While on Active Duty, a doctor at the tmc refused to see me for an injury. Any advice to help with the VA?

PFC Jared Franzmann — Wed, 12 Jun 2019 20:42:09 -0400

Response by Sgt Andre Batson made Jun 12 at 2019 9:05 PM

Sgt Andre Batson — Wed, 12 Jun 2019 21:05:31 -0400

Are you still in the service?

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 12 at 2019 9:22 PM

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 12 Jun 2019 21:22:04 -0400

Did you get copies of your medical records? If not, you will have get a copy. Once you get them look to see where in the records it is at. Then take with a VA rep in your area. The key thing is to get copies. You can get copies of your records at: https://www.archives.gov/personnel-records-center/medical-records-veterans-access

medical-records-veterans-access

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made Jun 12 at 2019 9:39 PM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Wed, 12 Jun 2019 21:39:52 -0400

http://www.vetadvocates.org

I'd read all you'd sent in, incl when you'd been asked here to explain more...the acronym TMC I'm inferring is some on-installation clinical facility by you, though I hadn't seen that acronym before...that being said, the notion that an active-duty clinician wouldn't see you as you'd been in PT quite frankly boggles my mind, and makes, at least to me, absolutely no sense whatsoever. Now, having said that, you quite clearly need to send for your records, admin/personnel, as well as clinical/med/dental, all of it, using the eVetRecs online website to submit to NPRC in St. Louis, the staff there are extremely helpful. Call all three Congress local district offices for you, send in Privacy Act (PA) releases, those you have to send to all Congress members, that's just law...tell the mil/vet staffers what happened, also, to try to get ahold of the NPRC director's office staff in St. Louis, call NARA, the Natl Archives, 86-NARA-NARA, and ask them, as well as the Congress mil/vet staffers, to get you a call back from the NPRC director's office. The eVetRecs Java applet you'll see doesn't have much room in it, you'll need to abbreviate a good deal, also, you'll need to print the form generated, sign and date, don't lose it or the ref #, or you'll have to start all over again, and fax it back to NPRC, just sending in the electronic Java applet won't let them start. You should get a letter in a cpl of wks that they got the request, then they'll likely need a few wks to get all your stuff, ask explicitly for your admin/personnel and clinical/med/dental files, as I'd said, you need to ask for all of it, don't assume they'll know, they're quite good people at NPRC, however you have to expressly ask for all your stuff, just as I'd said, OK? Now, you're also quite clearly gonna need either a vet group to help you submit a claim, a law school vet-law clinic, or the NOVA group I gave the site for above, they've got a good search engine, we started with a vet group for me, they really tried, however my whole total perm disability thing was absolutely horrendous, so, we eventually had to move it to one of the really senior NOVA guys, they're at the top of the food chain for VA-disability claims, aside from vet groups and law school vet-law clinics, our guy cost $500 for a consult, the best money we ever spent, I'm obv not saying you can't use a vet group, you can, they've got attorneys of their own for appeals, however, our guy was right near us, had 3 yrs prior active, and 35-40 yrs VA-disability law exposure, he knew more about it than God, and is one of the reasons my wife and I learned there's a very real reason God invented attorneys, honest...if you wanna yak more about your whole thing, just lemme know, no rush, whenever you want...to me, the circumstances you related, while I of course comprehend your description, make absolutely zero sense to me, as I'd said, and, quite frankly, pretty much defy all reason, logic, and vestige of common sense...as I'd said, I'm here anytime, if you wanna gab, just trust me, and at least look up who's near you from NOVA, or call their main office, they do answer the phone, and are also quite helpful...we had six and half yrs getting my whole thing done, so I got a pretty fair view of how it all functions from the user end, I was also trained for doctoral level allied health, we shut my license off sevl yrs ago, I wasn't medicine, however, I trained a good deal at VA hospitals, among others non-VA, as well as have been a VA in-patient and out-patient many times, so I've also got a pretty decent grasp of the whole VA thing, and pretty much how "most" of it "generally" functions, OK? If you need me, once again, I'm here, just lemme know if you wanna yak more about your whole thing, as I'd said, and trust me, tell all your Congress offices exactly what happened, they can't decide stuff, however, they can at least send letters to ask what's going on, so trust me, they take time to get stuff done, however, use them...this is quite likely to be a long, slow, tough slog, honest, so don't expect instant results, that simply ain't gonna happen, I'm afraid, you'll likely get denied, have to file notices of disagreement (NODs), appeal for a decision review officer (DRO) hearing, appeal with another NOD, and do the whole traveling team thing with the Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA), or go higher to the Federal courts, if need be, so trust me, this is likely to take a long time, I'd just let the NOVA guys do their thing, pay whatever consult they'd want, and just do as they say, if you wanna use a vet group, fine, or a law school vet law clinic, also fine, just understand, the NOVA guys would have you as their direct client, they only take the fraction VA allows them, and they really are at the top of the VA-disability law food chain, just as I'd said, honest, OK?

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Response by Sgt Loren Dunkley made Jun 12 at 2019 9:41 PM

Sgt Loren Dunkley — Wed, 12 Jun 2019 21:41:25 -0400

Join DAV, they are not lawyers, but they know the roles. I've been a life long member since 1973.

Response by SPC Joe Weiss made Jun 12 at 2019 9:42 PM

SPC Joe Weiss — Wed, 12 Jun 2019 21:42:52 -0400

Contact the Patient Advocate or Regional Headquarters. Do Not Take No

Response by SGT Michael Hearn made Jun 12 at 2019 10:22 PM

SGT Michael Hearn — Wed, 12 Jun 2019 22:22:17 -0400

Hello.
Like I said before Documents keep multiple copies. I am sure the VA is better than when I went through the system. This is no BS I met our president when he was running. I was Nassau county chairman to elect DonaldJ. Trump. I had one request of him. When he wins the election Please take of the Veterans.

Response by SGT Cynthia Douglas Ybarra made Jun 13 at 2019 6:05 AM

SGT Cynthia Douglas Ybarra — Thu, 13 Jun 2019 06:05:00 -0400

If you are looking for a disability rating contact your county Veterans Service Officer. They can help get a claim started. You can also use wounded warriors project as well as other Veterans organizations to help with a claim. If your medical records do not address the issue you are claiming you can get a VA physician to write a nexus letter. You can also have friends write buddy letters and you, yourself, should also document your injuries as well as your experience with the TMC. Hope that helps.

Response by CSM Darieus ZaGara made Jun 13 at 2019 6:11 AM

CSM Darieus ZaGara — Thu, 13 Jun 2019 06:11:35 -0400

It will be very hard to prove you were denied medical treatment while on active duty. In fact the first question will be what did your chain of command do! While leaders play with a lot of things, there aren’t many that would mess with a Soldiers right to seek medical treatment, nor would they allow a doctor to ignore your request. Bottom line is that there are more physicians than the one who rejected you. If you can prove you fought for care by informing your COC then go for it, names, statements etc. you are your best advocate. Good luck.