area should be able to write a very good IMO for you. That says you cannot work because of your injuries. Berta submitted a substantial cover letter which included everything needed for the IMO and Bash went above and beyond. You can write a cover letter that says specifically what you need listed and where it's at in the SMR and why these sc injuries prevent you from working.

If you have the money Bash will be great, but is he necessary for this claim?

[Wings]

Two points (Berta please correct me if this sounds off)

Berta's case was very, very, very complex. Your's Dot isn't very complex. Bash doesn't do pysch IMO's for your conditions, so that will be referred. However, you have TDIU listed any MD that writes SSD IMOs for attorneys in your area should be able to write a very good IMO for you. That says you cannot work because of your injuries. Berta submitted a substantial cover letter which included everything needed for the IMO and Bash went above and beyond. You can write a cover letter that says specifically what you need listed and where it's at in the SMR and why these sc injuries prevent you from working.

If you have the money Bash will be great, but is he necessary for this claim?

I also think an IMO from Dr. Bash's is premature in this case. There's still NOD's and Appeals to write ... ~Wings

[Berta]

I agree scscrewed-that perhaps any good doctor with expertise in the field of DOTs disability could help for a less formidable fee.

I feel it is an absolute disgrace that any veteran or widow would need an IMO at all but we do not always get a fair shake at the VA and a lousy C & P exam can control the rest of our lives if we don't fight back.

At the point I contacted Dr. Bash, I had already had quite a rigamorale on this claim and ,although VA accepted my lay medical opinions for my FTCA case ( their doctors had no choice at some point to concur as in VA Central OGC in DC -as they do read the medical evidence )the VARO was saying I was suddenly not competent enough to opine on this additional claim I filed since the Tort matter.

I was willing to spend some money on IM0s just so the VA would stop farting around with my DMII claim.
I was wrong.
They strung it out until 7 years had passed anyhow.

If these vet orgs canned some of the lousy reps they have and put those saved salaries into an IMO fund,specifically for veterans, it would be wonderful.

A strong IMO can be very costly but might easily be absorbed by comp checks that the veteran might never see without the IMO.

I had a freeby IMO as well from a former VA doctor but it was only 2 sentences in email.Since it corroborated Dr. Bash's IMO, however, the VA gave it weight.

Years ago no one ever talked about IMOs in the vets electronic community.In those days things were different.

I got a ridiculous VARO decision overturned by writing a simple NOD for my husband in 1988
in which all I used was common sense.

Common sense alludes the VA these days.

[Berta]

I dont want to overlook here scscrewed's excellent suggestion:

"any MD that writes SSD IMOs for attorneys in your area "

"Don't know of any attorneys?"
You could contact Bergman and Moore who has an ad here at hadit and one of their lawyers, Carrie Welitz, just did a SVR radio too here I believe.

Also there are lists of veteran's lawyers here

http://www.veteranslaw.com/

http://www.attorneys4veterans.com/

http://www.nvo.org/attorneys.html

And if you find a similar claim like yours at the BVA, that had a lawyer on the brief and the vet succeeded, that might be a good contact to make.

I had filed a Writ of MAndamus years ago. 12 lawyers called or wrote to me and didnt want to handle it because there is no money in Mandamus writs.
They did ask me to contact them if my claim went to the BVA or CAVC.

I asked whatever lawyers who suggested that ,for the BVA Citation Number and/or CAVC docket number for any cases they had won and those they had lost.

There was only one of them I would have hired if needed and that was Ken Carpenter.
Since those days,and the 2007 regulations, many lawyers have helped with vet's claims.

I think they charge 20 % if the claim succeeds.

[scscrewed]

look Dot, I understand your frustration. I do. I feel it coming through the laptop. But, do you see what Berta and Wings and I have to say. Berta had to have the big gun. She had an AO case they were screwing with. My Uncle Billy had an AO case and they screwed with him we wrote an NOD pointing out all the errors just like everyone is explaining here. And he won. --And I understand that it isn't AO but the illness in conjunction with the AO.

You don't need a big gun. You need a clear and coherent this-is-what-it-is-you-can't-screw-me-over gun. A well written NOD with a cheap IMO and hopefully a former or current VA opinion will just nail 'er shut.

If the NOD doesn't garner the result that you desire then it's time for the bigger gun.

But, finding a scrupulous, reputable, and cheap doctor to write Dot cannot work never can won't ever work because of these service connected injuries should be okay.

[scscrewed]

I Know the errors and mistakes with my claim.. I want everything I send in to be verbatim. I need a enforcer or a person to ensure that it is not changed. I tried in the past with this but it does little change. Don't know of any attorneys?

Attorneys
I see the advertisement at the top of the forum. I am sure these folks are terrific. But, you don't need an attorney. When I am not going through it, you now what I mean you go through it I can put together some beautiful briefs and writs. You can write well enough to point out every little mistake. You have this forum of caring, loving, supportive, dedicated, veterans and friends of veterans that will help with the intricate details of this stuff.

What will a attorney do? take a hefty percentage of your retro, not return your calls, and file the same paperwork you can file. That's it.

[scscrewed]

i don't take offense to most things. Peoples opinions I rarely take offense too, unless they are bigoted or racists or misogynistic. I don't like personal attacks either. But, I am just throwing crap at the wall and seeing if it helps. I am trying to sway a vet to the cheap DIY side of things.

[scscrewed]

I think Wings already mentioned posting the final draft of the NOD on the forum, so the i's and t's are dotted and crossed. But, I'll mention it again. post the final draft somewhere on the forum and expurgate the personal stuff, so some eyes can see that the i's are in fact dotted. Or, something like that.

[jbasser]

Here is Dr Bash: it is worth a listen as he has an ace up his sleve.

http://www.svr-radio...011_Dr_Bash.mp3

[Wings]

In my NOD, would it be extreme to go page by page. Annotate repeated mistakes for every occasion even if I had already mentioned It? So for instance say patient has HX of depression with his mother,brother,grandma all on medication. If there is 52 pages I'll list 52 entries (One Explanation for each error/ recording the Dr's name/Dates/facility's/pg #). I have written the RO before claiming it false and still it ended up in the report.. I'd prefer to do the above..

What do you think?

[/quote]

NOD KISS --keep it simple!! USE THIS FORMAT http://statesidelega...im%20Denial.pdf

This NOD template was written by a trained vets advocate, it's a good standard format and it will work just fine.

This template tells you to ask for a DRO (Decision Review Officer). If they agree to allow the DRO review, S/he will look at your claim "de novo", anew, with new eyes.

Go ahead and use this template to the letter. See page 2.

You are simply, generally disagreeing with their denial of claim for this issue ____ and this issue ____ , etc.

You do not need to go page by page, letter by letter --not just yet!

Mail your NOD, and the VARO is required to send you a Statement of the Case (SOC) which will tell you the laws and regualtions they used to arrive at their decision.

After you recieve the RO's SOC, you have like 60 days (?!) to file your Form 9, Appeal to the BVA. This is where you hammer it home, blow by blow, letter by letter, cite evidence, cite the record, cite the laws on your side, etc. Just wite your NOD simple and straightforward.

You can call your mental health problem(s) a "pschiatric disorder" with symptoms of panic attacks, agoraphobia, insomnia, bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression; and also claim individual unemployability (TDIU) secondary to psychiatric disorder and service-conned medical conditions.


DO IT LIKE YESTERDAY, seriously get it done.

If you want, add these three things underlined to your NOD, tell them:

1) you were presumed fit for military service 2) you served during a "period of war" (ready and willing to serve your country day and night 24x7) 3. you sought help for your in-service psychiatric disorder --first from the military itself, who then made life more difficult for you and ended your career without so much as a hand-shake, salute or good-bye, and then you sought help from the VA, within 7 months of military discharge.

Edited by Wings, 12 December 2011 - 10:17 AM.

[Wings]

IMHO ...

You can call your mental health problem(s) a "pschiatric disorder" with symptoms of panic attacks, agoraphobia, insomnia, bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression; and also claim individual unemployability (TDIU) secondary to psychiatric disorder and service-conned medical conditions.



If you want, add these three things underlined to your NOD, tell them:

1) you were presumed fit for military service 2) you served during a "period of war" (ready and willing to serve your country day and night 24x7) 3. you sought help for your in-service psychiatric disorder --first from the military itself, who then made life more difficult for you and ended your career without so much as a hand-shake, salute or good-bye, and then you sought help from the VA, within 7 months of military discharge.

Edited by Wings, 12 December 2011 - 10:14 AM.