Comments on: Does VA have Policy Of Retaliation Against Veterans Advocates?

By: Dan Cedusky "ColonelDan"

Dan Cedusky "ColonelDan" — Mon, 24 May 2010 13:25:53 +0000

Marvin.. I sent you an email giving you a person to contact at detroit Vet Center, also someone from the Detroit VAMC will call you today.

By: Marvin Ivery

Marvin Ivery — Fri, 21 May 2010 06:10:03 +0000

I am an honorably discharged veteran of the Marine Corps. I need help in getting medical treatment from the Detroit and Ann Arbor Veterans Medical Centers. The last few years have been very difficult and I don’t know how long I can hold out. I feel I am losing myself. I have pleaded for help from both hospitals without success. I have called the suicide hot-line four times trying to get help. I have called and written the hospital directors office, the patient’s advocates, I have contacted the Marine Corps league, American legion, Congresswoman Kilpatrick, John Dingle, and Debbie Stabeanow, President Obama, and no one will help me. I have a substance abuse, depression history and I feel that they use this to justified not treating me. I am scared of the staff member because of staff’s constant use of hospital security guard to threaten and harass me. I have never had a violent incident at any Veterans hospital; however the hospital staff consistent lies and profiles me as a violent person with no adequate evidence or history.
Please help this is a very serious matter, I want to get better. I struggle with homelessness and maintaining a residents, I can’t sleep, focus, I am isolating, and I am very depressed. Veteran’s hospitals have some great services for Veterans who suffer with the same or similar conditions, but I can’t excess treatment. I know for a fact that there conduct is a vicious malicious deliberate act to harm me. I can explain and provide evidence for why I feel this way. Please, don’t dismiss me as just another crazy veteran who is making up conspiracies; I am not crazy or delusional I am not making this up, I can prove it. Please I have no criminal background; I have served my country and worked most of life until I became disabled around 2001. I am a large African American male (connect to profile). I have not broken any veterans hospital rules although I am sure they will tell you I have. I beg you; please don’t take their word for it someone needs to investigate. I will sign any release necessary. You will find staff misconduct and violations of federal laws in their effort to deny me treatment and services. I can’t access any appeals or due process procedures. I don’t know what to do. I don’t feel I can make it if I don’t get help. Please help me. Marvin Ivery 313-736-0640, Marjune13@yahoo.com eight years in the Marines.

By: Sarge

Sarge — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:01:03 +0000

You may appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, to force the VA to adjudicate your claim. You should write the Court and ask for a motion under Rule 47, which states that if you are 75 years of age or older and in bad health, the Court can order you claim decided immediately, no questions asked.

By: Deborah

Deborah — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:55:53 +0000

I see that I am not alone. 26 yrs since my husband’s suicide. It took me 17 yrs to get his file, the one I was told was lost, burned in St. Louis, taken by him when he left active duty, etc. I used state VA and was stunned to find that the local office I’d been in had a copy of his claim’s file from when he’d applied for benefits in ’76 as did the N.O. VARO.

In the file I found numerous requests for his service records from ’76 and ’77 covered with unable to locate file notices….and I’d made dozens of requests in the ensuing years as well.

I made it to the BVA and it was remanded to AMC who sat on it for two years and then denied the claim, reversing the judge’s ruling on new and material evidence and failing to obtain specific files and/or provide documentation about their attempts to obtain and a letter detailing this with the explanation that the file could not be found. The letter contradicts itself and violates some of the very law it quotes!

And, there were threatening tones implying I didn’t have legal standing to pursue this! I am contemplating posting it all on the internet and said so on the phone yesterday. Last night, internet service went down, but modem showed it was on and running and provider could not electronically detect service.

A few weeks ago, I received a letter from AMC telling me that it was important that I respond to a correction they made, but there is no indication what the correction was and the end of the letter told me I didn’t need to respond. I called the AL contact who asked me something about whether or not there were any problems with the marriage!!! My husband’s divorce papers from his first wife and a copy of our marriage license are in the file!!!!

In any event, thank you for sharing; I was wondering if I might face more retaliation. Now I know.

By: Clyde H Stagner

Clyde H Stagner — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:56:07 +0000

The Phoenix VARO,in a letter to the undersigned,dated 16 Sep.2009 based on a claims decision dated 23 Apr ,1990,denied the undersigned’s claim unless new and relative evidence was cited. Other claims by the undersigned for service connected disability were also denied by the Phoenix Varo,St. Petersburg Varo and the San Francisco Varo during the periord 1 July,1965,to the present.a first decision in 1965 denied a claim for service connected arthritis awarded by three Dept of the Army Medical Disability Boards and the staffs of two Army military hospitals.Since San Francisco Varo’s first decision,no Varo has reversed the finding. In nov ,2002,the undersigned submitted a claim for cervical and lumbar arthritis which was denied by the Phoenix Varo on 1 May,2003. On 4 Dec,2003,The Phoenix Varo sent the undersigned,at his request copies of allhis entireVA claims File including all communications,referrals,and awards.The records received did not contain my military medical records for any period of time treated/and or hospitalized by the Noble Army Hospital,Al,and/or the US Army’sValley Forge General Hospital,Pa. A queryy to the US Army’s Retired Branch resulted in a response,dated 9 Jan,2004, advising of shipment of the undersigned’s medical records from Valley Forge in 1964 to the VA Regional Office,2030.W Taylor,Chicago,Ill. Following the the U S Army’s advice,the undersigned requested copies of his military medical records from the Chicago VARO:on Apr 3,2004,the Phoenix VARO sent the undersinged copies of his military medical records which had remained in the Chicago VARO since 1964. All Veterans Administration VAROS ,which had rendered claims decisions since 1964 on the undersigned, had done so without including and evaluating critical and applicable military records evidence which the VA is required to obtain in contradistinction to ignoring applicable evidence in the VA’s possession. My Nov2002 claim,although remanded,remains yet to be resolved while I am 85 years old and aging with the claim

By: Shelia Winsett

Shelia Winsett — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:09:32 +0000

I have been fighting for my rights for 27+ years now. The VA has abused my due process rights and the Courts have let them by with doing this. I have asked for help from Senator Shelby’s Office in Alabama and his aide tells me that they will not submit a private bill on my part. A private bill is the only way I can get justice now that I have exhausted my means in this corrupt system.

By: Donald

Donald — Sat, 30 May 2009 17:59:17 +0000

There are a few of us at a VA facility that think we have been the vitims of misappropriation of our monies. We are scared of retaliation because this is where we live. Need to know who we can talk to.

By: Shelia Winsett

Shelia Winsett — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 13:59:28 +0000

Fighting for benefits now over 26 years of corruption. The way they do this is misstate the facts of your case for the Courts will not address facts or law applied to facts. This keeps an entanglement going. Just recently the VA not addressing my arguments, ruled on the same issue that was pending at the CAVC Docket 05-0859 and they attempted to whitewash the error by stating it was “new and material to reopen” however, the issue has never been finalized to reopen. So this action by the VA Dept. caused another Board Decision on the issue that was appealed to the CAVC and Docketed 08-0314. Here is the thriller of it all. The Facts of the case in the Board decision is misstated and completely different from the actual true facts listed in the Federal Circuit Order from the appeal in Docket 05-0859. Now and behold, the VARO granted the veteran’s mother a claim when she did not even have an open claim and only did this to deny my claim because they are not going to grant 2 people DIC. So the RO had a field examiner’s report done which was not done by the rule of procedures. I asked to have it removed from the record and appealed it to the Chairman of the Board. He wrote me a denial letter and I appealed it to teh CAVC Docket 08-0465. Then the VA tells the Court the VA has not made a decision on this. But at the same time, the Board considered this report and denied me again causing me to have the same issue at the CAVC in two different dockets. Now the CAVC upholds the decision from the Secretary stating that he had not made a ruling on removal of the field examiner’s report and asked for a dismissal at the Court which the Court dismissed not addressing my arguments again. Now at the Federal Circuit their ruling comes down affriming this decision and uses a Case for dismissal as Winsett v. Peake 08-210 which is an open case at the CAVC and where the VA asked for the Motion to Dismiss he first filed to be recalled because he had misstated the issue on the docket and he filed another which again, he filed a Motion to Dismiss but the Court did not dismiss. But now the Federal Circuit has refused to redress this ruling becuase of this erroneous ruling Winsett v. Peake 08-210.

There is no justice in this system for our veterans, widows and orphans.
Any suggestions as to how to fix it.

The VA has again filed a record on appeal in Docket 08-210 and did not follow the correct rules of procedure and filed – get this 11000+ pages which cost approxiamtely $150 to mail and it is WRONG. But the VA can waste our taxpayer’s money and continue to waste it fighting us for they have the funds appropriated to do so. They sit back and laugh at us for fighting them.

The bottom line is the VA’s motto in their believe is WE THE VA DEPT. IS ABOVE THE LAW!

Our hats should be off to this new President if he can fix this VA System

By: John J. Lavery

John J. Lavery — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 10:03:09 +0000

Comment and Question:
I applied for service connected benefits in 1977, 1988, 1990, and 2000. I was never apprised of the disposition of the first three applications although the VA records indicate that I was. On my last application, in the year 2000, I was turned down with the closing statement being that my life long problems were the “result of wilfull misconduct.” I won on appeal in 2005, only after having the great fortune of a sympathetic , tenacious and competent attorney. This attorney was able to obtain affidavits, medical records, and statements from medical professionals which essentially won my case after nearly thirty years of trying. I am in reciept of 100% Service Connected Compensation now.
However, There were two suspicious attempts to cut or reduce my percentage based on the false claims that I had been convicted of a felony after recipet of benefits. The Regional VA Office ignored the documentation I mailed to clarify the mistaken claim of a felonly conviction. However, in both cases they proceeded to make what they called an “incarceration adjustment” and demand back funds. Again, it was only after the pro bono advocacy of the same attorney that the Regional VA Office withdrew thier attempt to cut my SC percentage. To make matters worse, while volunteering as the group leader of a Veterans Advisory Committee for Peer Support Services, one week before our group, The VICTORS, was to be formally installed and recognized, the Local Recovery Coordinator began filing false criminal charges against me and I was officially “baned” from attending the group I had formerly led. Again, only through the intervention of the same attorney I was vindicated and the VA Police clearly determined that all five of the Police Reports were unfounded. I had also been threatened “not to cause trouble for the people who could change” my SC status. I was also told by a VA Med Center Executive that the VA could “ban” me from “stepping foot on any VA Facility without a court order”, and further told that “we’ve done it before and we can do it to you too.”
QUESTIONS: How can I prevent furher retalitations? How can I file effective complaint against the Local Recovery Coordinator for making false police reports? How does my ex-wife, daughter and son be compensated for a father who lost it because of events in the service which went ignored, untreated for years and left them in the lurch?

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 11:09:24 +0000

I can see that happening. I would like to find out more about the case you speak of. My site is http://www.NoAnthraxvaccine.net I learned that IF you go to the VA, you need some way to PROVE what happens, by bringing with you some kind of recorder. I managed to catch the VA lying about me. While it was a VA employee that was yelling and using profanity, while I was trying to temper the situation, the exact opposite got reported by the VA employee.

DO NOT GO TO THE VA WITHOUT SOME WAY TO EMPIRICALLY PROVE WHAT IS HAPPENING.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 10:23:41 +0000

OH! if the public only knew to what extent the retaliation goes. Having first-hand knowledge of the VA’s corruption and retaliation. It goes as far as an employee reporting to higher ups in the VA, in D.C. and the employee’s (also a veteran) mental health records/information was given to other employees. Not so rare within the VA, l’m sure . However, the VA eventually was able to have the employee arrested and publically removed from the VA facility–escorted by many through the main entrance of the hospital. The VA’s lied and provided false information to the FBI to have the employee arrested. Charges were later dismissed but s/he had many asleepless nights and a concerned spouse and children. Oh! s/he was “Indefinitely Suspended” from employment because of the charges and the VA refuses to put the person back to work. Justice- which reminds me, it was the POLICE Section that the employee complained to that brought the retaliation.