Welll, just got off the phone w/lawyer in Austin, Tx. Michael Archuleta,J.D,M.D.,MBA(Archuleta,Alsaffar & Higginbotham) and he received the denial letter. They(VA) state "that although i was awarded 30% disability by the Va in a NSC Pension Claim for the injuries, I should feel lucky because if they made an award it would have offset my "Pension", for years". HEHEHE.noo kiddin!! Now, the lawyer wants too crank it up a notch. Federal papers will be filed in court, and were rollin,rollin rollin. Now, the 1151 papers are being filed, as well. (I think) Forgot to ask him about that.. Keep ya posted, William

Can I get the copies of the Med. review of the outside VISN that did the review, under FOIA??

Could Berta, or someone chime in here pleeeezzzz..peace, william

Just lookin for some reassurance from someone who is familiar with the process..and my question answered. thanks, William

[quote name='william n' date='Oct 2 2008, 03:05 PM' post='108553']
Welll, just got off the phone w/lawyer in Austin, Tx. Michael Archuleta,J.D,M.D.,MBA(Archuleta,Alsaffar & Higginbotham) and he received the denial letter. They(VA) state "that although i was awarded 30% disability by the Va in a NSC Pension Claim for the injuries, I should feel lucky because if they made an award it would have offset my "Pension", for years". HEHEHE.noo kiddin!! Now, the lawyer wants too crank it up a notch. Federal papers will be filed in court, and were rollin,rollin rollin.
William - How could VA have denied if papers haven't even been filed yet ????
jmho, but something here doesn't sound right.

Now, the 1151 papers are being filed, as well. (I think) Forgot to ask him about that.. Keep ya posted, William
The 1151 claim could have been filed ages ago if you had the Medical Evidence of additional disability -- what's the long wait been for ?????

Can I get the copies of the Med. review of the outside VISN that did the review, under FOIA??
It seems to me your lawyer would be able to provide you a copy,
much easier route.

carlie

Carlie, the FTCA 95/and evidence, was filed and we waited too see what their response was...They have 6 months too respond too your Tort Claim. Award or Deny. got it now. The lawyer has been pressureing regional counsel since July. they said were waitn on med. review from Ohio. Sen. Bill Nelson's office, has been doin the same. They(VA dont give a ****) who tries too move them.. They are a beast in itself. They have wayyy too much juice!! I hung up w/ lawyer, disgusted, but relieved. I forgot too ask some questions, and thought i'd run it by u folks. thats all. peace,William
too answer your questions the route i followed was Tort, not 1151. The med review is not always available too the person filing, said tort. Its priviledged! Im unsure if i can get it via FOIA??
Ya, the lawyer can tell me more but this was after the call i got and thought id throw it out too ya all.. William

"The med review is not always available too the person filing, said tort. Its priviledged! Im unsure if i can get it via FOIA??"

You can after they pay you and settle - but it appears they are going to fight-
this is SOP-
until I was successful under FTCA I did have to fight- and the FTCA was denied twice ,I immediately rebutted and found that the VA Medical Team was sent the entire clinical record except the prime facie evidence was missing-
(the autopsy)

I didnt have a lawyer and could deal with them directly myself- I called the head of the Med team in DC and this is how I found that they had never even seen the autopsy-it disappeared 12 times already at the VARO level-
I faxed it to them- and then I got an award.

I got the V FTCA medical report only after the settlement under FOIA- it was horrible-and confirmed my charges and the charges the veteran had made in his 1151 claim.

When I got the Sec 1151 award the RO quoted the Med report word for word in the last sentence.
I assume this report in your case-would only be available under discovery when you file in Federal Court, since they denied-

this is SOP to deny and see if you will fight back-

A malpractice lawyer would know the ins and outs of all this-
all I had was some information on FTCA from the VBM-
and the medical evidence
and the unshakable determination and belief that I would definitely prove they killed my husband.

I suggest that you do try under Foia- with the OGC to get a copy of the report- FOIA officers made plenty of errors-they might send it to you.

I have 4 responses here on a recent FOIA to the VA-
they shuffled the FOIA all over- they dont want to tell me the answer-which I know already anyhow-

Ask -in your request- citing 5 USC 552, under both the Privacy Act and the FOIA.

"The med review is not always available too the person filing, said tort. Its priviledged! Im unsure if i can get it via FOIA??"

You can after they pay you and settle - but it appears they are going to fight-
this is SOP-
until I was successful under FTCA I did have to fight- and the FTCA was denied twice ,I immediately rebutted and found that the VA Medical Team was sent the entire clinical record except the prime facie evidence was missing-
(the autopsy)

I didnt have a lawyer and could deal with them directly myself- I called the head of the Med team in DC and this is how I found that they had never even seen the autopsy-it disappeared 12 times already at the VARO level-
I faxed it to them- and then I got an award.

I got the V FTCA medical report only after the settlement under FOIA- it was horrible-and confirmed my charges and the charges the veteran had made in his 1151 claim.

When I got the Sec 1151 award the RO quoted the Med report word for word in the last sentence.
I assume this report in your case-would only be available under discovery when you file in Federal Court, since they denied-

this is SOP to deny and see if you will fight back-

A malpractice lawyer would know the ins and outs of all this-
all I had was some information on FTCA from the VBM-
and the medical evidence
and the unshakable determination and belief that I would definitely prove they killed my husband.

I suggest that you do try under Foia- with the OGC to get a copy of the report- FOIA officers made plenty of errors-they might send it to you.

I have 4 responses here on a recent FOIA to the VA-
they shuffled the FOIA all over- they dont want to tell me the answer-which I know already anyhow-

Ask -in your request- citing 5 USC 552, under both the Privacy Act and the FOIA.

"As Berta so clearly says, once a vet dies the VA incompetence gets transferred to his/her survivors."

And only if they really believe that malpractice has occurred.

If I didnt take a lot of time to really study my husband's entire clinical record-and study some cardiology- they would have gotten away with it all-

Many families dont even question a Death Certificate and whether the vet's VA health care was proper or not.

"the VA incompetence gets transferred to his/her survivors" and if they dont sue and have these doctors reported to the NPDB-
the incompetence gets transferred to more and more veterans.

That is a National disgrace and a tragedy that is as bad as a misreported combat death.

I was going to file a tort claim against a physician at St. Pete Bay Pines myself, but was too busy trying to keep my SS and SC claims above water. I'm not surprised to hear about this.